Look, he did an incredibly inhuman thing for very inhuman reasons. yes, he’s a human being. he’s also a piece of shit. Calling someone like him a racist is not dehumanzing him. It’s pointing out what he believes and the fact that he acted on that belief.
Look, I like you lots, you’re a swell guy and I enjoy your comments. But how long are we going to allow white supremacy to continue?
Just FYI, here are two of the victims, that he sat with for an hour, and then killed:
Well, obviously we all have sympathy for the black victims. That (literally) goes without saying.
We have to make sure we don’t forget the rights of the accused, otherwise he’s the real victim here. He was probably mentally ill or something anyway, so he wasn’t responsible.
Edit: /s, if not obvious.
Let’s not tarnish the reputation of Swamp Thing now!
I’m assuming this is meant to be sarcasm, but it doesn’t come off that way very well. You may want to think about rewording this post.
And how many white people have they killed? I’m not necessarily a fan, but to conflate white supremacists, who get some tacit support from some in a mainstream political party with these very marginal organizations is… I’m not sure what. Not helpful?
Do you honestly think that organizations that emerged in direct response to white supremacy is the same thing as white power organizations?
Weirdly, I do care about them. I find it deeply concerning and saddening that people are often born into racist families and communities that either inculcate them with horrendous values, or fail to inoculate them against extremism. I believe that all people are products of their upbringing and mere pawns in the relentless crush of their cultures. I believe that most systems put in place to protect people from violence (prison, detention systems, the death penalty) often reinforce violent tendencies in our societies, and are highly imperfect solutions that need large-scale reforms to create meaningful reform in individuals. I believe that people are neither bad or good, but that anyone subjected to the same life-circumstances is going to respond similarly. So yes, I have empathy and compassion for the criminal. That does not mean I do not believe in his culpability or that he should not be stopped or detained, perhaps indefinitely.
In the meantime it is naive, relentlessly naive, to pretend there does not exist an underlying social structure that supports the killer’s mentality and personal philosophy. It is hugely naive to pretend there aren’t pockets of people out there celebrating his actions. It is sadly all too predictable that people will pretend that impassioned hatred of the Other doesn’t exist in our society and will scramble to assemble weird explanations to defend that assertion.
Also, if people want to still debate the “terrorist” thing… http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/18/us/charleston-south-carolina-shooting/index.html
Three people survived, including a woman who received a chilling message from the shooter.
"Her life was spared, and (she was) told, ‘I’m not going to kill you, I’m going to spare you, so you can tell them what happened,’ " Charleston NAACP President Dot Scott told CNN. She said she heard this from the victims’ family members.
What difference does that make? marilove said there are no black supremacist organizations in the U.S. I gave her a short list of them.
I am not equating black supremacists with white supremacists other than to say that both are racist and abhorrent to my view that people are people. I suppose you just need something to attack huh?
GO LOOK> my mistake was saying he seems more like a wanna be racist.
Number of times I defended him: 0
Number of times I opined on his mental well being: 0
Number of times I tried to make fun of him for not even being a good racist and was called a racist: 1.
Everyone calm the fuck down. You’re being a real room full of assholes just now.
I think it matters.
Fine. Black supremacy is not underwritten by mainstream society and they don’t go out and shoot white people. this guy did. 9 people. After sitting with them in a bible study.
He’s a racist. A racist is not defined by shooting black people. It’s defined by holding views of white supremacy. Full stop. [ETA] There are plenty of people who are deeply racist and they don’t go to a church, sit with congregants for an hour, and then pull a gun on them. But they are still racist.
But fair enough, you didn’t defend him. I agree that you didn’t say that.
You forgot that for white men it’s a FULL STOP: I am allowed to say that an only that, apparenlty?
only !white !men are allowed to pile on today, which is all I was doing.
He seems like a wanna be.
The funny thing about naked facts is that a portion of the population will read them and assume there is a value judgement inherent in those facts when none exists.
I never said white supremacy organizations and black supremacy organizations are the same. I simply corrected the stated lie that no black supremacy organizations exist in the U.S. by posting a list of them. But you keep attacking. You’re bound to do some good in the world by attacking me when I post naked facts if you just keep at it long enough… Maybe just a few more and the world will be better.
Did I call you racist? Did I say that all white men are racist? I pointed out a structure of power that is white supremacy.
I agree with all of that, but I also find it deeply concerning that white people only tend to trot out such sympathies when the killer is white. When the killer is Muslim, white sympathy of this sort suddenly freezes up, for the most part. I think it’s because, although “Arabs” used to be considered “white” in the U.S., they’re now considered brown, or even black (witness the two-word slur about about them and sand). It’s a lot harder to sympathize with “the other.”
Yes, this white killer may very well have some particular mental illness, but he’s also clearly prey to a more collective one – white supremacy. Interesting (and deeply concerning, no?) how little focus THAT gets from white people when another white shooter goes on a ramapge.
What was the point of that fact? What does it add that a guy, who is a white supremacist, sat in a bible study for an hour, and then pulled a gun and shot 9 people because they were black.
Can we get back to talking about white supremacy then and not make false equivalences then?
and I will bet you a milkshake of your choosing that he is not in that power structure, but wants to be.
The news will come out, we should be able to verify it within a day or so.
And no, you did not call me a racist. Nor did you call out my race. Nor did you try to shame me. I earnestly appreciate all those things about you @Mindysan33.
Do see that others were saying such things about me for not agreeing hard enough, and that our conversation has occurren in the middle of that. Thanks again for reasonable conversation!
Can we make this NOT JUST about white supremacy? Or is this just only definitley about one cause and one cause only? Can there be a discussion of facts, like his recent apprehension?
Or is that too off topic? 
Mod note: Stop with personal attacks and snark.
To counter a racist person saying there are no black supremacist organizations in the U.S. and that “it’s a white thing” racists piss me off so I call them on their lies. Simple as that.
I was never talking about white supremacy. You can talk about what you want but when you try to slam me for posting naked facts or try to say I’m making false equivalences I’m going to respond to you.
