At CNN.com today…Peter Bergen said we should do a thought experiment in this country, in which instead of shouting, “Heil Hitler!” after he was arrested, that suspect in Kansas City had instead shouted, “Allahu Akbar!” How would we react to it then? Why are the acts of Right-wing American terrorist attacks treated as the acts of one-off wackos that are a surprise every time and indicative of nothing larger than an individual threat posed by an individual kook…when other forms of terrorism engender not just a bigger reaction from us as a nation, but a more radical and systemic response as well?
- Rachel Maddow
Over the years, there’s been a concerted effort by the Far Right to define terrorism as the sole domain of radical Islamofascist jihadists- you know, Evil Swarthy Brown People who hate us because of our freedoms. Because they despise us with a burning passion and the desire to destroy America and Americans, they endeavor to destroy our way of life and force all of us to live under Sharia law. This trail of destruction and murder is proof of their maniacal desire to bring this country to its knees and demonstrate the moral superiority of Islam. THAT’S terrorism, y’all.
So…what have we learned thus far?
Evil Swarthy Brown people who hate America and the baby Jesus engage in acts of terror.
Good, God-fearing White Christians merely engage in acts of violence intended to highlight the provable fact that godless Liberals are destroying America and therefore must themselves be destroyed with extreme prejudice.
Except that this is a boat load of propaganda. I’ve written about this subject in the past in the hope that we might have a conversation about the hypocrisy surrounding how Americans and the news media define terrorism. The belief promoted by most of the mainstream media is that terrorism is committed by radical Islamofascists. White folks commit violent acts that are one-offs and always a total shock (WHO COULD HAVE SEEN IT COMING?) The truth is that more American lives are lost to domestic terrorism- acts of violence committed by Americans (usually White) that to acts of violence committed by Muslim jihadists.
It’s as dishonest as it is delusional and damaging to our security. When we focus our attention and efforts on preventing one problem that presents not nearly the risk another problem does, we do ourselves (and our collective security) a disservice. And yet that’s exactly what’s happening.
In our willful ignorance of the truth, we fear terrorism as practice by radical Islamofascists. If you look at the death toll over the past few years, though, more Americans have died at the hands of their fellow Americans than from attacks by Muslim jihadists. Mass shootings like that at Sandy Hook Elementary are view as the senseless murderous rampage of an unbalanced loser upset over his sorry lot in life. Adam Lanza killed 26 people; how does that not fit the definition of terrorism?
Perhaps it’s that the National Rifle Association can’t afford to be associated with terrorism. The NRA assiduously massages its propaganda to create the public impression that attacks like Sandy Hook are the acts of lone wackos with an axe to grind. It can’t be terrorism, because…well, because the perpetrator’s White. White folks simply can’t be terrorists, certainly not in the same way radical Islamofascists are.
Getting back to Rachel Maddow’s question, what IF the suspect in the Kansas City shooting had been non-White and shouted “Allahu Akbar!” from the police car in which he was being held instead of “Heil Hitler!” ? Do you think the response from the media and the public would have been different? Of course it would have been…because those murders would have been defined in the public domain as “terrorism.”
In America, large-scale acts of violence committed in the name of Islam are clearly defined as terrorism, while the same acts committed by White Christians are viewed in a much different light. Not only is that both racist and dishonest, it does a grave disservice to all Americans. Post-9.11, when Americans demand that their government protect the Homeland from terrorist attacks, we’re collectively ignoring what in fact is a much greater threat. (Adam Lanza, Timothy McVeigh, Eric Rudolph…need I go on?)
Then again, is it REALLY a threat when you know that White people can’t be terrorists?
