Thursday, June 18, 2015

Of All the Horrors...

The horror story that has dominated the news today is the mass shooting of nine African-American churchgoers by a white supremacist. This story has understandably been dominating the national media, and I had toyed with titling this post "None Dare Call It Terrorism", but I was beaten to the punch. The coverage of the crime has focused on "lone wolf" violence and even "far left" New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio has couched his remarks about the murders in terms of mental illness":


“We’ve got to take very seriously the fact that many of these tragedies occur and there are warning signs that we can act on if we are more aggressive about dealing with the question of mental health, and de-stigmatizing it, and opening up both the discussing and taking the actions we need on mental health in this city and in this country.”


I love ya, Bill, but this wasn't so much a mind ravaged by disease as a mind poisoned by racist calumnies.

The whole episode lays bare the racism that constitutes the United States' congenital birth defect, from the murders themselves, to the live apprehension of an "armed and dangerous" suspect (as opposed to the killings of unarmed black men), to the characterizations of these clearly racially-motivated killings as an anti-Christian attack (amazingly, all of the anti-christian attacks in this country seem to target African-American or liberal congregations).

Of all of the horrors that have come to light in the past twenty-four hours, the one that disgusts me the most is the fact that the shooter sat with the victims for an hour in a Bible study class- they welcomed him into their church, into their lives, and he rewarded their acceptance with murder.

8 comments:

Vixen Strangely said...

Senator Graham and former Senator Santorum strike me as both being uniquely shit-souled in trying to hijack the narrative away from the actual deaths of black people, to their own regular pule of Christian martyrdom. Cue the ever-loving lions. Dylann Roof was a random hump who killed black people--in a church. He was too chickenshit to shoot up a hip hop concert. If he shot up a hip hop concert, they wouldn't think a word needed to be said. But here we are.

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

Yeah, if he had shot up a hip-hop concert, Fox would have had a "thugs had it coming to them" narrative spun.

Smut Clyde said...

The sh1tweasel got his programming that the White Race and Western Civilisation were in peril, to the extent that only a Turner Diaries-style race war could save them, from somewhere. But Radio Rwanda is never to blame when random machete-wielding lone wolves start killing the designated Others.

zombie rotten mcdonald said...

OT, but I need your damn input. I won't care, of course, but I would like to hear what you think:

Within a few weeks , I am going to a small restored Opera House to see the Mekons as they warm up for the epochal episode in New York when they record a NEW GODDAM ALBUM in a live format with the full participation of the entire crowd (and while making the trip happen would have been tricky, I am disappoint that you, being the hipster New Yorkian was not able to score me a ticket....)

So I am going to Mineral Point to party with them, and I need to take some signature worthy produce. I have a really well-bound book called "Hello Cruel World" which is a sampler of lyrics, and a larger trade-size book called "Mekons United" which is filled with text, art, unfinished stories and included a CD.

What do you think?

Chickpea said...

Whilst denying the obvious motive, I see Fox News ( News?) also dug up Bishop Jackson who called for Pastors to arm themselves against these anti christian attacks. Wrong on so many levels.

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

FAUX News has been race-baiting since Roger Ailes was put in charge. Of course they're going to lie about the consequences.

I'll add that Rupert Murdoch media have a history of this all over the planet.
~

mikey said...

There's really nothing left to be said. America has evolved into a toxic stew of hatred, fear, anger, victimization and millions of weapons. Americans have decided that this cost is worth paying in order to be the only advanced nation with a constitutional guaranteed 'right' to own firearms.

It's funny - they talk endlessly about 'mental illness', and yet the society we have built is itself clinically insane...

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

The sh1tweasel got his programming that the White Race and Western Civilisation were in peril, to the extent that only a Turner Diaries-style race war could save them, from somewhere. But Radio Rwanda is never to blame when random machete-wielding lone wolves start killing the designated Others.

Yeah, he had poison poured into his ear, just like Hamlet's father.

What do you think?

Which one has more room for signatures? They're a big band.

Whilst denying the obvious motive, I see Fox News ( News?) also dug up Bishop Jackson who called for Pastors to arm themselves against these anti christian attacks. Wrong on so many levels.

Yeah, here in the 'States, the answer to gun violence is always MORE GUNS!!!! Meanwhile, if the African-American congregants had shot the kid in self-defense, the headlines would have read: CLEAN-CUT WHITE BOY KILLED BY BLACK MOB!

FAUX News has been race-baiting since Roger Ailes was put in charge. Of course they're going to lie about the consequences.

Yeah, they foster the "black people are dangerous" narrative and then lie when a lunatic unhinged by that narrative acts on it.

It's funny - they talk endlessly about 'mental illness', and yet the society we have built is itself clinically insane...

Yeah, there's that. I refuse to believe, though, that the majority of people are scared, hate-filled, and violent, but there's a sizable minority which is, and they have a fringe element which is willing to be violent. In my day-to-day dealings, I don't see much racial tension, and my neighborhood is mixed. I think the racists know that this is their last hurrah, and they are becoming even nuttier.