AN EDITED VERSION OF THIS POST IS SCHEDULED TO APPEAR IN LETTERS TO THE EDITOR IN THE BOSTON GLOBE
There is moral outrage at the images that parade across the screen. At the senseless deaths. At the indiscriminate nature of the brutality. We are horrified by the level of man's grotesque inhumanity to man. By the depraved indifference to the value of a life.
The war in Ukraine has united us in rage against the cruelty. And yet, outside our own front door, in Buffalo, but it may as well have been in your town or mine, it is business as usual. The absurdity of this nation's obsession with weapons of mass destruction creating another pool of blood. The Second Amendment providing cover for another, seemingly automatic, semi-automatic journey into Hell.
This nation does not practice what it preaches in Ukraine. The horror we recoil at is the horror we choose to reside in. Death has no borders. Cruelty knows no geographical constraints.
We pretend there is a difference between one hate and another, between one war and another. Between one person who, in a catastrophic instant ceases to exist, and another.
Tell that to the 10 in Buffalo. Or the next 10, or 100.
6 comments:
'Replacement Theory' which originated on a French neo-fascist website and soon gained credence on right wing websites and organizations in the US is now a mainstream topic on both Fox News and the GOP. Elise Stefaniak of upstate NY and a leader of House Republicans has touted it many times. The Buffalo killer bought into this theory proving that words and thoughts matter, especially when they are tinged with bigotry and hate. Also, Trump continues to be a jackass.
I share your sense of dismay and grief — the disconnect between our country’s ability to point to and seek to engage with Putin’s war of aggression while ignoring the ongoing war within our borders
But what I think you post omits is the defining and informing history of American racism and white supremacy and what the replacement theory means and how it has been adopted. By mainstream Republicans and how this horrific incident, like the insurrection of January 6th, has to seen not as an isolated incident or even limit to an incident of a mass shooting that was racially motivated but part of a broader effort by white people on the fringe and SCOTSU and the congress to advance minority rule by white people in America.
Here is a link to a thoughtful and informative essay by Heather Cox Richardson, a historianto whose newsletter I subscribe.
Anyway, thank you for your post.
My reply is really in the nature of a “yes and” response.
Jonathan
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/may-15-2022?r=abb36&s=r&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
great, it's a terrific piece
GK
👍
RB
Good post
JP
My compliments to your excellent comments, as well as the excellent link that Jonathan sent.
Our democracy is at risk of being over-run with racist claims.
The internet should be treated as a public network, under the jurisdiction of the Federal Communications Commission, with the interaction of our Department of Justice.
The Attorney General needs to prosecute any and all websites (ie Discord) that allow these untruths to persist. The likes of Tucker Carlson need to spend their money defending themselves against a federal lawsuit. We must pursue truth aggressively. --RE
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