The Lair of the Emerald Serpent

I was living in Germany in the early 1990s. Around that time there was a spate of firebombings of houses and hostels where Turkish residents were living. One such attack resulted in 5 people being burned to death and the culprits turned out to be a bunch of young white males. Puffed up poppinjays with an inflated sense of entitlement and resentment and the usual line "These people are taking all our jobs and raping our women." They seemed to believe that women are some sort of property and it was no doubt all the fault of those evil Turkish infidels that no German girls were interested in them. More likely because most of them had no job and no prospects of one with such an entitlement mentality.

So when I heard the news of the church shooting in South Carolina, it was with a strange sense of deja vu.

Mass shootings in the United States happen so often that it's almost normal. But this one is different. Not just that yet another poor oppressed young white male guns down a bunch of people just going about their daily business. But he commits this crime in a church where he had been welcomed. He repays this hospitality with a hail of bullets while ranting about how it's all their fault for being BLACK!. "You rape our women and you're taking over our country. And you have to go"

That alone is bad enough but it is some of the responses to the massacre that are downright scary. So many people are claiming that this is not a hate crime and has nothing to do with race. It is a mere 'incident' according to one presidential candidate and the most outrageous of all that it is really the fault of the church leaders for not allowing their congregation to carry guns to church!

But it's always the same old pattern. When a young white male goes on a killing rampage, the talk is of 'lone wolves, misfits and mental illness. Other young white men are not expected to apologize or be held accountable in any way and they certainly do not need to fear walking the streets.

The killer in this case appears in nearly all the pictures looking seriously smug, self righteous and pleased with his 15 minutes of fame. He intended to sow the seeds of discord, chaos and mayhem and knew exactly what he was doing. That by any definition should count as an act of terror. If that is madness then there is certainly a method to it.

If he had been an Arab or a Muslim there would likely be absolute outrage at this barbaric act of terrorism, demand for government reprisals and most likely attacks on women wearing head scarves or men wearing turbans.



Jon Stewart summed it up perfectly
No Laughing Matter

Out of curiosity I began reading some of the comments and was absolutely flabbergasted at how quickly they degenerated into a troll fest and a pity party.
Nine members of a Black church have been mercilessly murdered and all some people can say in reply
" Imagine being a white guy during the slavery era, not able to have a house because of all the jobs that are being taken by slaves who get fed and housed."

And that ridiculous comment is positively civilized, mannerly and logical compared to some of the rantings and ravings especially from the NRA and KKK minions

As an outsider I will never understand just what it will take to end the United States love affair with guns. If the murder of 20 school kids and 6 teachers was not enough to change the gun culture then this one is hardly likely to melt the cold hardened hearts of the nasty NRA and their supporters.

And how long will it take before the next American mass shooting makes it to the local news?