In the Mecca for Prejudice and Bigotry

As long as political tension exists and there are no strict controls on the sale of weapons, violence will continue to claim innocent victims.

It is possible that the gunman of Tucson, Arizona, who killed six people and wounded 14 others in an attack on Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords last week, is deranged. But what we don’t yet know is whether the crime had political or anti-Semitic motives; Giffords is Jewish. Moreover, the possible mental disorder of Jared Lee Loughner does not offer us a sufficient explanation of the motive for the crime, nor does it keep us from thinking about the environment in which the crime took place.

This is not the first time that a violent event has occurred in Arizona. Near Tucson is the town of Tombstone, etched in the popular imagination of the “Wild West” as “the town that refused to die,” and where, in the vicinity of the OK Corral, the Earp brothers and the legendary “Doc” Holliday imposed the law with bullets.

It was also in Arizona where, by a handful of votes, Gov. Jan Brewer and her government apparatus decreed the demonization of the Hispanic community by ordering the police to stop anyone “suspected” of being illegally in the country and to demand proof of nationality.

Today, Arizona reaffirms its reputation as “the Mecca for prejudice and bigotry,” in the words of Pima County Sheriff Clarence W. Dupnik. Unfortunately, Arizona is not the only state in the nation where anger, hatred, fanaticism and hypocrisy prevail.

Priding itself on a prudence not seen until now, the Republican Party leadership urged the public not to rush to assign guilt to those who in electoral battles have made prejudice and bigotry their watchwords.

However, what should be asked of the new Speaker of the House, John Boehner, is why he never told Sarah Palin that it was a provocation to mark Gifford’s district with crosshairs and to urge her followers, “Don’t Retreat, Instead — RELOAD,” in order to confront Gifford for having voted in favor of the Health Care Act.

Why didn’t they warn Jesse Kelly, the Republican candidate running against Giffords, that his decision to hold a fundraiser at a shooting range, where he fired his M16 rifle while rallying his followers to “help remove Gabrielle Giffords from office,” was an incitement to lynching?

Why has no one condemned the excited proclamations of those who question the legitimacy of the government elected by the people in order to cast doubt on the nationality of the president?

Of Loughner, the gunman, we know that he distrusted the “current government” and he accused it of trying to “brainwash the people.” We also know he used a semi-automatic pistol loaded with 30 rounds, with two spare magazines, to kill and injure innocent people. How could a person with a history of mental instability buy a gun? How on earth can Kentucky Senator Paul Rand repeat, parrot-like, the claim of the National Rifle Association that guns do not kill? Doesn’t he know that in 2009 there were over 15,000 homicides and that it is estimated that this country has some 300 million guns in civilian hands?

It is still ironic that in the midst of this horrible tragedy in Arizona, the heroism of Daniel Hernández, a young Hispanic who had begun working as an intern in the office of the congresswoman, probably saved her life. Without stopping to consider that he could have died in the crossfire, Hernández ran to help her because he knew how to give first aid. Luckily, despite his dark skin, this time there was no authority who detained him to ask for his papers.