These words come from Laura McInerney, an education advocate and writer in the UK:
My dad abhors any negative comments about immigrants.
Asked him recently why he's so strong on it: 'Because we're always happy to take the rich and clever ones. Which means it's not about disliking immigrants. It's about disliking the poor and vulnerable. And that's a bad human instinct.'
A bad human instinct.
Those words struck me and gave a voice to the feelings of revulsion and despair I’ve been struggling with over the past several days. On December 4th the Howard County Police Department posted an announcement of a critical missing person. Members of our community showed up and turned the thread into a cesspit of the worst kind of racism and hate.
It blows my mind that one of our county families was in crisis, searching for a vulnerable family member, and the first thing some people thought to do was to argue about his race.
He doesn’t look white to me.
And that, my friends, was the least of it. It was so bad that I made a public plea.
Can the Howard County Police Department delete hate posts? This thread is hurtful and demoralizing.
Elected officials are not permitted to delete responses from the public on their public social media accounts. But what about the police? I don’t know. I do know that this young man’s family could probably see every word and that crushes me.
In Howard County you can be rich and clever, you can be poor and vulnerable. But if you look different from the “white standard”, well then, may God have mercy on you. It’s not simply about looking “foreign”. It’s about looking any kind of not white.
That’s a bad human instinct.
On Facebook it is possible to hide behind a false name. Some don’t bother. They just open their mouths and let the hateful ignorance roll out. It is my sincere wish that everyone around these people know exactly what they said: their families, their friends, their employers and coworkers, people where they worship, anyone they come in contact with. Let their words hang over them wherever they go.
A medically vulnerable young man was missing in our community. The police were asking for help. These people threw trash.
Yesterday morning, after an extensive search, the young man was found, deceased. His grieving family thanked the helpers.
Thank you to everyone who dedicated time and effort to locate our late young man, Mohammed. The family sends its regards to all those who supported and is very appreciative of the collective effort and the true spirit of community. Many volunteers came forward from as far as Baltimore to help out. May Allah (almighty) guide us all to the truth and protect us and our offspring.
That’s a good human instinct. To help. To express gratitude. To pray for protection for others you don’t even know and may never meet.
Dear Howard County haters, and racists, and those who judge without knowledge: someone you have wronged is praying for you. Those who pray are undoubtedly better than I. They hope their prayers will help you.
At this moment I confess that I hope their words burn you. With the truth of your bad human instinct.
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