There is no problem so big or complicated that it can't be run away from. Anon
The chief cause of problems is solutions. Eric Sevareid
It is remarkable that when something is easy to see, even obvious to the naked eye that certain people will go to extraordinary lengths to disavow what's right in front of them. Hint, hint the big T's pronouncements. He claims he can fix anything. Even terrorism.
Unless you live in Fiji or a cabin in the wilderness that has no Internet connection, or cell coverage you must have heard that our atrocious leader has devised a plan to eradicate terrorism from our shores. How he is going about this is by forbidding entry to anyone who is from one of the countries that he doesn't do business with. Never mind that the country where the preponderance of men responsible for 9/11 are freely allowed to enter this country. If you are looking for logic from the current White House, please look elsewhere. Our atrocious leader has also decided that any immigrants to this country are immediately under suspicion of being terrorists. Green card, whoa, you are a problem, even if you are working for Microsoft or Amazon, who knows what you have hidden up your sleeve.
Look, just look, at the facts and statistics on who has been responsible for more than 74% of all the domestic terrorism in this country. T wants to solely focus on ISIS. Yet, here is a small summation, and it states "the facts tell a different story," according to the Time magazine article of February 2. Big shock, it isn't the Muslim community:
The Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism has found that right-wing extremists — including white supremacists, sovereign citizens and militia members — were responsible for 74% of the 372 extremist-related murders from 2007 to 2016. And of the 45 police officers killed by domestic extremists since 2001, 34 were killed by right-wing extremists.
These numbers demonstrate the importance of promoting antiterrorism efforts that are broad enough to tackle the wide range of extremist beliefs that have taken root in this country. We also must address the proliferation of radicalizing materials that are readily available to anyone with an Internet connection and embolden both white supremacists (Dylann Roof, for example) and Islamic extremists alike.
I am perplexed as to why these mostly young white men who committed mass murders believe that violence is the answer, that the hateful and most prejudice among us [KKK, neo Nazis, etc.] are to be revered. Upbringing? Bullying? Horrible video games that promote violence? Low intelligence? Inability to read and write? Here are some guesses: In my gut I believe that it is a combination of causative factors for these young men, 1. wanting to belong to a group that is somewhat sensational; 2. ugly recruiters who flatter the vulnerable saying they will be doing a wonderful thing by joining the hate group 3.past bullying and/or shaming vulnerable young men 4. hateful rhetoric that promotes this kind of action for the cause of eradicating who they have been taught to hate eg. people of color or Jews, etc. 5. fear that they will disappoint the group, or won't make their mark in history [fame, really infamy...] and that is off the top of my head. Wish there were better studies. I'm going to see if SPLC has done extensive studies.
Really, has anyone done a study as to why these young men are so vulnerable to the dark side? Hatred and fear are important components as to why young men turn to violence. Those who promote both hatred and fear [name calling, unfounded accusations like Mexicans are rapists, etc.] against our fellow citizens must be called on the carpet and confronted about their irresponsibility.
By not acknowledging the race bating, no matter how subtle, we are all participating in encouraging hatred and fear of our fellow citizens. This is not political correctness, it is necessary to our survival as a democracy that we strive to have a more perfect union. Remember that. If you hear divisiveness, stand up to it, call racism by it's name.
Here is an explanation from Ta-Nehisi Coates on why we have shirked our duty to calling out racism:
The shame reflects an ugly and lethal trend in this country’s history—an ever-present impulse to ignore and minimize racism, an aversion to calling it by its name. For nearly a century and a half, this country deluded itself into thinking that its greatest calamity, the Civil War, had nothing to do with one of its greatest sins, enslavement. It deluded itself in this manner despite available evidence to the contrary. Lynchings, pogroms, and plunder proceeded from this fiction. Writers, journalists, and educators embroidered a national lie, and thus a safe space for the violent tempers of those who needed to be white was preserved.*
I am perplexed as to why these mostly young white men who committed mass murders believe that violence is the answer, that the hateful and most prejudice among us [KKK, neo Nazis, etc.] are to be revered. Upbringing? Bullying? Horrible video games that promote violence? Low intelligence? Inability to read and write? Here are some guesses: In my gut I believe that it is a combination of causative factors for these young men, 1. wanting to belong to a group that is somewhat sensational; 2. ugly recruiters who flatter the vulnerable saying they will be doing a wonderful thing by joining the hate group 3.past bullying and/or shaming vulnerable young men 4. hateful rhetoric that promotes this kind of action for the cause of eradicating who they have been taught to hate eg. people of color or Jews, etc. 5. fear that they will disappoint the group, or won't make their mark in history [fame, really infamy...] and that is off the top of my head. Wish there were better studies. I'm going to see if SPLC has done extensive studies.
Really, has anyone done a study as to why these young men are so vulnerable to the dark side? Hatred and fear are important components as to why young men turn to violence. Those who promote both hatred and fear [name calling, unfounded accusations like Mexicans are rapists, etc.] against our fellow citizens must be called on the carpet and confronted about their irresponsibility.
By not acknowledging the race bating, no matter how subtle, we are all participating in encouraging hatred and fear of our fellow citizens. This is not political correctness, it is necessary to our survival as a democracy that we strive to have a more perfect union. Remember that. If you hear divisiveness, stand up to it, call racism by it's name.
Here is an explanation from Ta-Nehisi Coates on why we have shirked our duty to calling out racism:
The shame reflects an ugly and lethal trend in this country’s history—an ever-present impulse to ignore and minimize racism, an aversion to calling it by its name. For nearly a century and a half, this country deluded itself into thinking that its greatest calamity, the Civil War, had nothing to do with one of its greatest sins, enslavement. It deluded itself in this manner despite available evidence to the contrary. Lynchings, pogroms, and plunder proceeded from this fiction. Writers, journalists, and educators embroidered a national lie, and thus a safe space for the violent tempers of those who needed to be white was preserved.*
Let's all of us continue in our opposition to the ridiculous and harmful executive orders coming from the current White House and his "trusted adviser" who is a radical isolationist. Show up, speak up. Don't turn away ignore or minimize the hatred.
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| This painting was at an exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum *All of the underlines are mine not the authors. susansmagicfeather copyright 2017 all rights reserved Susan R. Grout |
