America has seen three major crimes with hateful or political motivation in the past four days.
On Wednesday, a white man tried to force his way into a black church. When he couldn’t get in, he went to a Kroger and shot two black men.
On Friday, after bombs had been sent to people who had faced criticism from President Trump, a suspect was finally arrested.
On Saturday, a man opened fire at a synagogue in Pittsburgh and killed 11 service goers.
Our country is hating, and our country is hurting. And while there is no easy fix, the US needs to take a step back and realize that our culture of nationalism and hatred is literally killing people.
To begin, domestic terrorists need to be called exactly what they are. They are more than shooters and bombers. They commit grotesque acts of violence with specific agendas. They pose a deep threat to our country. They are terrorists.
We will not make progress in stopping them until we identify them as such.
We need to make it clear to those committing acts of terror that they will not be seen as heroes. They will not go down in history as saving America or loving their country. They will go down as terrorists that actively hurt the United States of America.
I don’t know how to undo hate. But it needs to be undone wherever it is.
I do not know how to make a grown man love someone different than himself. But if I had the chance, I would like to ask him why he feels the hate he does. I would like to force him to see his hate for what it is.
We cannot all safely confront white supremacists, though.
The current administration and media outlets foster our culture, and they need to foster a more positive and loving one. We have had enough racist jokes under the guise of edgy comedy, enough news stories that consist of more attacks than information and enough mocking and criticism of anyone without a MAGA hat from the executive branch.
If we can’t stop it, we need to call it out when we see it.
Our culture of violence should not go unaddressed, either. So often, we are presented with physicality as the solution to our problems. The reality of death is so often lost on us, as is the power of words.
We must be cognizant of how what we say and do contributes to our culture.
The deeply upsetting reality is that we cannot fix this overnight and we cannot fix it alone. We will have to be patient and work together. Saturday’s shooting will not be America’s last. But we cannot give up. We need to push harder each day than ever before.
Get involved. Start a campaign for love. Really genuinely try to effectively open someone’s mind. Write to a media outlet and let them know about hateful or violent content that disappointed you. Love a little harder today.
