Here I was, typing a response to some recent sexist comments and behaviors I experienced from men in New York City.
And then this happened.
It would be nearly pointless to discuss the obviously discriminatory way that this terrorist is being analyzed by popular media outlets. As usual, he’s a “disturbed loner” who possibly had friends of different races. The backlash against labeling him as a racist terrorist comes in the ironically just idea of “innocent until proven guilty” (perhaps that’s why we’re still calling him the shooting suspect, as if there is any doubt that he carried out this massacre after his confession.)
I would rather discuss the tragically ironic idea that this self-proclaimed racist, who wore pro-apartheid paraphernalia on his jacket, was given the honor of wearing a bullet proof vest when finally captured in North Carolina.
2 things:
1. He was able to flee as far as North Carolina before eventually being captured ALIVE. Walter Scott barely made it 20 feet after a traffic stop before a police officer shot him dead. The invisibility of white privilege made his escape almost a success as he drove 250 miles north of Charleston.
2. Watch this video where the terrorist is gently escorted into a police car after shooting 9 innocent people dead. Now, see how these police officers treat these female teenagers during a pool party in Texas. Or, how Eric Garner is treated by Staten Island police after reportedly selling illegal cigarettes.
Don’t see the difference? In all situations, according to our society’s skewed view of what justice is, each person getting what they deserve. A killer will be put on trial to spew his racist ideology in court while people of color get “what they deserve” in the eyes of law enforcement. If this 21 year old were part of ISIS, and had committed the same crime, perhaps we’d see an investigation into a larger group motive; maybe he was part of a global terrorist plot. No, the police decided that he had acted alone. We will probably hear the insanity defense as a misguided way to address our own fear of what human beings are capable of.
While I would love to delve into the individual lives of each innocent victim, I’m afraid it might not effect change. In each instance of racially motivated violence, we know the name of the perpetrator and the victims’ names become hashtags. Those close to them remember their legacies but the broader society forgets their names as quickly as it forgets the discussion on gun law reform.
What would it take to change the nature of the way we analyze and deal with cases of racist hatred in the U.S? We can talk ourselves hoarse about his motives and personality, but it doesn’t address the larger, structural causes of his actions. We attempt to brush these things off as a way expedite the healing process. We, as a country, fail to address the real motivations of racism and hatred as a means to avoid those difficult conversations that make us uncomfortable.
Racism is not a fad or a trend. It isn’t going away and unaddressed racist violence will only exacerbate and encourage others who share this dangerous ideology to commit more violence and openly express their views.
“I was sentenced to life plus 30 years by an all-White jury. What I saw in prison was wall-to-wall Black flesh in chains. Women caged in cells. But we’re the terrorists. It just doesn’t make sense.” Assata Shakur
Musings of a Burgeoning Brooklynite 