“I’m terrified at the moral apathy, the death of the heart, which is happening in my country. These people have deluded themselves for so long that they really don’t think I’m human. And I base this on their conduct, not on what they say. And this means that they have become in themselves moral monsters.” James Baldwin, 1963 1
Ever since first hearing James Baldwin observation of the “vast, heedless, un-thinking, cruel white majority” his words have stuck with me. As a warning and as a magnifying class putting events into perspective. And as something lurking at the back of my mind that I struggled accepting.
Last week I watched the German documentary “Kein Land für Niemand” (No country for nobody)2, a documentary chronicling the brutality of Europe’s border regime and the descent into anti-immigration policies and sentiment in Germany.
It was then that the denial finally crumbled. That I finally accepted that James Baldwin was talking about me. The documentary does not show some distant conflict where it may be easy to uphold the pretence of having nothing to do with it. The deaths and the brutality are sanctioned by the approval of the majority of Europe’s citizens and their political representatives. The blood is on their hands. It is on my hands.
A majority of people have deluded themselves into thinking that refugees are somehow less valuable. Not as worthy, not as deserving of protection. They are a threat and their lives disposable.
Our society and political discourse are now firmly in the realm where some people are worth more than others, we have arrived in the realm of contempt and hate. This is happening in the USA and in a lot of other countries. The new German chancellor Friedrich Merz openly voices his contempt. His contempt for the poor, contempt for so called “linke Spinner” (crazy leftists), contempt for migrants and refugees3. It’s a contempt against the weak, the “others”. It’s anti-humanism to the core.
Our society is on that path now. It is a path where we lose our humanity. Where according to James Baldwin we become monsters. Where love and compassion cede to exist. Where monsters start acting in a more and more monstrous way.
There was and still is the other side. The people who support refugees and all those marginalized by society, who take to the street in defence of human rights and democracy, those who save lives by putting their own freedom and lives at risk.
The answer, the antidote, is solidarity. In the documentary this is embodied by the crew of the rescue ship. But we need more of this solidarity. And for more solidarity we need to fight the notion that some are worth more than others. We need to face the moral monster inside of us. We need to stop deluding ourselves. We need to look into the mirror and decide who we want to be.
External Links:
1 James Baldwin: Interview with Kenneth Clark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSGY-yJHlnI
2 Kein Land für Niemand: https://kein-land-fuer-niemand.de/
3 Merz Rede: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vj7d0UWPhoU