Charleston

The murders in the church in Charleston, SC were a despicable act by a young man who thought that he was repaying violence by causing more violence. His motivations may make sense on some level — but, his punishing of harmless people in a place of refuge was misguided and horrific.

What the shooter stated is no doubt true: blacks do rape white women at a rate much higher than the national average and whites rarely rape black women. His comments with regard to blacks ruining America is only true with regard to the young hoodlums in the inner cities. And I doubt that the folks he killed had anything to do with violence on white women — some were in fact women.

Listening to the talking heads on cable news one could get the idea that these were the first people killed through racial motivation — that is hardly the case although the media typically hides the murders of white people by blacks on the 5th or 6th page of the newspaper — if they print the event at all. And hundreds of black kids are killed every year by other blacks in a kind of blood sport in the inner cities — still there is little outcry or reporting on a national level.

While people were still attempting to clean the blood off the church floor, President Obama took the opportunity to blame guns for the death of these nine people. Aside from the fact that his timing was tacky at best, his logic is flawed. What will the kids in the inner cities use to kill each other this weekend — broomsticks, ball bats, rocks, or handguns? And where will they get these handguns? From the corner gun store? There probably won’t be one legally purchased handgun used to murder another human being in the inner cities this weekend. So, I am left wondering how placing restrictions on what kind or how many handguns I own here in the mountains of North Carolina is going to decrease gun violence in Detroit, Washington, DC, Los Angeles, Chicago, or some other killing field. Or for that matter how it will stop some deranged individual from killing innocent people.

In my view, the people in Charleston were victims more of a growing hostility and unrest than the actions of one demented individual. We are living in a society that is driven by political correctness and favoritism. If one owns a home, is employed, and supports one’s children, society establishes one set of rules and expectations — for the other segment of society — not so much. Since not much is expected — we are rarely disappointed in what we get.

Then when we throw in the folks who make their living — either directly, or through the ballot by being bombastic and stirring the racial pot — we have a constant situation of distrust and animus from both whites and blacks. Folks who don’t trust each other cannot live in harmony. It won’t work in a marriage or in society at large. As long as there are people who are willing to foment hatred for some personal gain, America is stuck in a quagmire.

A Harvard professor stated that the problems in America were caused by White Supremacy. Other than seeing David Duke on television some years ago, I have never seen a white supremacist. How would we identify one — would he have horns or something? I would say that the racial problems in America are caused by lack of acceptance of personal responsibility. Working folks have some difficulty supporting their own kids — they resent having to support other people’s offspring. People tend to resent having to get up and go to work, knowing that a part of their effort is contributed to those who sit at home and do nothing. There is no justification in these circumstances to kill innocent people — but blacks do kill whites at an alarming rate so why are we so puzzled when a white kills blacks?

There is nothing here that is intended to excuse the actions of the guy who killed these people. But, if we don’t understand and come to grips with the resentment and anger than lies just below the surface, America will be visited with more of these heinous actions.

Have a good week. Bill Shuey is a freelance writer from North Carolina.