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On Monday, multiple videos of a disturbing assault during math class at Spring Valley High School were released online. The level of violence shown in the video has led to widespread condemnation, calls for firing of the officer involved, and concern for the student, a small young Black teenage girl, who was assaulted in a classroom by a white male officer and bodybuilder dubbed by some students “The Incredible Hulk” for his large size.
Release of the video also led to the now standard exercise among mainstream media outlets and on social media of engaging in an “analysis” of the situation that generally maintains a status quo in which this behavior is not problematic. Alarmingly but sadly also not surprisingly, non-Black American Muslims have been among those placing blame on the student for the form/type of violence she was subject to and excusing the officer for the actions he chose to take.
Note: focusing on what the girl “should have done” instead of on what an adult actually did is seeking to justify the assault. Posing a question seriously as to a “lack of options” for the officer when white men who point guns at officers routinely walk away is seeking to justify this assault. The barely concealed implication in this line of questioning is that the violent response was a normal or predictable one given the “instigating” behavior that took place. The implication is that no normal human being – as represented by the white officer – would react this way unless the victim did something to provoke it.
This understanding of the situation is deeply flawed. Those who seek to justify the assault are usually unmoved on a human level by what they have witnessed and/or ignore the reality of structural violence toward Black bodies in the United States. The fact is that in the U.S., “normal” people in positions of authority can and do act in excessively violent ways against those who the system is designed to dehumanize. U.S. institutions and policies have always been structured to allow and encourage this dehumanization – slavery and genocide are not possible without it.
Given the seriousness of this, Muslims, if you are at the point where you are seeking to justify the #AssaultAtSpringValleyHigh, seek help – you are spiritually ill. To witness this incident, captured on video, and not be emotionally affected by the wrongness of what has happened indicates that a level of dehumanization toward Black Americans has taken root in your heart.
Dehumanization occurs when one group of people deny the humanity of another. Members of that group find it nearly impossible to empathize with members of the dehumanized group, as those individuals simply aren’t seen “as human” as members in the first group. Thus, rules for what is considered acceptable moral behavior toward those in the dehumanized group need not apply. In the United States, dehumanization often falls along racial lines. Under one model of the stages of genocide, dehumanization is considered the fourth stage of ten:
1. CLASSIFICATION: All cultures have categories to distinguish people into “us and them” by ethnicity, race, religion, or nationality. […] Bipolar societies that lack mixed categories … are the most likely to have genocide. […]
2. SYMBOLIZATION: We give names or other symbols to the classifications. […] Classification and symbolization are universally human and do not necessarily result in genocide unless they lead to dehumanization. When combined with hatred, symbols may be forced upon unwilling members of pariah groups.
3. DISCRIMINATION: A dominant group uses law, custom, and political power to deny the rights of other groups. The powerless group may not be accorded full civil rights or even citizenship. […]
4. DEHUMANIZATION: One group denies the humanity of the other group. Members of it are equated with animals, vermin, insects or diseases. Dehumanization overcomes the normal human revulsion against murder. At this stage, hate propaganda in print and on hate radios is used to vilify the victim group. […]
The level of anti-black police brutality that exists now in the United States is only possible when we’re at a stage of dehumanization of Black people. Realize that when we wonder “how humanity could allow that” for genocide, we’re looking at later stages of moral bankruptcy. Letting yourself remain at an earlier stage means the descent into horror happens to people just like you.
Feelings of racial superiority, at the most basic level, are a form of arrogance. Arrogance, a lack of empathy, and dehumanization of others are major sources of evil in this world. While today’s modern form of racism developed in the 16th century, racism’s roots can be traced back to the spiritual disease of kibr, which causes the denial of truth and lies at the heart of many injustices. Kibr, an Arabic term, refers to pride, arrogance, conceit, and condescension, and to considering oneself superior to others. Shaitan’s arrogance toward Adam (AS) – “I am better than him. You created me from fire and created him from clay” – is documented in Verse 12 of Surah Al-Araf, and is the first instance of arrogance based upon one’s God-granted form. Following in these footsteps, throughout time, kibr has defined the human condition again and again and caused heartbreak and destruction.
Shaytan will always call to enmity. As Muslims who recognize that Allah in His Divine Wisdom created us in peoples and tribes, it is incumbent upon those who are righteous and knowledgeable to actively exercise empathy. We must be extraordinarily vigilant in guarding against dehumanization of others, especially if that means working seriously on one’s own self.
Non-Black Muslims: to allow dehumanization means not standing for justice for all who are oppressed, Muslim and non-Muslim. It means breaking the bonds of brotherhood and sisterhood with Black Muslims. It means allowing arrogance to take root deep within.
Ultimately, it means placing your akhirah in jeopardy.
Racial justice theory can be learned. Medicate yourself.
Namira Islam is a lawyer, designer, and the Co-Founder and Executive Director of MuslimARC, the Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative. She has worked in prisoners’ rights litigation and interned at the trial and appellate levels in international criminal law and war crimes for the United Nations in The Hague, The Netherlands. Her legal background includes research on the UN Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training with a focus on racism. She is on Twitter @namirari.
MuslimARC offers trainings and courses on racial justice for Muslims. Online learning and membership opportunities are available at www.muslimarc.org. Donate to MuslimARC’s new AMEL Intensive Fellowship program by November 8th to help bring anti-racism workshop facilitators to more US cities: www.launchgood.com/AMEL.
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