There is so much going on in my head right now about the latest mass shooting act of terrorism in America, the racist elements behind it, and how it's affecting my psychology as a black American. In trying to make sense of what happened, I stumbled upon this comment in a New York Times article about the event. I think this commenter really puts the nail on the head on why this cycle of hate, violence, and racism continues in America.
Jump below the fold for the comment...
The comment was made by an anonymous NYT reader from Pennsylvania under the username: Gfagan. It was picked by the Times as one of their top comments and recommended more than 4000 times by other users. This is what Gfagan had to say:
Gfagan PA 10 hours ago
I am Irish. For many years in my native land the Rev. Ian Paisley spouted bigoted hatred about Catholics in Northern Ireland, but then claimed innocence when some militant sectarian group massacred Catholics. Speech was not murder, he said. He would never condone killing, he said. Then he went right back to feeding the attitudes that spawned the killing. Few were fooled.
We should not be fooled in America today.
In this country the "mainstream" right-wing has made an industry of demonizing African-Americans as "thugs" and criminals - just look at the divergence in tone between the recent coverage of Ferguson or Baltimore and the (mostly white) biker massacre in Waco, TX. For decades, white America has been told that black Americans are lazy leeches, dependent on hand-outs funded by your hard-earned taxes to bankroll their immoral lifestyles.
The first black president was greeted by the right not only with diehard obstructionism but a chorus of color-coded abuse ("lazy," "food-stamp president" etc) and questions about his very American-ness: he was "not one of us," a foreigner adhering to a foreign religion who has no right to be president.
The siren song of racial hate relentlessly put out by the "mainstream" right finds echo in the gunshots that rang out in Charleston.
Rightists will, of course, deny the connection, the way Paisley did. But we are not fooled.
I needn't add anything more to that.
Sat Jun 20, 2015 at 12:26 PM PT: Thanks for sharing and recommending this diary everyone. The response has been incredible. It's amazing how one comment from an anonymous individual online can touch a note with so many people. Gfagan's comment adeptly captures the voice of our collective conscience.
Sat Jun 20, 2015 at 12:59 PM PT: Gfagan has joined the Daily Kos community and is now posting here under the username: Gagan. Let's all welcome Gagan to Dkos! I look forward to hearing more from Gagan and his/her's take on the issues of our times.
Sat Jun 20, 2015 at 1:09 PM PT:Gfagan's (who now goes by "Gagan" here on Dkos) famous comment at the New York Times now stands at 5395 recommends from NYT readers. I hope the editors at the Times are taking notes ;)