kansascity | West again asked to speak about issues related to the job
of a state representative. When asked about Jewish people in Missouri,
he said, “Well, maybe they shouldn’t vote for me.”
At no point did West apologize for or retract his comments. He asked that The Star link to his website within the story and expressed hope that readers would listen to his remarks in full to make up their own minds.
Although West’s most
overtly bigoted and offensive statements were sent anonymously to a
reporter on Thursday, he had enough “dog whistles” before the election
that voters should have known better than to support him, Aroesty said.
She said her opinion is coming from a place of principle over politics
because the Anti-Defamation League is an apolitical organization.
A dog whistle, she
said, is when someone hints at extremist beliefs in such a way that
others who hold those beliefs will know, but they retain plausible
deniability.
Some example of dog whistles from
West’s statements before the election include him saying things like
“Islam is a problem for America. ... It is a political movement
masquerading as religion and should not receive the benefits we provide
religious institutions as well as access to our prisons” and “ Many
parents and students don’t want to have to deal with alternative sex ed,
and the LGBT clubs and staff at all the public high schools today.”
“It’s a subtle form of
hatred,” Aroesty said. “Not open, but it should be watched, in some
ways, more carefully than if someone was openly extreme.”
The Anti-Defamation League has been seeing extremist candidates pop up all around the country, Aroesty said.
“There is a level of
political rhetoric and anger out in the world today that is providing
people with more extremist views a comfort to come forward and share
those extremist views,” she said. “I’d like to say he is unusual this
year … but there are a whole variety of folks.”
The internet gives so
many people a voice, she said, that it’s easy to think that people with
extreme, hateful beliefs are everywhere. They’re not, she said — the
ones who are out there are just making a lot of noise.
“The
fact that Mr. West won the primary should highlight to people — did they
really know what they were voting for?” Aroesty said. “One thing I’ve
said for years about extremists is that they’re out on the fringe and we
should keep them there.”
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