I watched with grim fascination as the storming of the US Capitol took place yesterday – an act that was demonstrably incited by the sitting president.
In the early videos shown on news channels, some of those who forced their way into the building seemed to behave like tourists, taking selfies and videos for the folks back home; others were full of rage and self-righteousness.
It put me in mind of a quote from Dr Martin Luther King, who once said: “A riot is the language of the unheard.” He was, of course, talking about the unheard voices of black Americans – but the (mostly white) rioters yesterday felt it applied to them too. As they were cleared by police, one of them said to reporters: “They heard us now.”
As politicians made speeches and shared their outrage on social media, a familiar theme emerged: words have consequences.
In his speech, President-elect Biden said: “The words of an American president matter, no matter how good or bad that president is. At their best, the words of a president can inspire. At their worst, they can incite.”
He went on to say: “It’s not protest, it’s insurrection.”
Insurrection: a violent uprising against an authority or government.
Yes, that sounds about right. But in the heat of events, the mainstream media struggled to find the right words to describe what was happening. Was it a siege or an attempted coup? Was it sedition? Was this a mob? Were they terrorists or insurgents?
Historian Joanne Freeman, author of The Field of Blood: Violence in Congress and the Road to Civil War, nailed it when she said: “We’ve been in a crisis of words for a while. We don’t have the language to describe this. People are saying it’s a coup, it’s terrorism.
“We have to figure out what this means and come up with the right words. I hesitate to use traitor or sedition because those words have very specific meanings. Words really matter right now. People should be using them carefully. Some are deliberately not.”
I woke up this morning in time to see Vice-President Mike Pence certify the electoral college votes and formally announce that Joe Biden will be the 46th president.
Afterwards, Senate chaplain Barry Black delivered a final prayer, lamenting the violence and saying: “These tragedies have reminded us that words matter and the power of life and death is in the tongue.”
Yes, words have consequences. I wrote about this back in 2019, after 22 people died in a shooting in Texas. And yet here we are, still living with the consequences of words being used as weapons.
Words matter. Meaning matters. Even if POTUS won’t take responsibility for the impact of his inflammatory language, we can mind our tongues and put away our poison pens.
What a different world we would live in if everyone used their words to heal, not destroy.
UPDATE: I’m writing this on 11th January, now that we understand a lot more about exactly what happened on 6th January. It was much worse than we thought. Videos and testimony emerging over the past few days have been shocking and terrifying. It seems that members of Congress were evacuated just minutes before the mob started smashing glass and breaking down doors. This is what happens when misinformation becomes fervent belief. We need our leaders to stand behind and tell us the truth. Always.
Excellently put. There has been a broad range of reactions to this event that would have benefited from more consideration, but that has been true for a while because news outlets value immediacy above accuracy.
And probably not the best time or place to to say this but Happy New Year!
Thank you David. I agree regarding accuracy – but in such times, reactions often have to be quick and dirty rather than considered. And Happy New Year to you too!