Charlie Hebdo cartoon perpetuates deplorable stereotypes

The image of a drowned Syrian-Kurdish Alan Kurdi — lifeless and face down on a Turkish beach — has become a symbol of the refugee crisis. The media coverage of his death constructed a single tragedy into a unifying narrative, which not only brought attention to the gravity of the situation but also humanized the plight of refugees. Despite an outcry from the international community as a result of the photo, the innocence of this child has been suffocated by bigotry manufactured through the media. The French magazine Charlie Hebdo sparked controversy recently after publishing a political cartoon featuring the young boy earlier this month. Under the guise of satire, the publication debases the humanity of an innocent child and slanders the morality of Syrians, who seek refuge from persecution, torture and death.

The cartoon imagines Kurdi as an adult and depicts him as an ape who molests women in Germany. It reads, “What would little Aylan grow up to be? A groper in Germany.” The satirical commentary responds to charges in Cologne, Germany, accusing many migrants of sexual assault in the face of already-established French anxiety toward refugees in Europe.

Time and time again, Charlie Hebdo has manufactured insensitive and distasteful hate speech, packaged commercially as freedom of expression. Cheap publications like Charlie Hebdo maintain that racist and religious rhetoric mocks the rationale of those who employ stereotypes; however in doing so, they blatantly perpetuate racist and anti-religious sentiment. In the case of Alan Kurdi, it is unjustifiable to pervert the image of a minor to criminalize Syrian refugees entirely and to hypersexualize its entire male population, which is not only an act of slander but also of degradation. By drawing a parallel between the child and a sex offender, this cartoon relegates the tragedy of Kurdi’s death by dehumanizing him into a depraved member of society deserving of little dignity, and it also suggests that his death should be celebrated, not mourned. To European readers, most of whom may be potentially blindsided by rampant anti-refugee hysteria, it says quite simply that a dead Syrian is one less predator on the streets.

A child — fleeing a civil war with proportions similar to genocide and accompanied by unbridled terrorism — drowned tragically as a Syrian refugee. But through the work of irresponsible journalism, he was killed again, as an innocent three-year-old victim to character assassination.

The recently published Charlie Hebdo cartoon is one of many that mocked the death of Kurdi. One cartoon depicts the lifeless body of Kurdi under a caption reading “So Close to the Goal” and an advertisement above him reading, “Two children’s menus for the price of one.” Another cartoon uses the image as a vehicle to mock Islam with a caption that read “Proof that Europe is Christian.” These cartoons are calculated and consistent in obscuring the fine line between slander and its counterpart, satire. The problem with “satire” of this variety is its othering of Syrian refugees, which redefines one of the greatest humanitarian crises of our time as an issue of us-versus-them.

The publication of the cartoon comes only a year after a terrorist attack targeting the Charlie Hebdo office. The attack left a total of 12 people dead and was prompted by a satirical cartoon mocking Islam and its prophet, Mohammad. While the massacre of these journalists is unwarranted, the magazine is clearly no stranger to ill-advised and irresponsible satire; additionally, it also is well aware of the potential harm a simple drawing can cause.

After the attack, the slogan “Je suis Charlie” (“I am Charlie”) quickly grew into a social movement to defend both “freedom of speech” and “the spirit of the republic.” Yet much of the rhetoric surrounding the attack proved to be far too reductive in that it included obscenity and subsequent hate speech under the umbrella of free expression and democratic values. Thus, to a publication that tactfully degrades tragedy and heartlessly criminalizes Syrians altogether, I say “Je ne suis pas Charlie” (“I am not Charlie”). I stand in solidarity for hate-free expression and respect for all members of humanity, so I say “Je suis Alan Kurdi” (“I am Alan Kurdi”).

Lida Dianti is a junior majoring in international relations. Her column, “That’s So Racist!,” runs  Wednesdays.