There are some things I can never get used to no matter how
many times I experience it. Putting Visine drops in my eyes comes to mind So does swinging
a lob wedge and or eating brussel sprouts. But absolutely nothing compares to the
aftermath of yet another mass slaughter in our country. Despite the fact that
these depraved shootings have become as uniquely American as jazz, basketball
and deep-fried Twinkies - the outrage, anger, fear, depression and loss I feel
after every single one of these terrorist attacks continues to be a virginal
experience each time. It’s as if I’m watching students flee from a school in
Jonesboro, Arkansas or Littleton, Colorado all over again for the first time.
What’s even harder to accept than the fact that these
murders continue to happen is that we as a nation do nothing about it. The only
difference now is that I’ve stopped convincing myself that we can. Seriously – if a
classroom full of six and seven year olds having their intestines shredded by
assault bullets isn’t enough to crack down on military-grade weaponry finding
its way into the hands of the criminally insane, nothing ever will be.
The mental health debate has been a convenient pivot for the
NRA, their paid political stooges and the insecure ammosexuals throughout the
country after the last oh, half dozen or so killing sprees. When we’re talking
about mental health we’re not talking about guns (no matter how disingenuous their
concerns are mind you, this ilk also fought vehemently against expanded health
care options for all Americans). If we’re not talking about guns, we’re not
pushing legislation to prohibit lunatics from acquiring guns. And last time I
checked, a mentally depraved individual spends the same currency you or I do,
so why would the gun lobby want to cut off that cash flow?
But we can’t let that happen now.
Dylann Roof is not mentally ill. Dylann Roof is a racist.
Dylann Roof is an ideological terrorist no different than Osama bin Laden. We
can not allow the debate and discourse to hone in on mental illness this time.
This is about two taboo subjects that most people would like to avoid: Guns and
Race.
We know what needs to be done with guns. We know it’s not
going to happen. As a pragmatist, I know we couldn’t remove every gun in America if we wanted to.
As a self-described libertarian before the kooky wing of conservatism hijacked
the term, I’m all for reasonable and stable people owning reasonable and stable
firearms. But for the foreseeable future, I expect absolutely no national
movement on tighter restrictions. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if we passed
legislation making it even easier - like discounted glocks for sale at parole
meetings, or a free AK-47 with each prescription of lithium.
But race? We can control that dialogue. We MUST control that
dialogue. It falls on us to bring our aging intellectual and cultural
infrastructure into the twenty first century. The Confederate Flag is not OK.
It’s simply not OK. I can’t comprehend how this was ever considered acceptable
at any point after the ink dried on Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox –
let alone 2015. And for the stunted ignoramus who wants to argue it’s “Herrrr-tijjjjj,
not Hat-errrd”, remind Cletus that South Carolina hasn’t been flying the flag
since the Civil War. South Carolina’s been flying the flag since the 1950’s as
a direct response to federally mandated integration of schools, restrooms,
water fountains and lunch counters.
The flag must come down. The symbol itself should be
regarded with the same disdain and disgust as a swastika or a burning cross. It’s
meaning has morphed from initial treason – bad enough on its own – to white
supremacy, an even worse act against humanity.
Despite all of the advancements we’ve made in race
relations, it feels like it’s never been a better time to be a bigot. The
expansion of social media from the youth to the aging has given way to an alarming
acceptance of racially tinted memes, jokes and remarks - which also happened to
coincide with our first President of Color. As Bob Dylan wrote many years ago, “You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind
blows.” Notice how those who flooded your walls during the Baltimore or
Ferguson unrest, they so quick to judge, have completely ignored Mother
Emmanuel. And will continue to do so until they think you’re coming to take
their guns away.
This act of terrorism on our own soil, at a site sacred to
not only one of our many faiths, but to our own social history, cannot be
allowed to fade from discourse and debate the moment another Kardashian makes a
sex tape, or another TLC reality star molests another kid. You can’t force anybody
to change the prejudice in their heart, but you can sure as hell stigmatize it.
Symbols like the Confederate flag, or the other two Apartheid flags the
terrorist was photographed wearing, cannot under any circumstances be deemed appropriate
nor garner any public acceptance. We must call out dog-whistles and code words
like “States Rights” at any opportunity.
It’s too late to reach some people in this nation, but the
scariest thing about Mother Emmanuel is that it was perpetrated by a twenty one
year old terrorist. This wasn’t some former Klansman in his seventies looking
to go out in a blaze of glory. This was a kid who was born after Dr. Dre
released “The Chronic”. That scares the bejesus out of me. Everybody’s got that
relative who makes an off-color remark at Thanksgiving, we accept a certain level
of ignorance for the same reason we skirted around shacking up out of wedlock
to our grandparents – they’re of a different time. It doesn’t make it right, it
just doesn’t feel like the fight is worth it. But when you see these toxic
ideologies manifesting in our nation’s youth, maybe we need to make the fight
worth it.
Maybe it’s time for us to make sure Our Heritage IS NOT
Hatred.
