According to Wikepedia[1] “James Fearon, a scholar of civil wars at Stanford University, defines a civil war as "a violent conflict within a country fought by organized groups that aim to take power at the center or in a region, or to change government policies".[2] Ann Hironaka further specifies that one side of a civil war is the state.[3] The intensity at which a civil disturbance becomes a civil war is contested by academics. Some political scientists define a civil war as having more than 1,000 casualties,[2] while others further specify that at least 100 must come from each side.[6] The Correlates of War, a dataset widely used by scholars of conflict, classifies civil wars as having over 1000 war-related casualties per year of conflict.” White supremacist are using social media to organize, recruit and influence, they are augmented by certain members of the conservative news network Fox news. Is it violent? Yes, as evidenced by the white supremacist inspired mass shootings both in casualty counts and the use of weapons of war. AOL has reported[2] “The Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as four or more people shot in one incident (not including the shooter), reports more than 14,000 people killed and over 29,000 injured in 2017”. In 2018 the the GVA[3] estimated death toll as of June 13, 2018, there have been 42,637 incidents and 10,779 deaths. The majority of these mass shootings are conducted by young men who have been inspired by the rantings of white supremacist. The NRA (National Rifle Association), white supremacist and the Republicans Party are at the center of maintaining power within the government. The NRA was the main funnel of funds coming from outside the US, and the main source of these funds were from Russia. These funds were then allocated to the Republican Party based on their support for support for or blocking of legislation. Based on the cited criteria America may appear to be involved in Civil War.
The American Civil War was also a war on race, whether you could own a class of people and make a profit on them. The race of a person was what defined the people as individuals or property. The evidence of this practice is still around in bills of sale for families of slaves and even in some of the laws in the slave states, and in the attitudes of people. Beliefs in this practice continues today, through the defense of monuments erected to those that lost in that conflict, through the Jim Crow laws that still exist on the books in many states, and the actions by those in power at the local levels such as police to those in the seats of power at the state and national level. The fears that those in positions of power and privilege have a great fear that a new growing minority will soon surpass that old white majority anger that will not relinquish power. The Civil War continues to be fought even if it’s just in the minds and attitudes of this minority of white supremacist. Even as interracial families grow, marriages between whites, blacks, Hispanics, Asians and every other minority group continues there is still a backlash against anyone who is a minority in this country.
If you are a minority and support this administration it will only be a matter of time before you fall under their practices, become a second class citizen with no rights, or be forced from its borders. Mass shootings, massacres of minorities, police shootings of minorities. Being told you should leave (indicating the USA), and return to where you came from, by the leader of the very nation you are a citizen of. Families being ripped apart by the party that one time claimed to be the party of family values. The continued subjugation of voting rights of minorities in Republican led states. The passing of laws that violate the right of women, denying them the control of their own bodies and choices. We have an administration that is additionally using its power to target the growing minority by removing them from within the borders, denying them entry and displaying discriminatory and intolerant practices to cower this population, much in the same way the KKK used to do. These actions if you are a minority certainly indicate you are in danger, you are a target. If not now, then when it switches from intolerance to racial and religious purge phase.
There is a discussion if there is a strategy in all these efforts by the economic and immigration actions taken by the Trump administration. The strategy is that of fear and oppression that was practiced by the KKK. They took the symbols of belief and hope and turned those symbols into representations of subjugation and fear, then burned the crosses and used the tools of violence to control the African American population. Now the symbol of America is being is being burned and used to control a population that may soon outnumber the current majority. We are seeing men armed with weapons of war wandering about on our television screens nightly, much like we used to see men armed seeking and subjugating any person of a darker skin to place into slavery. We saw the barriers erected during the times of slavery between free and slave states and now we see barriers erected between the southern Hispanic countries and the USA. It has amazed me that the slave states so hated the black race, but that race was in fact the source of their economic power and today has impacted the nation in entertainment, sports and fashion in a great economic boom. Today there is a hate of the immigrant that brings new business, ideas and labor that works for substandard wages brings in new skills in jobs that no American wants to do or can’t do. The people we see out begging on the street corners, at least the ones I’ve seen are not immigrants, rather they are not seeking employment, even though now we see hiring signs adorning the doors of businesses seeking employees.
Are the almost daily spates of mass shootings an indication of a coming or possibly already enacted civil/race war? Those on the far right to include the occupier of the White House and the leadership of the Senate appear to have declared one. Statements of support for white supremacy and white supremacist, lack of action on legislation to support the reduction of violence and intolerance or even investigation into causes of massacres and attacks, the division of the country along racial and religious lines support of Republican ability to retain power. We now have to call them simply Republicans because they are no longer conservatives, in word or deed.
The NRA has been shown to be an organization of questionable character and practice in the recent releases about its organization and business practices. It is an organization that espouses chaos, a breakdown of social norms, and a force for the destruction of this great nation. It aligns itself with a foreign government that in its own borders that does not allow private gun ownership but encourages radical beliefs and rampant gun ownership of every variety to inflict conflict and dissention within our borders. The NRA is an organization whose true goal is to maximize the sales rather than the needs of the hunters and sportsmen who use guns and rifles safely and responsibly. The NRA has said that the only solution for a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. Who determines who the good guy is? In a shooter situation a person shooting is the primary threat and to the forces reacting to the situation any weapon indicates a threat. This situation has already happened so that we know that a good guy with a gun gets shot, especially if that good guy is of a darker shade. Even the military as well trained as it is falls prey to friendly fire. What has been found as the solution in these situations is communication allowing for coordination of any attack or defense. In a mass shooting the only ones communicating will be the police entering to subdue the situation and eliminate the threat, so anyone who is shooting or armed is the threat.
This country has already forgotten the lessons of recent history. The USSR was bankrupted in an arms race that they could not afford. The current President of Russia, Vladamir Putin, has not forgotten. It is ironic that Putin supported a man that bankrupted the majority of the businesses that he ran to become the leader of his greatest foe, the United States of America. The current regime in power has declared a need for an overwhelming military. A military they don’t need if they refuse to engage the actions outside of our shores. A military that is being coopted into operations within the national borders in violation of posse comitatus by engaging in law enforcement activities.
The elected representatives that are supposed to be the sagest of us and provide us with leadership offer only words of remorse and prayers for the victims and their families. Donald Trump’s speeches when reading from the teleprompter on the subjects of mass shootings ring insincere and hollow, especially when taken in contrast to his freelance speeches on fake news, shit-hole countries, the animals coming across the border, how there are very good people on both sides, ad nauseum. It is time to return to a nation of pride, honor and equality with justice for all.
[1] 8/11/2019 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_war
[2] 2017 deemed deadliest year for mass shootings in modern US history
by Morgan Manella, AOL.com Dec 11th 2017 12:00AM
[3] https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/mass-shootings-2018