Just as I thanked Gov. Charlie Baker for putting my problems with the current GOP in a handy nutshell, Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal also earns my gratitude by its revealing a core problem eating away at America ~ the insistence of a mega demographic on flat-out denying whatever they want to deny, in spite of what's staring them in the face. Hey, if it doesn't agree with their view, it isn't real. WSJ caught that better than I ever could.
TEXT
It is inevitable that when nine black men and women are shot to death inside their church by a 21-year-old white man in Charleston, S.C., the issue of race in America will be raised.
It does not matter that the alleged killer, Dylann Roof, brings to mind the mentally troubled young men who committed horrific mass murders of innocents inside buildings in Newtown, Conn.; Aurora, Colo.; or Virginia Tech. Nor does it matter that individuals are murdered every day in less noted acts of hatred or rage that leave survivors bereft beyond understanding.
A white man murdering black people in the South forces bad memories to the surface, and so it surely was appropriate for President Obama to note this in his remarks Thursday. Specifically, Mr. Obama recalled the September 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., that killed four black girls.
The President quoted at some length Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s remarks on the bombing: “They say to each of us, black and white alike, that we must substitute courage for caution. They say to us that we must be concerned not merely with [about] who murdered them, but about the system, the way of life, the philosophy which produced the murderers. Their death says to us that we must work passionately and unrelentingly for the realization of the American Dream.”
Amid the horror of Charleston, it is also important to note that the U.S., notably the South, has moved forward to replace the system that enabled racist killings like those in the Birmingham church.
Back then and before, the institutions of government—police, courts, organized segregation—often worked to protect perpetrators of racially motivated violence, rather than their victims.
The universal condemnation of the murders at the Emanuel AME Church and Dylann Roof’s quick capture by the combined efforts of local, state and federal police is a world away from what President Obama recalled as “a dark part of our history.” Today the system and philosophy of institutionalized racism identified by Dr. King no longer exists.
What causes young men such as Dylann Roof to erupt in homicidal rage, whatever their motivation, is a problem that defies explanation beyond the reality that evil still stalks humanity. It is no small solace that in committing such an act today, he stands alone.
Where to start?
The entire second paragraph is a crafty dodge away from the racial motive for the killings. "It does not matter that..." is used to introduce two paragraphs that flagrantly side step the blatant racism behind the slaughter. If it does not matter, if they are not trying to make a specific point, why bring it up all. In an editorial, every word matters. And these words just don't fit in, unless their message is, Don't look over here, look over here.
It's the second mention in that paragraph that seriously does matter - "Nor does it matter that individuals are murdered every day in less noted acts of hatred or rage that leave survivors bereft beyond understanding. " That is about as clear an example of what's called a "dog whistle" as I've seen anywhere in print. Take the tragedy out of its context & put it into the context of black crime. I'm sort of surprised they didn't include "in Chicago." Because that's what it refers to. It is a truly... I can't even come up with a word for how reprehensible that sentence is.
Then there is, "Amid the horror of Charleston, it is also important to note that the U.S., notably the South, has moved forward to replace the system that enabled racist killings like those in the Birmingham church." Where have these people been over the past few years? Eric Garner & Freddie Gray are just two situations where African-American men died where officials seemed to feel - literally, in the case of Freddie Gray - they'd caused their own deaths. A policeman was indicted in the death of Walter Scott in North Charleston, S.C. - but would he have been without video showing him shooting the unarmed man multiple times in the back? Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice - where has the WSJ editorial board been over the past few years that it could write, "Back then and before, the institutions of government—police, courts, organized segregation—often worked to protect perpetrators of racially motivated violence, rather than their victims," as if those days are long gone?
But no sentence deserves more attention than, "Today the system and philosophy of institutionalized racism identified by Dr. King no longer exists. " Wow... Am torn between admiration for the carefully crafted wording & shame for the writer who composed it. The sentence, as written, is 100% accurate. There is no arguing that the system & philosophy of institutionalized racism identified by Dr. King no longer exists. Notice it doesn't say institutionalized racism doesn't exist. The one identified by Dr. King no longer does. That sentence is cold, calculated & spectacularly effective in doing what it's writer set out to do. And that disgusts me to the point of being embarrassed I ever called myself a conservative.
WSJ's editorial came out on the same day as Jon Stewart delivered his in a blistering monologue. It's because of Jon's comments that I'm not repeating the closing paragraph of the WSJ editorial. The sorry mess does deserve it, even to critique. Instead, I'll give Jon the last word - And we’re going to keep pretending like, “I don’t get it. What happened? This one guy lost his mind.” But we are steeped in that culture in this country and we refuse to recognize it, and I cannot believe how hard people are working to discount it.
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