“The Global Terrorism Database maintained by the Start Center at the University of Maryland includes 65 attacks in the United States associated with right wing ideologies and 24 by Muslim extremists since 9/11,” write David Schanzer, director of the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security at Duke University, and UNC-Chapel Hill sociology professor Charles Kurzman in a New York Times op-ed published June 16. On June 17, Dylann Roof, armed with a .45 caliber handgun and motivated by the same white supremacy that characterizes right-wing extremists, would enter the Emanuel AME Church and claim the lives of Cynthia Hurd, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lee Lance, Pastor Depayne Middleton-Doctor, Pastor and Senator Clementa Pickney, Tywanza Sanders, Daniel Simmons, Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, and Myra Thompson.
That New York Times op-ed cites research by Arie Perliger, professor at the US Military Academy’s Combatting Terrorism Center, which documents an average of 337 attacks per year from 2001-2011 committed by far-right terrorists, totaling 254 fatalities within that time. Contrast this to the average of six annual terrorist plots carried out by known Muslim Americans since 9/11 that have resulted in 50 fatalities documented in a TCTHS study by Dr. Kurzman. Additional data sets tell a similar narrative albeit with differing definitions of political violence. A report by the International Security Agency of the New America Foundation identified 48 fatalities from "non-jihadist" homegrown extremists and 26 fatalities from "jihadist" extremists ’ since 9/11. A 2015 Department of Homeland Security report acknowledges 24 sovereign citizen attacks since 2010.
With the knowledge of this threat, one question precedes the many others: Where is our focus? The short answer: Anything excluding far-right terrorism and violence committed by whites. A look at most headlines would likely elicit the notion that our greatest domestic threat comes in the form of ISIL or other Islamic extremists. Yet, the evidence demonstrates that an equal, if not larger, threat manifest itself in those motivated by a similar right wing extremism that led to the death of nine black lives in Charleston. This is not to say that we should stop focusing on countering domestic and international threats by ISIL or other known terrorist cells. I only assert that our focus on all threats and our War on Terror be less asymmetric.
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham called Roof one of those “whacked out kids” and the motive behind his actions as nothing “broader than that.” Several media outlets mentioned his black Facebook friends. One even interviewed one of his black friends as if that would eliminate the possibility of racism. A history of family trauma was brought to light. And to complete the collection of excuses for white shooters, his mental health was brought into question.
In his confession to the police, Roof says he wanted to start a race war.
His manifesto reveals he was radicalized by the Council of Conservative Citizens, a group whose 2001 website stated:
“God is the author of racism. God is the One who divided mankind into different types. ... Mixing the races is rebelliousness against God."
However, the Wall Street Journal editorial board thought it appropriate timing to espouse the post-racial myth that “the system and philosophy of institutionalized racism identified by Dr. King no longer exists.” And continuing to trivialize the tragedy into an isolated event, the editorial calls the shooting “a problem that defies explanation beyond the reality that evil still stalks humanity,” thus ignoring the history of black church persecution.
Now, imagine if a Muslim terrorist were to reveal the circumstances of their radicalization. The news would plaster the story of Islamic radicalization into household infamy. There would likely be no questions about the mental stability of that particular terrorist and any questions about family upbringing would only be deemed relevant if they were related to the methods of radicalization. I sincerely doubt that kind of terrorism would be debased to the actions of a “whacked out kid.”
You don’t need much imagining; simply observe the coverage of the Tsarnaev brothers. Although the bombers were from Russian and the Caucus Mountains, some argued that they were not white. A survey from the New York Times showed that surveyors who did not believe the bombers were white would propose harsher punishment for the bombers than surveyors who believed they were white.
Given the same crime, white criminals are more likely to be sympathized with. For black criminals, the word thug, a word Columbia University associate professor of English and comparative literature John McWhorter calls “a nominally polite way of using the N-word,” gets thrown around with fervent liberality.
I’ve spoken primarily about mainstream media, but the focus of our elected officials and the public also matters. South Carolina state Rep. Bill Chumley (R) said that the victims “waited their turn to be shot.” Instead of exposing the threat of right wing extremism to Americans, particularly black Americans, the media, the public and politicians directed their anger toward the Confederate Flag. Considering its reception by some as a symbol of white supremacy and oppression of black Americans, attempts for its removal are understandable. But ridding ourselves of the flag is a push for ornamental progress while oppression continues.
And while we debated the flag’s obvious symbolism, eight black churches around America burned.
What happened in Charleston was disgusting. Being both black and Christian makes the hurt deeper. The church has always been a place of refuge from the oppression the black community has faced, yet our house was desecrated by the same hatred we sought refuge from.
The only good thing that could possibly come from Charleston is acknowledging the threat of right-wing terrorism to Americans and, specifically, Black Americans. By focusing on right-wing terrorism, we come closer to thwarting another assault against America and its black community.
Levi Brice is a Trinity junior.
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