Im-Politic: Roof and Terrorism, Take II

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Al Qaeda, Charleston shooting, Dylann Roof, Im-Politic, ISIS, racism, terrorism, white supremacists

Returning to the “Is Dylann Roof a Terrorist?” controversy:

First, I’m glad that my first offering spurred so much commentary and discussion – and nearly all of it civil. So thanks to all RealityChek readers.

Second, at the risk of over-simplifying some, it seems that those who disagree seem to be focused on the ideas that (1) any attack this savage and ideologically (i.e., racially) motivated must by definition be intended to terrorize and frighten and (2) that the violent white supremacist movement in America, and its global connections, are much bigger and more extensive than I recognize.

These are all valid points, but I believe that they are outweighed by the following considerations (some of which I’ve already addressed briefly either on Facebook or on Twitter):

> “Logically,” anyway, Charleston-style violence can just as easily be explained by simple race hatred, or by the desire for revenge, as by a wish to instill fear in victim populations or (presumably) their sympathizers. In fact, if you read Roof’s on-line “manifesto,” you’ll see how obsessed he was with the ideas that black murders of whites were being ignored while white on black incidents – like George Zimmerman’s killing of Trayvon Martin in Florida – were supposedly filling the media instead; that all southern whites were being blamed for slavery even though only a minority were slave-owners; that school integration was exposing white students to black counterparts and their allegedly bigoted attitudes, etc.

It’s true that the manifesto speaks of “taking back” America from…what exactly is not clear, though it seems that he’s referring to the post-civil rights era, or even the post-emancipation era, and all of the legal equality and other forms of black progress they’ve fostered, however incompletely. At other places, Roof seems as if he’s talking about dramatically reducing the black population of either “the South” or of the nation as a whole. But there’s not much of a coherent agenda here, or any type of an agenda.

Although at one point, Roof writes that “It is far from being too late for America or Europe,” more of his rant focuses on how hopeless he believes the current situation to be.

In fact, here’s how he ends his polemic:  

“To take a saying from a film, ‘I see all this stuff going on, and I dont see anyone doing anything about it. And it pisses me off.’ To take a saying from my favorite film, ‘Even if my life is worth less than a speck of dirt, I want to use it for the good of society.’

“I have no choice. I am not in a position to, alone, go into the ghetto and fight. I chose Charleston because it is most historic city in my state, and at one time had the highest ratio of blacks to Whites in the country. We have no skinheads, no real KKK, no one doing anything but talking on the internet. Well someone has to have the bravery to take it to the real world, and I guess that has to be me.”

It’s possible to interpret these words as a call to action. But in my view, they’re best read as a suicide note from someone determined to carry out a kind of racist kamikaze mission.

>Just as important, his complaint that his fellow white supremacists are simply “talking on the internet” at the least signals his own belief that the movement is not a force that threatens society in general, and certainly not one that’s willing to generate nearly enough violence to create significant nation-wide panic, much less move America any closer to its aims.

Of course, Roof’s words alone don’t prove the point. But let’s ask ourselves, starting with me and my fellow Jews (who probably wouldn’t be real well off in an America run by the Dylann Roofs): How many of you live in fear of attack or even any contact with members of white supremacist groups? I’ll ask the same question of black Americans and members of other minorities. And although I can’t genuinely put myself in their shoes, I’ll bet the vast majority would answer in the negative.

Do white supremacist groups exist? Of course? Do they communicate with each other? I’m sure they do. Are they growing in numbers? According to the Department of Homeland Security, yes. Nonetheless, this report specifically states that the agency’s intelligence bureau “has no specific information that domestic right wing terrorists are currently planning acts of violence….” Further, a New York Times op-ed article today cited by one commenter, which claims that “attacks like the mass murder in Charleston” can no longer be viewed “as isolated hate crimes…unconnected to a broader movement” mentions no other such domestic incidents.

In other words, for all the claims to the contrary, the evidence that these individuals and even groups are capable of affecting the climate of public opinion, much less the rhythms of our daily and national lives, on any ongoing basis looks to be lacking. 

And in this crucial respect, unlike Al Qaeda and various Palestinian Arab groups, the IRA for decades starting in the 1960s, and the KKK earlier in American history, Dylann Roof and his white supremacist counterparts don’t qualify as terrorists. Because context – and its accurate assessment – matters vitally.

At the same time, Roof and his ilk are clearly dangers to society, and need to be monitored closely and neutralized as soon as criminal intentions become clear. In other words, they’re supporters and have been perpetrators of hate crimes – which are detestable and intolerable acts. But they don’t pose nearly the threat of genuine terrorists, and America’s law enforcement and security apparatus should set its priorities accordingly.

By the way, the more I think about ISIS, the more I’m leading toward classifying it as a hostile state rather than a terrorist group, although the jury may still be out. ISIS has been fomenting activity beyond its main base of operations in Syria and Iraq, but the aim seems to be overthrowing existing governments and replacing them with branches of the so-called Caliphate it’s started to carve out in the Fertile Crescent region. In this respect, the group may more closely resemble the Soviet Union and Maoist Communist China and their efforts to stoke global revolution, than Al Qaeda. Or perhaps the main difference between Al Qaeda and ISIS is the latter’s greater success lately at seizing and holding big chunks of territory.

