I’m pretty sure by now everybody has seen, intentionally or not, at least some footage of Charlie Kirk’s assassination. I don’t need to get into the details of that horrific scene. But I do wanna state, however, that I do not condone murder of any kind, and I hope that his family is finding some sort of healing through their tough times.
With all that said, y’all know that “On the Fence Line” has always been a liberated space where we as a community can engage in real dialogue and conversation. I intend to honor that commitment. And so I’m just gonna say it: dude was a certified jackass!
And for those of us who don’t know who Charlie Kirk was, just Google some of his greatest hits. I’ll wait…
Now let’s explore some of the things this guy said:
- “If I see a Black pilot, I’m gonna be like, ‘Boy, I hope he’s qualified.’”
- “British colonialism actually made the world decent.”
- “If we would have said that Joy Reid and Michelle Obama and Sheila Jackson Lee and Ketanji Brown Jackson were affirmative action picks, we would have been called racists. Now they’re coming out and they’re saying it for us … You do not have the brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously. You had to go steal a white person’s slot to go be taken somewhat seriously.”
- “Actually MLK [Martin Luther King] was awful. OK? He’s not a good person.”
- “Reject feminism. Submit to your husband, Taylor [Swift]. You’re not in charge.”
- “America has freedom of religion, of course, but we should be frank: large dedicated Islamic areas are a threat to America.”
- He denied the existence of Palestine and the Palestinian people
- He said that a passage in the Bible that calls for people who practice homosexuality to be stoned to death (Leviticus 20:13) “affirms God’s perfect law when it comes to sexual matters.”
- He called the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act “a huge mistake.”
- He called George Floyd, a Black man who was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020 and whose death inspired a racial justice movement, a “scumbag.”
I know, right? C’mon, cuzz… seriously?
As the Trump administration is launching a full-scale attack on free speech and educational institutions, more and more colleges are folding under this pressure and violating their own oaths to being a safe space for the free exchange of ideas.
Well, I guess that all depends on what kind of ideas you’re exchanging. Because while concepts such as diversity, equity, and inclusion are being criminalized and outlawed as being too “woke” for the likes of Donald Trump and his supporters, people like Charlie Kirk are being heralded as champions of free speech and religious conviction.
Kirk, a self-proclaimed Christian and founder of conservative advocacy organization Turning Point USA, also played a major role in this war against educational institutions. In 2016, through Turning Pointing USA, Kirk launched a website called Professor Watchlist, which listed the names of professors his organization believed “discriminated against conservative students, promote anti-American values and advance leftist propaganda in the classroom.” While Kirk claimed to be protecting conservative students, what he was really doing was posting a hit list of teachers he and his supporters just didn’t like.
The irony…
Recently, I was having a conversation with a really good friend of mine who was sharing with me how he was in the process of a major career change. And though he’s been a college professor for over a decade, the culture on campus has just become too toxic to tolerate. I don’t necessarily blame him. And though he didn’t explicitly state that this was his actual reason for leaving the profession, I can imagine it played some role in his decision.
For his protection, I am choosing not to name him or his college.
What’s sad is that people like my friend, who have made an honorable commitment to teach from a true and authentic spirit, are now being marginalized and ostracized as threats to society. Yet Charlie Kirk, whose quotes I shared earlier speak for themselves, are celebrated as martyrs and honored as if he were Jesus Christ himself!
What we see in Kirk and many conservative right-wing advocates is this constant weaponization of faith and religion to justify colonialism, racism, and sexism. At the end of the day, it’s just White nationalism gift-wrapped in Christianity. And while Kirk used his platform to exercise his First Amendment right and share his beliefs, let’s not ignore that he also constantly disrespected Black people, immigrants, women, Muslims, and the LGBTQ+ community.
So while these sorry-ass politicians are all squeezing every little bit of political clout out of Kirk’s death, they should also be reminded that those of us who are dying slowly from their racist policies are still dying. They should also be held accountable for that.
At the end of the day, words have real-life consequences, as Kirk found out the hard way. But no one should have to go out like he did, even if he was a racist clown. People should be able to share their beliefs, views, and ideologies without the fear of physical harm or censorship. However, that right also has to be equitable across the board, regardless of your beliefs.
That’s not we’re seeing right now. Because of this conflation of right-wing conservatism and Christianity, Kirk’s death has served as a calling for even more attacks on people’s rights in the name religion and faith. And those of us who continue to reject his hateful ideology in life, are now the ones being attacked even more in the wake of his death.
So while I empathize with those grieving, I’m also gonna be honest, y’all… the way you die does not then absolve you of the way you lived.
And with that, we just gotta continue to do what we do best, y’all — resist and love. Because without that, what do we have? Our people are dying, too… I’m choosing to honor them.
Free Palestine!
Until next time, keep dreaming!
P.S. Welcome home, Cincere! Your uncle and auntie love you!
Felix Sitthivong is an incarcerated storyteller, community organizer, and founding member of the Peoples’ Empowerment Assembly for Collective Equity (PEACE). Sitthivong is also the former president and senior advisor for the Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Awareness Group (APICAG). He is currently serving a 66-year sentence at the Washington Corrections Center in Shelton, WA. Reach him with questions for “On the Fence Line” via Securus (WA #354579) or write to him at Felix Sitthivong #354579, PO BOX 900, Shelton, WA 98584.
