Originally Posted by Oberon
I'll admit, perhaps I jumped a little too quickly into this, but I call it as I see it, and domestic or not, it was still an act of terror, even if it doesn't count as such under US domestic law. Others won't see it that way, and that's how it is.
However, pundits or no pundits, there certainly does seem to be a problem even if it's not visible at the local level. If there was not a problem then we wouldn't be in this situation, would we? With a white kid with a gun convinced that black people are 'raping' and 'taking over' the country. Something has gotten into that kids head that has made him think that way, most likely it is, yes, coupled with a mental illness, but hate is not born, hate is taught. No-one is born hating anyone else (except perhaps whatever being just forced you out of that nice warm liquid cocoon into a harsh bright cold room) but along the line we are taught discrimination through both society and family. Does that mean that it is inevitable that people will hate? Not always, it can be unlearnt, it can be removed but never usually totally.
To be fair to America, this is not a purely Americo-centric problem, it may seem that way, and the ease of access to firearms may perhaps be a part of making a bad situation worse, but it's a problem that affects the whole western world. In America it's Blacks, in Europe it's Muslims and Eastern Europeans, it's all the same thing, fear of the unknown, fear of something that isn't the same as you. Fear of change. I think that social-economic situations also come into it, with the whole wealth gap, but that's a whole kettle of fish for another thread.
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