for today's Washington Post, titled America will only end racism when it stops being racist.
Allow me to share just a bit.
I am going to skip his introductory material full of links, including Roof's connection with website of Conservative Citizens.
He certainly notes claim that Roof was mentally disturbed, but notes
But of course he was mentally disturbed; normal, well-adjusted individuals do not commit mass murder. And the fact is that the Charleston killings were intended to advance a specific cause. To look past Roof’s racism would be like ignoring the fact that the Tsarnaev brothers, who committed the Boston Marathon bombing, believed in a violent, twisted version of Islam.
Here I note that if, as apparently FBI Director Comey says, Roof's actions do not qualify as terrorism under Federal statute, then it is time to rewrite those Federal statutes. This kind of killing for a cause, the murder of abortion providers, the attempt to blow up the TIDE Foundation, are all forms of terrorism and our laws should make that clear.
But there is more.
There are three paragraphs that express some sentiments that might be true for many here:
Obama’s election in 2008 undoubtedly marked a milestone, one I never dreamed I’d live to see. I wrote at the time that it felt like morning in America.
What I didn’t fully appreciate then was the extent to which the mere fact of a black family living in the White House would, at least in the short term, heighten racial anxieties and conflicts. I didn’t see that the spectacle of African Americans in power would apparently lead some whites to feel powerless, aggrieved and victimized.
In the long run, I’m an optimist. But a post-racial future will not just appear. There is urgent work to do.
Reading that middle paragraph, I remember words by some African-Americans not in the midst of the Washington "Village" of conventional wisdom punditry (although Robinson is very far from a full-fledged participant in the thinking of the Village) of their fear that were Obama to begin to be viewed as a viable candidate for the Presidency it would lead to his assassination. Certainly those fears were not misplaced, given the incredible escalation of the threats with which the Secret Service had to deal the greater Obama's chances seemed to be.
Perhaps what might be relevant is for the pundits and others to call out those in politics - and among their fellow pundits - who used birtherism and accusations on Obama's religion to rile up people either already upset or prone to being angered as a way of displacing otherwise righteous rage that should have been directed at things like Wall Street and corporations who were outsourcing.
Robinson is an optimist. So am I. Absent "hope" - remember that word - there is little reason to participate in the political process to change our nation for the better.
In his penultimate paragraph, Robinson, after having addressed the issue of the Confederate Flag in South Carolina, ties together a number of issues:
But we need to go beyond speeches and symbols. Law enforcement should subject white racist organizations to the same surveillance and scrutiny as groups devoted to jihad. Governments at all levels should enforce fair housing and employment laws as vigorously as they enforce the Patriot Act. Police departments and court systems must be compelled to administer justice equally — with African Americans, too, considered innocent until proven guilty.
One might argue that the Patriot Act is a law too far in many ways. I would be prepared to have that discussion. That said, even law enforcement has recognized that right-wing groups represent a far greater and more immediate threat to public safety and order than does militant Islam in the forms of Al Qaeda and its offshoots, ISIS, etc. We cannot hold together as a society if we allow racism or discrimination in any form - including that of religion - to distort our civil society. ALL here, including Muslims as well as Blacks, should be considered innocent until proven guilty, should have ALL their rights protected in employment and in housing.
I have no quibble with Robinson's final, brief paragraph:
Our society will end racism when it stops being racist. Not a minute sooner.
Some might argue that our society is not racist, only that some people are. When prominent political and public figures can justify racist organizations and symbols without suffering severe public criticism, then we are unfortunately still at least somewhat racist as a society.
So let me repeat those words:
Our society will end racism when it stops being racist. Not a minute sooner.