By Bill Barth
Last week the Beloit Police Department confirmed that federal authorities were in the community conducting an operation, resulting in apprehensions.
City law enforcement officials had not been notified. Neither were leaders with the Rock County Sheriff’s Department.
Start there. Notification of local authorities should be a fundamental rule. Residents witnessing action on the streets will call local police. The answer should not be, “We don’t know anything.”
Likewise, mysterious roundups by unknown armed personnel easily could escalate into confrontations or violence. It’s even possible federal and local authorities could engage in a standoff, each not knowing what the other is doing.
Expecting some minimal level of communication is hardly a radical premise.
Next day, the federal operation shifted to Janesville.
The U.S. government under the Trump administration has prioritized immigration enforcement. There are strong feelings on all sides. Polls show clear majority support for arresting and removing undocumented people with violent criminal records. Polls also show Americans are far less supportive of rounding up, incarcerating and deporting individuals who do not have violent records, but who have lived and worked and become part of local communities over many years.
We’re not going to settle that argument in this space today, and it’s not what I want to write about. Such decisions will be made at higher levels. I will say, though, that I agree with Beloit and Janesville police for posting notices to their communities on their channels. The intent was to protect and serve in the only way left open.
What I hope readers will think about is how folks here reacted to those Facebook posts.
The word “ugly” does not do justice. Comments were filled with hate and rage and malice.
I choose not to repeat any of it, because to do so would only feed outrageous conduct. Readers who want to know what was said can look at Facebook feeds for the City of Beloit Police Department and the Beloit Daily News. Hundreds of comments have been posted. Not all are nasty, but far too many fall into the gas-on-a-fire category.
What has become of our moral compass? Why are so many people enraged, ready to wage a war of words – hopefully, just words – at any opportunity? How has hateful rhetoric become the norm for political discourse?
Have we collectively lost sight that the people involved – those being rounded up, those doing the rounding up, others with differing opinions – are human beings, too, with families and loved ones and their own unique backstories?
Why have so many of us forgotten what we learned at our mother’s knee? If you don’t have something good to say, say nothing. Treat others as you want to be treated. Walk a mile in the other guy’s shoes before you spout off. God gave you two ears and one mouth for a reason, to listen more and talk less.
My thought is that social media is a curse, a boil on the backside of the body politic. First, it’s too easy to become a keyboard warrior and punch out words in a reactive rather than thoughtful manner. Who hasn’t popped off without thinking and later regretted it? Hateful words, once uttered, cannot be taken back. Forgiven, maybe. Not forgotten.
Second, social media companies are businesses that make obscene amounts of money based on engagement, which means keeping users on screen and fired up. Hate and rage ring the cash register like no other emotion.
Third, social media amplifies the loudest, meanest voices among us. That makes it seem as if the whole wide world has lost its collective mind, and it suggests maybe you should consider losing yours as well. Don’t take the bait. Resist the impulse to fire a missive at the social media mutt irritating you.
Remember another mom lesson: Don’t get in the mud with a pig. The pig likes it and you’ll just get dirty.
Look, do not misunderstand. As a lifelong journalist I want nothing more than to see people get involved. But let’s define involvement. It’s not being a troll on social media. It’s being an activist in your community. It’s holding your political representatives accountable at the local, state and federal level. It’s voting for candidates to your liking and opposing candidates with whom you disagree. It’s hands-on, with community organizations and churches and charities.
Social media billionaires want you to be angry. The folks at Fox News, MSNOW and other fully partisan outlets have the same goal, because it fills their pockets. Keep you mad. Keep picking fights. Hate your neighbor.
When the history of our time is written either those folks will have won or the better angels of our nature will have emerged and prevailed. Your choice. Every day.
If you have the stomach now, take a look at those Facebook comments from people you may know who live just down the block. Then ask: Am I that guy?
Bill Barth is the former Editor of the Beloit Daily News, and a member of the Wisconsin Newspaper Hall of Fame. Write to him at bbarth@beloitdailynews.com.
