According to a recent issue of the IndyStar, the Republican candidate for Indiana’s lieutenant governor, Micah Beckwith, has labeled his Democratic opponents as infested with a “Jezebel spirit.”
Whatever Mr. Beckwith may have intended in calling his Democratic opponents “Jezebels,” this term has long been used as a misogynistic and racist epithet slung by white males at Black women.
It was frequently employed during the slave era by male slave owners who sought to excuse their exploitative sexual encounters with slave women by grossly mischaracterizing their victims as sex-crazed whores. This derogatory term continued to be thrown at Black women during the Jim Crow era and after. Such usage of this term has exemplified the practice of revictimizing the victims.
Mr. Beckwith reportedly used “Jezebel spirit” to denounce, among other things, Democrats’ support for abortion rights. I would like to know how such a term aptly describes a 10-year-old girl who has been raped by a stepfather or uncle and wants relief from the ongoing terror of bearing the resulting pregnancy, or a woman who desperately seeks to save her life from an ectopic pregnancy.
The misuse of derogatory epithets like “Jezebel” to demonize one’s opponent has a long, sad history in political contests. If you can’t win on policy, you try to demean or denigrate the character or intelligence of your foe.
One would think that Jesus’ example of love and compassion for others would characterize Christian believers rather than the use of hateful speech. However, Mr. Beckwith appears to have been “liberated” to use demonizing speech against his opponents by none other than the head of the Republican ticket, Donald Trump, who habitually attempts to tar his opponents with demeaning labels: “dumb as a rock,” “ugly,” “vermin,” “a loser,” etc.
Mr. Beckwith should apologize for his terminology. His running mate, Sen. Mike Braun, should publicly denounce the use of such derogatory terminology.
Larry and Connie Kane live in Carmel.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Letters: Micah Beckwith demonizes Democrats with Jezebel spirit label
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