Black Comedy

Are there any little boys out there who are good at spotting naked emperors?

Last week in Philadelphia, we heard the reports from one of the most horrific murder cases in American history. An African-American – Dr. Kermit Gosnell – was being tried for murder of newborn infants in his disgusting abortion mill. The mainstream media observed a blackout on the story of how Gosnell routinely severed the spinal cords of newborns, virtually beheading the babies. Clinic workers reported how he joked about the large size of the babies he was killing. Inspectors found a macabre collection of dead babies and body parts in jars. A janitor told how he had to lift the toilets on the premises to clear out the corpses of babies who had been flushed away.

And there’s more: Gosnell was also accused of being a drug pusher, signing prescriptions for drugs for anyone who came in off the street with enough money. It was reported that he was blatantly racist, treating Asian and African-American girls with cruel disregard, while giving special treatment to rich white women. The list of horrors (abuse of women, racism, medical malpractice, murder, greed, sexism, child abuse) – even just one of these horrors – would normally produce screaming headlines, but because the accused was an abortionist, the American press and the American president stood silent.

In the meantime, with scant regard for the feelings of the poor African-American women whose lives had been ruined and bodies gored by Gosnell, the African-American president appears at a Planned Parenthood fund raiser claiming to be on the side of women. To add insult to injury, he praises Planned Parenthood and invokes God’s blessing on their bloody, money-grubbing enterprise.

Then, just when the trial of Kermit Gosnell was reaching its closing arguments, the newspapers flashed a hugely important headline: an African-American professional basketball player named Jason Collins had declared that he was a homosexual – a groundbreaking event that caused journalists to write opinion columns on this very, very important event. In fact, this story was deemed so important that former President Bill Clinton felt it necessary to comment, and President Obama telephoned the athlete himself to express support and admire his courage.

Neither president commented on the trial in Philadelphia. Neither president telephoned the African-American women who had their bodies punctured and their babies killed by Gosnell. Neither president, who claimed to support the underprivileged black community, called the victims of prostitution and drug addiction that Gosnell was accused of servicing. They admired Jason Collins’ courage, but didn’t have the courage themselves to stand up and speak out about the disgusting and inhumane practices of Gosnell’s abortion and drug mill in Philadelphia.

The reason we need a little boy to shout out about the emperor’s nakedness is because the courtiers seem blind to the obvious. Here is an African-American president who has campaigned on the issue of equal rights for African-Americans and women. Here is a president who has campaigned against violence and the wanton killing of children. Here is a president who says he stands against greed and oppression, yet remains silent in the face of gross oppression, abuse, violence and racism against the poor city dwellers, the majority of whom are black women and children. When our country is facing the fact of cold-hearted racist infanticide being practiced for money, the president thinks a wealthy celebrity athlete’s sexual preference is more important.

The fact that this happens is in itself an incredible outrage. It is like one of those black comedies where the horrors become more incredible and grotesque in every act. The fact that nobody in the mainstream media seems aware of the problem is even more worrying. If the horror of Gosnell can be ignored and swept under the carpet, what other horrors are being ignored? What will happen in the future when other outrages take place in America? If they ignore Gosnell, they will most certainly ignore any other human rights issue that does not fit in with their agenda.

This week has not only revealed the cold hearted, money grubbing, murderous Gosnell to America; it has also shown us that those who have ignored the Philadelphia abortion mill are hardly better than Gosnell himself, for to ignore evil is to condone it. 

The silence on Gosnell’s abortion mill is like seeing the chimneys of Auschwitz and telling oneself it is just an ordinary factory.


Fr. Dwight Longenecker is the parish priest of Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Greenville, SC. Visit his blog, browse his books and be in touch at dwightlongenecker.com.