Last week’s mass killing in Charleston leaves a white man asking questions and filled with sadness.
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“When will it end?”
I feel like there are many people asking this question, among many others, after yet another mass shooting last week. This time, a 21-year-old white man killed nine black people at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., on Wednesday night.
No, the shooter’s name will not appear in this space. You can go find his name elsewhere. In fact, you cannot really go anywhere on social media or the Internet without seeing it.
Right now in my world, I don’t have a TV. When I picked up word of the shootings on Thursday morning, my initial reaction was “What the f—k?”
There are many other people more qualified than myself who have written words or spoken about race relations in America. I’m not an expert and I will not portray myself as one.
Yet to deny that racism still exists in the United States of America in 2015 would be a joke. I am beginning to wonder if it will not ever exist at all.
Actor Denis Leary’s quote rings ever so true right now.
“Racism isn’t born, folks. It’s taught,” he said. “I have a two-year-old son. You know what he hates? Naps! End of list.”
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“What did these nine people do to deserve this fate?”
They were holding a Wednesday night prayer meeting, which is a staple in many Christian churches – black and white alike – across America.
They didn’t do a damned thing wrong. All they were doing was simply coming together and, most likely, seeking God’s grace, love and healing for themselves, family members and friends. They were studying the Scriptures, too, seeking ways to improve their own lives through the eyes of Jesus Christ.
I know that church and – let me say it clearly – Christianity is not everyone’s cup of tea. If you want to quibble over the religious aspect of this slaughter, then go ahead. To blame Christianity for this massacre, to me, is not worth it.
The killer hated black people. A picture of this kid, along with his online manifesto, shows him with a Confederate flag in his hand. The kid hated black people so much that going and killing nine inside a church was his answer.
In the wake of these events, gun owners get sick and tired of hearing non-gun owners squawk. The oft-used line “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people” is thrown around, too.
Who hates so much that killing other people is the answer? Oh yeah, history shows that this insanity just keeps on repeating itself over and over again. Lessons might be learned, yet they are soon forgotten.
Charleston Mayor Joe White, in his press conference last Thursday morning, called the killings “inexplicable.”
“It is the most intolerable and unbelievable act possible,” White said according to USA Today. “The only reason someone could walk into a church and shoot people praying is out of hate.”
Let me ask you a question: Were you born with hate inside of you? When you popped out of your mother’s womb, did the “hate gene” pop inside of your brain? I doubt it seriously.
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“What is the solution to this mass-murder mayhem?”
In the business world, people are told that to be successful it is best to provide a solution for someone’s problem. Preferably, it would be a solution that is helpful and sticks.
This is going to be a feeble attempt at offering a solution. I admit it. Anyway, could we just start loving one another more? Love and compassion are deep emotions, just as much as hate and anger are on the shadow side of life’s scale.
Do I, personally, hate a group of people so much that I’m emotionally led to get an AK-47, a couple of handguns and boxes full of ammunition? No, I do not. Apparently, there are people who do and act out in this way on their pent-up rage.
You can have your guns. I am not looking to take them away from you, so please – by all means – wave your Second Amendment rights in my face. If I was a black man, though, would I feel differently? If I based my answer on recent history, then yes.
Silence, though, is not an answer.
This whole repetitive mass killings scenario leaves me with a sick gut.
Plus, it really doesn’t look good if your favorite politician is making hay out of this massacre.
This is not an incident.
This is not an accident.
This is not a fender-bender.
It was a massacre, a bloody massacre that left nine innocent people dead.
Is this what you and I have to live with every day? Is this what I want to see happen all the time? No.
I have not brought up police officers until now. I will.
Are there policemen and police women who go over the line? Yes. Are there ones who do not go over the line? Yes.
Then again, I am a white man whose heart breaks around this massacre. I’ve never lived a millisecond of my life in a black man’s shoes or skin.
I’ll just keep loving people of all races, gender and nationalities as best as I can do. Feel free to join me.
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Photo: Getty Images