Symbol sends wrong message

By Joseph Gauger
Collegian Editor
October 17, 2007

Last week, pundits in America and around the world had occasion to comment on one of the most iconic and controversial figures in recent history: Oct. 9 was the 40th anniversary of the murder of Ernesto “Che” Guevara. The New York Times ran a story that day about Guevara’s daughter and her chagrin at seeing her father’s famous image emblazoned on merchandise in both Cuba and the United States (“A Revolutionary, and Now, a Bikini”). Many left-wing writers defended the legacy of the Bolivian-born guerilla tactician. I agree, though not without qualification, with those who object to idolization of Guevara on the basis of his violent behavior. But I object in more general terms to the practice of hero-worship.

Young leftists who wear Che’s image as a badge of their radicalism may be naïve, but when they ignore his unheroic actions they exhibit the same ignorance, willful or otherwise, as hero-worshippers of all political persuasions. Take the long-running, cultish fascination with Ronald Reagan by American conservatives (red-and-black parody shirts featuring Reagan’s vapid countenance are available on the Internet). Reagan was little more than a B-list actor hired by the Republican Party to drop pithy conservative applause lines. His ability to wax poetic about opportunity while prejudicially undermining America’s social safety net and to remain loyal to his henchmen after they negotiated with terrorists in Iran and South America has won him a unique place in the hearts of the American right. But why stop with Reagan? There are plenty of nasty but painfully accurate things to say about almost every U.S. president, and even some Nobel Peace laureates. The point is not to see how many reputations can be smirched in one paragraph, but to show that no one’s life can be condensed into a bumper-sticker slogan.

What does that monochrome mugshot on the blood-red background stand for? Guevara’s youthful freedom as he traveled around South and Central America on a motorcycle? His courageous decision to leave behind a life of comfort to fight for his beliefs? Perhaps his violence against innocent people and his support for a brutal and dictatorial regime? The truth is that Che Guevara was a three-dimensional human being with some admirable qualities and some egregious flaws. Guevara’s fans use his likeness as a symbol of activism against the Establishment. But a white kid sitting in the basement of his parents’ suburban home and reading the 50 Things You’re Not Supposed to Know cannot claim to be fighting the same fight as Guevara (especially if he bought his Che shirt at Hot Topic). When that kid repudiates his middle-class lifestyle and goes off into the jungle to help overthrow capitalist oppression, he can wear a guerilla’s face on his chest.

Conservatives who take umbrage at communistwannabes could benefit from a closer look at their own idols. Comforting as it may be to pretend that the United States is a saintly agent of freedom and democracy, our history is rife with violence and coups on behalf of U.S. financial interests. The right-wing apologists who condemn Che cannot usually plead ignorance when it comes to their idols, however. Idolizing Che is misguided, but pretending that the U.S. has a sterling reputation is outright dishonest. Regardless of motivation, ideologues on both sides are eager to plant their flag on the “moral high ground.” The anniversary of Che’s death should provoke us to make a more mature assessment of all our would-be heroes.

gaugerj1@lasalle.edu