We are having a lot of outrage right now in Rhode Island over the words of Ralph R. Papitto, the head of the Trustees of Roger Williams University, who reportedly used the n-word while in a confidential meeting of the board of trustees. While this is sad, it does not particularly surprise me. As a clinical social worker, I see how that word is in people's vocabulary, particularly older people who grew up in a much more openly racist society. And it seems like Mr. Papitto is going to get dealt some severe blows for his misbehavior -- the first of which may have already occurred in his supposedly voluntary resignation from the board.
But then today I read this story of how in Iraq, marines are trained to do "dead checking" -- fire into an already shot body, and how they are being ordered to step up the physical violence toward the enemy, and to generally see everyone in Iraq as a potential enemy. I'm less worried about a world where an 80-year-old man says the n-word and much more worried about a world where grown men in their prime are turned into creatures like those described by Cpl. Saul H. Lopezromo, in the trial of Cpl. Trent D. Thomas for murder. Thomas is pleading "not guilty" based on evidence that he suffered a previous brain injury which impaired him. From the story:
[...]
Prosecution witnesses testified that Thomas shot the 52-year-old man at point-blank range after he had already been shot by other Marines and was lying on the ground.
Lopezromo said a procedure called "dead-checking" was routine. If Marines entered a house where a man was wounded, instead of checking to see whether he needed medical aid, they shot him to make sure he was dead, he testified.
"If somebody is worth shooting once, they're worth shooting twice," he said.
The jury is composed of three officers and six enlisted personnel, all of whom have served in Iraq.
Perhaps it's all part of the same continuum, calling someone the 'n-word' and dehumanizing a person to the point that you choose to kill them when it would be possible to help them.