While the world was shocked yesterday to hear news of a young white man who pulled a gun on the EMA Church in Charleston, South Carolina, another shooting took place in Memphis, Tennessee. The good news is, no one was hurt. But the sentiment of fear is still there.
Back in Charleston, Dylann Storm Roof was set for bond after admitting to killing nine people at the EMA Church. And the media even began portraying him as a sick, lone wolf. Or, displayed innocent pictures of him to ensure that there would be some form of sympathy toward him.
Facebook and twitter feeds even tried very hard to distance themselves from Roof, claiming that he looked more of a “mixed race” than purely white. Let’s face it, Roof was white. He was whiter than me, and I’m pretty damned white. White supremest groups also attempted to distance themselves from this act of terror, knowing that this action only hurts their twisted sense of morality.
Roof had claimed, as a roommate and close friend had said, that he wanted to start a civil war. A race war. And yet, the media and right wing politicians are trying desperately to play this down. That this isn’t something that is a wide spread concern. Because look, there’s brown people in the Middle East that are threatening the security in the United States and Canada. We’re not that stupid.
Unmanned drone attacks against unsuspecting civilians won’t help protect any security when you have white supremacists who walk into a church to shoot the black people within. Oh, and sexist. I forgot to mention that, because Roof claimed that black men are raping white women, and he has to protect the white women. Which is telling that Roof has no respect for women either. Because when you use the white knight trope with regard to women, you’re basically saying that women can’t protect themselves, can’t make decisions for themselves, and can’t take care of themselves. Which is all 100% not true.
So yes, America. You have a gun problem. You have a race problem. You breed domestic, white terrorists on a daily basis, and that kind of right wing thinking is even affecting us north of the border. Did you know that our current Prime Minister supported South African apartheid? This is the thoughts of right wing conservatives (both small c and big C). Strip away rights, dehumanize everyone not white, and force everyone into poverty.
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