A letter from an alumnus in response to the controversial 'build the wall' graffiti on campus.
I would like to propose a few amendments to the Wednesday letter “Free speech exists to protect offensive ideas, such as ‘build the wall,’” especially in regards to the notion of whether or not such speech is “acceptable.” Yes, I believe that, legally, there is no way to block such speech, but there is also no way to block this speech: You, pro-Trump painters of the wall, are really, really, stupendously, resoundingly dumb.
Wow, you are dumb. You support a candidate with a proven record of lying on pathological levels. You support a candidate for whom violence is pervasive in, and possibly essential to, to the rise of his campaign. You are soul-crushingly dumb. You’re supporting a candidate who is the most hated candidate in history since a literal KKK member ran for the White House. The amount of dumbness it takes to align yourself in such a way, to give in to such base impulses, is staggering.
Are your ideas allowed in an open forum? Sure, I guess we can debate whether pineapples are human, whether Voldemort was real, whether Trump should build a wall and whether we can really “trust” chairs. I’m more shocked that anyone could take their support of Trump public. If you’re comfortable looking into the eyes of those you respect and saying “I am weak and sad and scared and alone,” then that is indeed your prerogative. No groups have yet condemned you for your support for Trump, which is perhaps too kind. I guess one of those dumb statements you painted just makes you look dumb, while the other dumb statement hurts.
To clarify, I don’t believe you were born dumb. I just think you are weak-willed enough to hold leadership to the same standard as a pro wrestling heel, and thus dumb enough to believe that a candidate created by contrarianism is somehow valid. You saw Obama, and reacted as though this serious politician could be voted off American Idol-style. When you ask for a wall, you’re protesting the media, but also protesting rational sense. You’re letting the walls of your own mind fall and reveling in the beautiful ecstasy of 2+2=5. That, by the way, you are also free to say: It’s just that most people accept that 2+2=4 because they are not dumb and you are willfully, transcendently dumb.
It has been annoying to explain how dumb you are to my co-workers. I already have my 11th graders, in the midst of their college process, asking me why my school keeps showing up on party school lists. This week, I added three conversations with other teachers over just why my school’s graffiti wall would feature something so stupid. I have asked permission to share our conversation with you and they were kind enough to oblige:
Them: “Who at your school would do such a thing?”
Me: “Some truly dumb idiots who seem to think this is some sort of a political statement, rather than an expression of a slow descent into absurdity. A political statement, and not a child’s response to a world moving at a speed they do not recognize. Some sort of actual statement of political truth, rather than acquiescing to a language of oppression created by a populace that doesn’t have any concept of loving thy neighbor. They are dumb.”
Them: “Wow. They are dumb.”
You have been so dumb that I have had to question my notion of satire. I once believed it could expose the inanity of demagogues like Trump, could open eyes through co-opting a sadistic political force. No longer! From the best to the rest, all satire does is provide dumb people like you an opportunity to get lost and smart people the illusion that they have done something to fight against the ever-threatening fog of dumb. I’m sorry, I implied that not supporting Trump is smart: I actually feel that it is the bare minimum you can ask of a citizen of a country. So my satire, my humor now, derives from just calling you dumb. If I were still on-campus, I think my solo protest would be taking a sign out to your graffiti that says, “The people who wrote this are dumb,” and shouting into a megaphone, “Wow guys, these people are really dumb.”
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Obviously, my true emotion is that of sadness: People of color traditionally and today meet an unwelcome response at our school. Surrounded by white faces and an unbelievably segregated bar/party scene, I have had friends remark that they are worried that the faces around them hold such prejudices. I am deeply, bitterly sorry that you re-affirmed that doubt with your alignment with racism, and reminded those in our community that they are not safe from white judgement. You believe they and other international students, as your peers, are not equals. You sent that message with your free speech. Those are the words you chose to speak, on a wall that your peers use to build hype for their first tastes of ownership in their young lives. I believe you are more than dumb, I believe you are a coward, so cowardly that this article that would otherwise be slander is legal due to your anonymity. You are out of the public space, reduced to painting in the middle of the night, not because you were bullied but because you were laughed out. I do wish you would stay there, rather than pop your head out. But there is nothing we can do. I will keep having to explain your behavior a thousand miles away.
So I am going to call you dumb a lot, as often as possible, because at least that cushions your vitriol. Besides, it’s the only satire I can trust that you, someone who believes politics means “winning” and “losing,” have proven capable of understanding.
Taylor Reinhart is a 2014 Ohio University alumnus.
