“I’m emotionally invested in his downfall.”

When I read that on reddit about a recent case of public racism; I was floored. I needed to take a minute to digest what I had just read. The fact that someone would begin to take that attitude from a simple video really struck me as odd. Why would someone get invested in someone else’s suffering because of an inappropriate and racist comment?

Let’s get some background

How did we get here? Why are we using public shame as a way to express our national rage? Probably because our government is moribund and people feel powerless. However, that does not excuse what happens to people like Aaron Schlossberg.

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Aaron Schlossberg is the latest victim of a modern phenomena that I think merits some examination. Aaron became unwittingly famous this month for telling a woman speaking Spanish in a Starbucks that she had better speak English or he was going to call ICE.
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This poor man’s life has gone down hill from here.

Let me say at first, that no one; no private citizen should be going around assuming that people are illegal. It is categorically wrong. Full stop. That is not up for debate here. However, what I’d like to talk about is the culture of shame that we have developed around these sorts of matters.

It’s not a popular idea

I’ve had this unpopular opinion for awhile. While I think it is helpful to call out people who do things that are blatantly racist, getting them fired from their jobs, thrown out of their living spaces, shutting down their businesses, and kicked out of their office space is not the kind of the behavior that is going to foster positive debate or make people feel included. To many people, it looks like a bunch of crazy people from the left just destroyed a man’s life over a comment made in a Starbucks. He probably didn’t even know he was going to be recorded when he said or did it.

Most people would be devastated if this sort of thing happened to them and I think the image of him running down the street from cameras, reporters, and protestors creates a “gut” response that is a huge PR problem for Progressives.

What Aaron Schlossberg did was wrong. But that is no reason to deprive him of his living through public shame. If the woman accused wants to press charges, then she may do so and the court can decide if he needs to make restitution or sacrifice is freedom for his poor action. But the culture of public shaming we have around anyone who says the wrong thing or does the wrong thing  is a kind of cultural fascism, that I, as an artist, find deeply troubling.

When we get into a culture of shaming anyone who doesn’t agree with us, all debate ends. Part of the reason we have problems is because both sides are entrenched. Rather than using this as a “teachable moment” and a platform to address our immigration debate, it has become a moment for the left to look like a bunch of cultural harpies. It will take Aaron Schlossberg years to recover from this moment. He may never recover. He becomes a sort of victim of a puritanical political correctness that I think is simply unfair and really undermines progressive causes.

If we want to move forward on an immigration debate in this country that creates a pathway for DACA recipients and creates a structure for legal immigration; it’s time to stop the culture of shame and start a reasoned debate. immigration is a winning issue for Democrats. According to Gallup’s polling from June of 2017 (latest available from news.gallup.com) 71% of Americans thing immigration is a good thing. In the same poll most American’s are satisfied with immigration (40%) and think that immigrants mostly help (49%).

Keep in mind, this is Gallup polling. Gallup tends to be more conservative. These numbers aren’t coming from ABC News or CNN, both of whom are far more liberal. If public option is something to work from, immigration can win. Immigration needs reform, that’s no secret. But to get the conversation moving in a positive direction, we need debate, not public shame.

Good Luck Aaron!