Racial Terrorism
Just when you might have thought it safe to attend a prayer
meeting in church, a racial terrorist, walks in, chats for a while with the
parishioners, and then shoots everyone he can, including the pastor.
Meanwhile, at the South Carolina Statehouse, the Confederate
flag continues to fly at full mast.
Now, the closest analogue I can conceive is this: what if a white
male walks into a synagogue during Friday prayers, shoots everyone he can find,
and walks out, while the South Carolina Statehouse is flying a Swastika at full
mast. What would everyone say?
And please don't argue mental illness. See, Mr. Root is not a mentally ill loner. His act grew out
of a whole support system that enabled, and even encouraged him to act the way
he did. He was coldly rational, as he opened fire on the innocents in church.
He even announced that he had to do it (kill Blacks) because they were taking
over, raping our women, destroying everything.
He has the mindset of a Nazi during WW II. He has the mindset of an ISIS
terrorist who cuts people’s heads off.
His acts were enabled, arguably by growing up within a community of
racists, perhaps within a family of racists, and living in a state, South Carolina,
that proudly announces to the world, “WE ARE OFFICIALLY A RACIST STATE”.
Note, it should be clear that, to me, the Confederate flag
has only one meaning—“I am a racist”. Whether it is displayed on a bumper
sticker or flying over the state capitol, it announces that its owner is a
racist.
So, we have a young man who is raised within this
environment, and then, because he needs a simple mechanism of destruction, he
is provided with destructive means via the NRA insistence that everyone should
own a gun to “defend” himself. So, his act, explicitly racial terrorism, is
enabled by his family, his community, his state, and the NRA. He acted the way he was driven to act.
We cannot and must not argue that this person is mentally
ill. He is and was coldly rational, again, much like Nazi’s when they opened
the gas valves to destroy Jewish lives.
And we probably should not allow ourselves to be distracted
by an argument about gun control. Yes,
racial terrorists need guns. Rocks, or even knives, don’t work too well to kill
many people at one time. And yes, the
NRA facilitates that transaction, wherein terrorists can obtain easily the
means of mass destruction. But, much as
we do not spend our time arguing about the need to control ISIS’ access to
weaponry, we should not be distracted here. The central issue is racism, and
racial terrorism.
We need desperately to
confront that issue in our Nation. That
is the issue if we are ever again to be treated seriously as a civilized
society. Because, frankly, now, we are
not such a society. We behave as a fourth world territory—welcome to Somalia-USA
(apologies to Somalians everywhere).
Perhaps one short term answer is for people of color and for whites who have a social conscience to boycott South Carolina. Of course, I think the same about Florida with its stand your ground law that allowed an idiot to kill Trayvon Martin.
Perhaps one short term answer is for people of color and for whites who have a social conscience to boycott South Carolina. Of course, I think the same about Florida with its stand your ground law that allowed an idiot to kill Trayvon Martin.
