In the aftermath of Wednesday’s tragic mass killing of nine African-American church goers by Dylann Roof, both the left and the right have used this incident to try to push their political agenda. Most pundits and writers from the left, including President Obama, are pushing for stricter gun control. Others are pushing for the removal of South Carolina’s flag which still includes the symbol of the Confederacy. Pundits from the right side of the aisle have somehow made this tragedy an attack on religious liberty – which is equally absurd as the two notions previously mentioned from the left. In a 24-7 news cycle where everyone running for President and/or have a live microphone in front of them feels an obligation to make a comment, Senator Rand Paul is closest to the mark by stating “there is a sickness in our country.”
The sickness, however, is not gun ownership nor is it religious sectarianism. Our sickness is fear and hatred caused by a violent rejection of multiculturalism. Dylann Roof made several statements which leads me to that conclusion and I will not give his extreme views any more exposure by restating them here. His statements point to two immediate conclusions: 1) the attack was a planned exercise, and 2) He hoped his actions would ignite a powder keg of racial violence.
The rejection of multiculturalism varies but has a wide impact in terms of racial and ethnic relations. It does not end with Blacks and Whites; it includes variations on a theme including negative relations between Hispanic and other racial groups within our country. For the present, Dylann Roof’s hope of igniting a civil war caused by his horrific actions did not occur. We, as Americans, need to unite and come together to deal with our shared anxiety about our racial and ethnic divisions before its too late or Roof’s vision of widespread violence may happen.
graphic via shutterstock.com
Faculty, Department of Political Science, Towson University. Graduate from Liberty University Seminary.