Call it what it is...Terror from a Terrorist
Andre Koen
Innovator / Author / Organizational Equity, Inclusion, Access, Belonging Partitioner/ PSHRA Trainer / IDI Qualified Administrator / Cornell Certified DEI Leader/Comedian / Trains without blame, shame or guilt
“Section 802 of the USA PATRIOT Act (Pub. L. No. 107-52) expanded the definition of terrorism to cover "domestic," as opposed to international, terrorism. A person engages in domestic terrorism if they do an act "dangerous to human life" that is a violation of the criminal laws of a state or the United States, if the act appears to be intended to: (i) intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination or kidnapping."
So why is it difficult to call the attacks in Austin, Texas a Terrorist Attack by a Terrorist? Could it be that if we call it for what it is we might make racism worst? A story is beginning to emerge that there might be something wrong with our lower middle disaffected white male youth. We might have to address the impact of systemic racism on white people or the reality of the growing populous of White Hate groups.
Why not call it what it is? The lone wolf story works to ease the conscious, but school shootings and bombing are pointing to the white terrorist among us. It would appear that whiteness as a concept must be unmentioned and unacknowledged, which what is at the root of many of these young white youths issues. The ability to explain why they are not as successful as peers or why others are getting "the good stuff" as they lag behind. Instead of addressing this head on we spend a great deal of time rationalizing these behaviors, diagnose them or distance them from "Normal White People". As we continue to deny the issues facing white male youth they grow in numbers and in desperation to be acknowledged. Autism is not a free pass card. There are a lot of young people with autism, we never attribute autism as a factor of young black men who are shot. The Point is not oppression Olympics, however, to point out the lengths that are taken to distance these boys from the good or regular white folk.
We need leadership on these issues... talks to your son's about race and the systems of oppression. Help them understand that it is the system of inequity both of opportunity and resources that may be boxing them out, not reverse racism.
https://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/536793/hate-groups-are-growing-under-trump/?utm_source=atlfb