Darkness Darkness, by Martha Thomases – Brilliant Disguise | @MDWorld

June 19, 2015 Victor El-Khouri 3 Comments

I had wanted to write about the recent Jeff Ross special on Comedy Central, in which he goes to a prison and performs for the inmates.  It’s a remarkably nuanced, political provocative show, especially for Ross (at least as far as my impression of him) and basic cable.

But, no.  We can’t take a leisurely stroll through the issues of the American prison system, the judiciary, classism, racism and sexism and our American pop culture.  Instead, some crazy motherfucker had to go and shoot up a church.

The alleged gunman, Dylan Storm Roof, is a young man who, for at least the last six months, has been threatening black people and wearing clothing with racist slogans.  When he shot at the black people in the church, he said, “ You are raping our women and taking over the country.”

And yet, somehow, in discussing this tragedy later, Lindsey Graham, Rick Santorum and others who speak for the conservative parts of the Republican Party said that the attack wasn’t racially motivated, but an assault on Christians.

I guess, technically, that’s true.  All of the people who were shot were Christians.  However, if that were all that Roof wanted to do, he could have stopped at any of the hundreds — maybe thousands — of churches closer to his home.  Instead, he drove four hours to the historic black AME Church in Charleston.

Already, we’re hearing about how “troubled” Roof was, and how he was a “loner,” and “shy.”  I’m sure he was.  However, if he was swarthy, if he was Muslim, if he was anything but a white man, he’d be described as what he is, which is a terrorist.  I doubt it was very much fun to live in Bin Laden’s head, either, but I don’t forgive him, either.

I know I’m not Christian, so maybe I have no standing to talk about this.  Maybe this gentleman who is on the Board of Directors for the National Rifle Association knows more about church services than I do.  He says that the murders were the fault of the Reverent Clementa Pinckney, because in Pinckney’s other job (a state senator), he voted against concealed-carry laws.

Are Christian religious ceremonies more spiritual when the congregation is armed?  Is that part of the communion of souls?  Would guns have made that Bible class more meaningful?

Here’s something else I’m not:  a person of color.  I can do no more than imagine what it’s like to feel like I might be hunted just for going about my day-to-day business.  I don’t know what it feels like when my local government thumbs its nose at the losses to my community.

As a Northern white person with a fair amount of privilege, I don’t have any conclusive answers for what can be done.  Yes, mentally ill people should be identified and treated as early as possible.  Yes, domestic terrorism should be taken as seriously as Islamic terrorism.

And, yes, we should each and every one of us get off our respective asses and try to do whatever we can to prevent this from ever happening again.  Get involved with groups that demand responsibility from gun owners.  Get involved with groups like this one that fight bigotry at the local level.  For crying out loud, even writing a check is better than just shaking one’s head while sitting at the computer.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to follow my own advice.

Martha Thomases, Media Goddess, also suggests that donations to this organization will also promote a world without hate.