Recently an Indiana lawmaker posted a funny meme on Facebook. Well, at least he thought it was funny.
The image of Black children dancing with the words “We gon’ get free money!” gave State Rep. Jim Lucas, R-Seymour, a good chuckle. And, he’s no racist, he’ll tell you. He’s an equal opportunity offender. To prove it, he posted other memes that degraded poor white people. The memes were in protest of the federal bailouts that will create debt for future generations. I wonder why he didn’t create a meme about corporations who received a federal bailout. Instead, he chose to denigrate the ones who need help the most — poor people — and let’s face it, no one is getting rich from $1,200. By the way, the average income for Seymour residents is about $22,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. But this isn’t about lambasting Lucas for picking on his constituents or his blind spot to corporate greed. It’s about our demands of Lucas.
This isn’t Lucas’ first time getting into trouble on Facebook. He posted another meme in August 2019 of a gallows with two nooses under the photo a Black man who pleaded guilty to rape.
If Lucas isn’t racist, he’s crass and clueless.
Once news of the meme began circulating, the expected calls to apologize followed. Lucas refuses. I’m with him. I don’t want an apology from Lucas because it means absolutely nothing. I’m not sure when we started demanding apologies from everyone who offends us publicly, but if the apology is hollow, I’d much rather the offender keep it. I only want an apology when someone truly means it and plans to change the behavior for which the apology is given. Having a publicist write a half-hearted statement to placate the public and going right back to business as usual does nothing.
When did these fake apologies become acceptable? We know the words mean nothing, but we want one to make us feel better? I’m confused. I don’t want to feel better. I want action in the form of better behavior. I’m reminded of the saying, “actions speak louder than words.”
Lucas didn’t learn his lesson the first time, and he sees absolutely nothing wrong with what he did this time. He’s made that clear. If he apologizes now it would only be because he’s lost positions on committees in the legislature, and he’s trying to get back in the good graces of House Speaker Todd Huston, R-Fishers.
It’s time we stop demanding and accepting apologies from people who don’t mean them. If someone wants to apologize, he or she will. If an adult doesn’t have the self-awareness to know he or she caused harm to others, why would that person’s apology carry any weight? We can’t force someone to be sorry for his or her actions.
What we really want is for Lucas — and others — to understand the pain their actions caused and apologize for that. We want them to understand while maybe you think you’re not racist, you don’t have the sensitivity to understand you probably are — or at the very least have implicit bias against Black and poor people. He doesn’t get it. And many of us don’t either. Apologizing for posting the meme isn’t the same as apologizing for believing the meme. It doesn’t address the root of the problem. That’s really the apology we want, and until I get the real one, I’ll pass on the fakes.
