It’s not hard to see the shooting at Charlie Hebdo in Paris for the tragedy it is, but in response, many people have gone into a mode of black and white thinking where the magazine is nothing but a martyred victim and all Muslim people are terrorists.

It’s easy to make that jump when, as a society, we already devalue Muslim lives and we see satire as a get-out-of-jail free card to be played whenever someone is accused of bigotry. Charlie Hebdo is a satirical magazine that frequently publishes bigoted and racist cartoons, particularly of Muslim and African people.

Satire should not – and, historically, has not been – used to put down the oppressed. Many satire-based media sources are forgiven their racism and bigotry because they are satirical and because they make fun of everyone, not just oppressed people. But in a society where oppression is miles away from being eradicated, so-called satire that targets oppressed people isn’t so much a joke as it is a reinforcement of the racism, sexism, homophobia and other bigotry we already value.

No, the workers at Charlie Hebdo did not deserve to die for the magazine’s bigotry but, as a society, we do need to take a longer look at what we consider satire and why. Why is it that we are able to watch episodes of “Family Guy” making fun of disabled people or LGBTQIA people and laugh, but the second someone makes a joke about veterans, all humor is lost? Why aren’t both of these equally offensive?

Because disabled people and LGBTQIA people aren’t valued – the same is true for people of color and women and the elderly. We can see this by the fact 20 to 40 percent of homeless youth in the United States identify as LGBTQIA, according to the National Conference of State Legislature’s website, but the most prominent issue for many LGBTQIA activists is still the legalization of same-gender marriage. Or by the fact that neither Michael Brown nor Eric Garner’s murderers have been brought to justice, even though it’s been almost six months since Michael Brown’s murder.

Satire that victimizes those who are already victims doesn’t do anything but uphold the status quo. The Charlie Hebdo murders are a tragedy, but because they were deaths of human beings, not because Charlie Hebdo the magazine was some pillar of journalistic and satirical integrity.