In any event, the potential of each to consolidate a terrorist training base and record of attacking Western targets puts them doesn’t put genuine terrorists in a different moral category than Dylann Roof and his fellow haters.  But it does to date justify government putting them in a different – and lesser – operational category 

 

 

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Im-Politic: Why Dylann Roof Isn’t a Terrorist

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African Americans, Anthea Butler, Charleston shooting, crime, Dylann Roof, Eugene Robinson, Im-Politic, race relations, terrorism

Most debates over political labeling do way more harm than good, tending to result from the usually wrong-headed, guilt-ridden impulses of the political correctness crowd. But the latest controversy, sparked by the horrific Charleston, South Carolina killings, is worth considering – whether confessed shooter Dylan Roof should be considered a terrorist.

Here’s a representative example of the affirmative case, from a Washington Post blog. Given the historical racial atrocities it (rightly) lists, it is genuinely thought-provoking:

“Black churches have long been a target of white supremacists who burned and bombed them in an effort to terrorize the black communities that those churches anchored. One of the most egregious terrorist acts in U.S. history was committed against a black church in Birmingham, Ala. in 1963. Four girls were killed when members of the KKK bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church, a tragedy that ignited the Civil Rights Movement.”

“But listen to major media outlets and you won’t hear the word ‘terrorism’ used in coverage of Tuesday’s shooting. You won’t hear the white male shooter, identified as 21-year-old Dylann Roof, described as ‘a possible terrorist.’ And if coverage of recent shootings by white suspects is any indication, he never will be. Instead, the go-to explanation for his actions will be mental illness. He will be humanized and called sick, a victim of mistreatment or inadequate mental health resources.”

The writer, University of Pennsylvania sociologist Anthea Butler, goes on to argue that:

“U.S. media practice a different policy when covering crimes involving African Americans and Muslims. As suspects, they are quickly characterized as terrorists and thugs, motivated by evil intent instead of external injustices. While white suspects are lone wolfs — Mayor Joseph Riley of Charleston already emphasized this shooting was an act of just ‘one hateful person‘ — violence by black and Muslim people is systemic, demanding response and action from all who share their race or religion. Even black victims are vilified. Their lives are combed for any infraction or hint of justification for the murders or attacks that befall them: Trayvon Martin was wearing a hoodie. Michael Brown stole cigars. Eric Garner sold loosie cigarettes. When a black teenager who committed no crime was tackled and held down by a police officer at a pool party in McKinney, Tex., Fox News host Megyn Kelly described her as ‘No saint either.’”

As is often the case with the intrinsically emotional issue of race, Butler clearly goes too far in exculpating major crimes by African Americans and, it seems, violence perpetrated by Islamic extremists. (In contrast to her view that America suffers big problems with policing in low-income inner city neighborhoods, and that some public figures are too quick to invoke harmful and intellectually lazy stereotypes.)

But Butler is on stronger grounds, in my opinion, in dealing with Dylann Roof-like murderers and how they’re routinely described. If terrorism is indeed violence against innocent civilians aimed at furthering political or social or economic or cultural agendas and beliefs (which seems right to me), then racists like Roof arguably qualify. Nor should it matter whether they act alone or in groups.

I do, however, believe that Butler and those who agree with her re terrorism are missing a crucial ingredient in the equation: historical context. As I see it, the racist violence that raged on a large scale between the end of the Civil War through the mid-1960s absolutely should be seen as terrorism. The aim was nothing less than deterring blacks from exercising their existing rights and seeking more, scaring whites and others who supported them, and rallying like-minded bigots. Moreover, although the violence was backed by many fewer whites in the south (and other parts of the country), the segregationist program was entirely mainstream politics in the region for decades .

Can anyone honestly say that anything like these conditions holds today? Obviously too much racism remains in American life, and violence-prone Dylann Roof types can surely be found in most, if not all of the 50 states. Many of these, moreover, have formed organizations, so they can’t accurately all be dismissed as lone wolves.

Yet they enjoy the support of exactly no elected politicians, and their influence over the body politic as a whole is practically non-existent. Indeed, despite (far too much) lingering prejudice, and heated debate over racially charged issues like affirmative action and voter registration, endorsing explicit discrimination by public or private institutions has thankfully become nothing less than taboo in America.

In fact, another piece in the Washington Post, from black commentator Eugene Robinson, made the point eloquently. Just before (rightly) lamenting the endurance of racism, however, diminished, he noted that Charleston, “a multiracial, multicultural city is united in grief.” The same can be said for the country as a whole. This is a subtle but powerful reminder that terrorists need to have a critical mass of followers and sympathizers – and that America’s Dylann Roofs fall pathetically short of the mark. That’s also why his countrymen have been so quick to brand him as – almost unimaginably – sick.