Michael Abrahams | Charlie Kirk: a life devoid of empathy

Charlie Kirk’s horrific murder has created a firestorm, with responses ranging from profound grief and anger to open celebrations of his passing. Grief is a natural response after someone dies, especially the way Kirk did. But why has the death of this man brought forth a tsunami of vilification?

Kirk’s supporters claim that he is being misquoted, quoted without context and unfairly labelled as a bigot. Indeed, not all of Kirk’s remarks regarding race and other issues were prejudicial. He had valid concerns about illegal immigration, and some of his opinions regarding affirmative action and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies were understandable, as were his observations about absent black fathers. And he has been misquoted. For example, claims that Kirk said that gays should be stoned to death are not true.

But Kirk’s insensitivity toward the African American community and other vulnerable populations made him a divisive figure. He would make demeaning remarks about black Americans with impunity. For instance, Kirk said Joy Reid, Michelle Obama, Sheila Jackson Lee and Ketanji Brown Jackson used affirmative action because they “do not have the brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously,” adding, “It’s very obvious to us that you were not smart enough to be able to get in on your own.” Kirk also joked about a hypothetical situation where Jackson Lee was on a plane with black pilots named ‘Ramone’ and ‘Cadillac’ who had never flown before and stated that he wants a “cookie-cutter” pilot, not “LaQueesha James”. Kirk also expressed apprehension about the thought of a “black lesbian” surgeon removing his appendix and spoke about the scenario of encountering “a moronic black woman” in customer service who could be there because of affirmative action.

DISMISSIVE

Kirk was often dismissive of events that hold value for many African Americans. For instance, he dismissed Juneteenth as a federal holiday, said Martin Luther King, who he referred to as “awful”, did not deserve a national holiday and that passing the Civil Rights Act was a “huge mistake,” opining that it “created a beast, and that beast has now turned into an anti-white weapon.”

Kirk exaggerated or lied regarding crime statistics concerning African Americans, claiming that blacks make up 13 per cent of the population, but 50 per cent of the prison population and commit 58 per cent of all murders, and that White individuals are more likely to be attacked “per capita” by black individuals in America, all of which are false. He also said that “prowling blacks go around for fun to go target White people” in urban America “all the time.”

Even some African Americans controversially slain in this century were targets of Kirk’s derision and misinformation. He claimed that George Zimmerman was hunted at night by Trayvon Martin, the unarmed black teenager he eventually killed, when a transcript of the conversation Zimmerman had with a dispatcher clearly demonstrated that it was Zimmerman who was following Martin. Kirk also called George Floyd, whose murder, like Kirk’s, was recorded and seen by a global audience when a White police officer knelt on his neck for nine minutes, a “scumbag” and insisted that he died from a drug overdose, although autopsy reports indicated otherwise.

Kirk was also at times dismissive of African Americans and their experiences with racism. On more than one occasion, while speaking with young black men on college campuses who told him that they were called the ‘N’ word, he dismissed them as liars. His misogyny was also apparent. On one occasion he told a female college student that it was “materially insane to think that one in five American women will be raped in their life” and that the women are “lying,” and is also in record as saying that “birth control creates very angry and bitter young ladies and young women.” He also recommended banning “third world immigration, legal or illegal.”

LACK OF SENSITIVITY

Charlie Kirk was not averse to violence and displayed a lack of sensitivity regarding victims. He said it was “worth it to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights,” and following a mass shooting involving schoolchildren in Minneapolis in August, Kirk tweeted,” These shootings are so common I hardly felt anything.” He also advocated for public executions, saying they should be ‘quick’ and ‘televised’, jokingly saying they could be sponsored by Coca-Cola and recommended that children be allowed to watch as ‘initiation’. Kirk said, “I would totally tune in to see someone get their head chopped off.” He also said former US President Joe Biden should be “put in prison and/or given the death penalty for his crimes against America.” Regarding protesters, Kirk said, “If somebody has had enough of your antics and has to run you over to get somewhere, they shouldn’t face any penalties.”

During one of his podcasts, Kirk addressed the topic of empathy. He said, “I can’t stand the word empathy. I think empathy is a made-up new age term that does a lot of damage. Sympathy is a better word, because empathy means you are actually feeling what another person felt, and no one can feel what another person feels.” And it is Kirk’s inability or unwillingness to empathise that is haunting him in death. His supporters are displeased with negative comments being made about him, but Kirk’s words were often unkind, inflammatory and discriminatory, serving as dog-whistles for racists and other bigots.

According to a post on X (Twitter), which Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s daughter, WWE star Ava Raine, responded to, “If you want people to have kind words when you pass, you should say kind words when you’re alive.” Celebrating Kirk’s death is reprehensible, but as American Pastor Howard-John Wesley said, “I can abhor the violence that took your life, but I don’t have to celebrate how you chose to live.”

Michael Abrahams is an obstetrician and gynaecologist, social commentator, and human-rights advocate. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and michabe_1999@hotmail.com, or follow him on X , formerly Twitter, @mikeyabrahams