Je ne suis pas Charlie Hebdo: Beyond Freedom and Islamaphobia

In the wake of the attacks at Charlie Hebdo, the world has hotly debated the tricky boundaries between freedom of speech and hate crime. The debate has fruitfully centered on the need to understand how the culture islamaphobia works in France and the world, however, many of the aspects of these racist contradictions, include the political economy, have not been fully flushed out. (that I have seen)

We have heard, and I will second, that it is no coincidence that the French, and the white world, are enraged by Muslims' attempts to silence white, racist cartoonists, but seem unphased by the recent Colorado NAACP bombing, Black US musicians going to jail without criminal records, the prohibition of Muslim garb in French public space, the consistent harassment of US protesters or the freedom of the press that large parts of France's current and former colonies are trying to gain back after France took it from them.

We have heard that the cartoons were racist, islamaphobic and homophobic. Indeed, they claim to be "equal opportunity" in their jokes. As if the reference to our weak state of job protections wasn't enough, it's not true. They have not ridioculed heterosexuality. They have not required imperialism. They have not ridiculed wealthy, white people. It should importantly be stated that not all ridicule is the same.

When many, truthfully, point out that Charlie Hebdo also criticized Catholicism, they are purposefully missing the point. They are playing dumb. Advocating for white power is not the same as advocating for black power. Insulting a colonized minority is not the same as insulting the Pope.  Additionally, the discourse seems to be supposing that "secular" is "neutral," and therefore, religion, especially dark-people religion, is eccentric, irrational, dangerous. In a country where only 5% of the population attends church, while 28% claim no religion, attacking "all religions equally" is a very weak guise for ridiculing the 8-10% of the French population who are Muslims.

The concern with the value of life is highly important, and should be applied equally to all, in all places. France currently has troops and/or is killing Muslims in order to gain profits in Mali, Iraq, Somalia, Libya, Niger, Lebanon, Chad, Burkina Faso and Mauritani. Wow! While I can't be sure, something tells me that the violence of imperialism has mroe to do with the attacks than some cartoons.

But that brings me to another important point! That culture is an important weapon in imperialism. These cartoons were of bad taste, and they legitimize the "need" to invade Muslim countries, who are, following the cartoons' logic, are run by religious fanatics, not at all secular and rational like the West.  They are, apparently, infants, needing to be cared for because "they aren't ready for democracy yet."(See Naoko Shibusawa's work) The countless democractically elected leaders who have been overthrown by western powers in favor of military dictators cannot be left out of this discussion.  Consuming French literature, theater, philosophy, queer theory and cartoons is often putting yourself at risk for subtelties of imperialist indoctrination.

Culture, historically and currently, are more than just opinions. They have material and often violent consequences.