Opinion

Roseanne Barr and the left’s intolerance of intolerance

Headlines of New York tabloid newspapers are seen on Wednesday, May 30, 2018 reporting on the cancellation by ABC of "Roseanne" because of racist comments made by the titular star Roseanne Barr referencing former Obama aide Valerie Jarrett. (Richard B. Levine/Sipa USA/TNS) less Headlines of New York tabloid newspapers are seen on Wednesday, May 30, 2018 reporting on the cancellation by ABC of "Roseanne" because of racist comments made by the titular star Roseanne Barr referencing ... more Photo: Richard B. Levine / TNS Photo: Richard B. Levine / TNS Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Roseanne Barr and the left’s intolerance of intolerance 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

ABC dumped Roseanne Barr for grossly insulting Valerie Jarrett, a former Obama top aide. Barr hit four birds with one stone when she degraded Jarrett, the left, Muslims and African Americans when she tweeted, “muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj.”

Doubling down subtly, Barr weakly apologized at first, saying that her remark (since removed from her Twitter feed) was “in bad taste.” She didn’t seem to realize the intensity of her offense.

The left’s response? Shut her up.

Hurt her and her fellow cast members and the entire “Roseanne” comedy show family by canceling the show. Vilify her in the media for being a virulent racist. Never let up.

It’s easy to sympathize with the left’s hostile response to Barr’s hate speech. Many people have been hurt by her tweet. Barr is much more difficult to feel for. But empathize we must.

That’s because empathy is needed to save America from the dangerous degenerating conflict between the left and the right. In the 1960s, the left began openly castigating the right. The politically correct movement made it OK to condescendingly attack the left’s political and social opponents. And both sides kept increasing the intensity of their contempt. The Trump phenomenon is perhaps the apex of this vicious cycle of hostility. And Barr’s beliefs and contempt are representative of Trump supporters’ views.

What to do? The left is better suited than the right to at least begin to unwind this vicious cycle of anger.

Liberals pride themselves for being not only tolerant of but sympathetic to women, racial and ethnic minorities, members of the LGBT community, the poor and other victims of prejudice. So liberals are suited to do for the right what they already do for other victims of harsh judgment. To do so, the left has to make a difficult admission: that the left is no less intolerant than the right.

Some liberals realize they are intolerant of intolerance but argue that the right’s intolerance is severely harmful, whereas the left’s intolerance is a good thing, an effort to constructively confront the right. But just as calling someone the n-word is character assassination, so is calling someone racist, homophobic, sexist, ageist or other epithets wielded in the political wars.

This conclusion is not obvious. It’s the result of years of study and experience by some professionals. This outside-the-box idea is obvious, however, once it’s pointed out. The word racist unmistakably connotes hostile, stupid, ignorant, mean-spirited, and much worse, worthy only of contempt.

A pro-Barr tweeter perhaps most clearly represented the impact of the left’s hostile reaction to Barr.

Mark@texm wrote, “The hypocrisy is chilling and disgusting.”

Without intending to help the left grasp this truth, the late comedian Robin Williams empathized with the difficulty liberals have had in becoming aware of their hypocrisy. He said in 1998, “I’m outraged by cruel absurdities, the hypocrisy that exists everywhere, even within yourself, where it’s hardest to see.”

It is difficult for anyone to realize that they are being harmful. It’s humiliating, and worse yet, it’s humiliating to feel humiliated. Trapped as we are in the logic of moral outrage against morally outrageous behavior, it can feel impossible to even consider stepping outside that box. But there is some promise in exploring what might be involved in trying to lay down our verbal swords and step fully into our opponent’s shoes.

Nobody is born a racist. The belief that any person is unworthy of respect is inculcated by one’s parents, friends, and community, no less than respect for minorities is. We’re born and bred to think the way we think, and unless we have experiences that change our minds, we’re stuck with that degrading belief.

This simple but profound empathetic view has a chance of guiding people toward a better future. Perhaps profound levels of empathetic understanding will be interesting enough for liberals to consider expanding the boundaries of their empathy. The more completely liberals can step into the shoes of their opponents and help the right reciprocate, the more both sides can create constructive dialogue to solve our most pressing and political problems.

John McFadden is an ordained Presbyterian minister and a licensed marriage and family therapist in San Francisco. To comment, submit your letter to the editor at SFChronicle.com/letters.