Hillary Clinton went straight at the issues of race surrounding the targeted murder of nine black Americans as she addressed a community meeting Tuesday in Florissant, Missouri.
On the Confederate flag, Clinton urged removal of the symbol of "our nation's racist past."
"I know it's tempting to dismiss a tragedy like this as an isolated incident, to believe that in today's America bigotry is largely behind us—that institutionalized racism no longer exists. But despite our best efforts and our highest hopes, America's long struggle with race is far from finished. We can't hide from hard truths about race and justice. We have to name them and own them and change them.
That's why I appreciate the actions begun yesterday by the governor and other leaders of South Carolina to remove the Confederate battle flag from the state house, recognizing it as a symbol of our nation's racist past that has no place in our present or our future. It shouldn't fly there, it shouldn't fly anywhere."
She also didn't mince any words on how Dylann Roof's acts should be categorized.
"That night, word of the killings struck like a blow to the soul. How do we make sense of such an evil act—an act of racist terrorism perpetrated in a House of God?"
Not only was it a departure from the
bumbling GOP field, it was also a point of departure from
FBI Director James Comey, who has said Roof's calculated shootings were not an act of terrorism.
Really? Here's the FBI's definition:
"The unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives."
Our own Shaun King
took a look at what does qualify as terrorism—"a black man with a gun and 15 Chick-fil-A sandwiches," who targeted the Family Research Council but ultimately failed to kill anyone.