Three forms of violence
First published in “The Daily Journal,” July 3, 2017, https://www.smdailyjournal.com/opinion/guest_perspectives/three-forms-of-violence/article_6efac8d2-5f80-11e7-9eb4-5362c1049fcd.html
In 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King asked supporters in Birmingham, Alabama, to take a nonviolence pledge. The pledge was printed on a card, and it included: refrain from the violence of fist, tongue or heart. We can find all three forms of violence in the Otto Warmbier story. The violence of fist and heart were supplied by a ruthless authoritarian regime. However, violence of the tongue came from a surprising place.
In January 2016, Otto Warmbier was arrested for taking a North Korean propaganda poster from a hotel room. During nearly 18 months of captivity, Otto suffered psychological and physical abuse at the hands of North Korean authorities. On June 13, 2017, Otto Warmbier, 22, returned to the United States in a coma; he never regained consciousness. He died on June 19 from a neurological injury inflicted by the North Koreans.
On June 21, two days after Warmbier succumbed to injuries from cruel and unusual punishment, University of Delaware adjunct anthropology professor Katherine Dettwyler posted on Facebook that Warmbier “got what he deserved.” She wrote that Warmbier was “typical of a mindset of a lot of the young, white, rich, clueless males who come into my classes.” Followed by, “His parents ultimately are to blame for his growing up thinking he could get away with whatever he wanted… Not so much in North Korea…”
I read the story about Dettwyler’s comments on June 24. Her violence of the tongue pushed me beyond anger and to a place of indescribable sadness. I found her University of Delaware email address, and I sent her the following…
“Ms. Dettwyler, I’m sure you have received a huge amount of correspondence laced with expletives and threats concerning your comments about Otto Warmbier’s death, but this email will not be one of them.
I am not young or rich, but I am a white male. While the Otto Warmbiers of the world who enter your class may be clueless, I am not. I can see you for what you are… an intelligent but bitter woman who is in the wrong profession. I have not been in your classroom, but many of your students agree with that assessment. They find you rude, offensive, and annoying. There’s nothing wrong with being opinionated, but I’m guessing you have little time for any opinions in class but your own.
Remember, words have meaning. Yes, you can state your opinion in class and on social media even when you say things that are hateful and insensitive. Thankfully, the First Amendment allows you to do so. However, there may be negative consequences from your academic community for saying such things. Why? Because such speech does not represent that community’s values, and saying Otto Warmbier “got what he deserved” is clearly inconsistent with the University of Delaware’s mission to educate and prepare young people for the world beyond graduation.
Your students should finish your class with a greater understanding of anthropology plus a greater sense of purpose and a feeling that they belong to a special community of persons who want to make a positive difference. What is your greater sense of purpose? Where is your special community? How are you making a positive difference?
As I said earlier, you are an intelligent but bitter woman who is in the wrong profession. That’s a bold statement, but it’s true. You’re not pouring the knowledge and wisdom of anthropology out for your students; you’re pouring feelings of self-importance and self-gratification into your own ego. That’s the wrong reason to enter the classroom as a teacher.
If you don’t love your students, then you should find another profession. How much love do you have for the Otto Warmbiers of the world?”
End of email text.
I thought I would feel better after sending the email. I didn’t… the sadness was still there. The next day, June 25, University of Delaware officials announced that Dettwyler will not be rehired to teach classes at the school, but that is not the end of Otto’s story or the lessons to be learned from it. Ms. Dettwyler learned there is a consequence for hateful speech. Even if she does not issue an apology, the violence of the tongue should not be visited upon her. The larger lesson… maybe if the blue vs. red or D vs. R rhetoric becomes more civil, we can tame violence of the tongue. If we can do that, maybe other forms of violence can be tamed, too.
Copyright © 2023 by Ray Fowler
