A Word About The Charleston Church Shooting

This is going to be different from other blogs I post. This is about a topic that is in the news but I won't be using any names. Once the names of all the victims are released I'll do that, but as for the shooter, his name will not be mentioned in this post. Earlier today (yesterday as of this posting) a 21 year old kid shot and killed nine people in church. It is said that it was done because of their race. That is easy to believe when you know that the kid was not a fan of Black people which all the victims were and he is White and is all about racial supremacy.

(names added) Cynthia Hurd, 54; Susie Jackson, 87; Ethel Lance, 70; Rev. DePayne Middleton-Doctor, 49; Hon. Rev. Clementa Pinckney, 41; Tywanza Sanders, 26; Rev. Daniel Simmons Sr., 74; Rev. Sharonda Singleton, 45; Myra Thompson, 59.

This attack is being labeled a hate crime as well as a terrorist attack. I don't like that. I don't like either of those terms for various reasons. When you say hate crime it marginalizes it. It means this against that. This race versus that one. It makes people look at those that are the same skin color of the attacker angry at people who've done nothing to them. Race crimes get explanations attached to them that eventually lose their edge. This isn't all about a race. Its about one idiot and his skewed perception of reality.

A terrorist attack is something that before 9/11 was only heard in movies to describe Russians attacking us. Now it is a blanket term and phrase to cover any aspect of a fear inducing situation. This wasn't a terrorist attack specifically. Any attack on another person is meant to cause terror. This kid caused terror for nine people who are no longer alive because he has no respect for human life. Did you know that the ingredients that are used to compose a human body are valued at about $160? I'm sure the weapon he used to kill these people cost more than that.

I'm not a huge fan of blanket statements or beliefs. Not everyone that feels the way this kid does have the capacity to do what he did for which I am thankful. Most people that hold a very strong belief in something that is anger driven tend to be the ones that are the least active. It takes a lot of energy to be hateful. Trust me. I spent more than half of my life angry at one person or another. But no matter what made me upset I still knew that it wasn't my job, business, or mission to eliminate it. Just deal with it as best as I could. If the best this kid had was shooting nine people as they prayed in church and then trying to escape was his best then society is better off with him no longer alive.

I keep calling this kid a kid because that is what he is to me. No, I'm not some 80 year old man pontificating on the lack of respect that kids these days have. I'm just a 36 year old guy that happened to be born in a very strange point in history where I can relate to my parents and grandparents more than I can to a 21 year old. Me and my elders going 90 years before me pretty much had the same forms of technology and entertainment as children. We both had black and white TV's. Had to stay in a room as children to hear music. That kinda thing. A 21 year old grew up with the internet being a thing already.

This kid grew up in a world that I can't begin to relate to. In his world he discovered weapons and how to use them to ruin lives. I don't want this to be labeled a hate crime because Black news goes away quickly. This is about a lack of respect for human life. He sat there for an hour with these people before killing them. I don't think I want to know more about him. I know his name and what he looks like. I don't want to know what medications he may have been on. What he was like in high school. Who his friends are. What type of gun he used. Nothing. To me he and his actions are just an example of what happens when death is so easy to dish out.

This story will stick around for another week or so only to be replaced by something worse or more entertaining. We've gone from spending the past week amazed that a White woman pretending to be Black for years to a White kid killing nine Black people while they prayed. This is a weird fucking planet but it doesn't have to be so damned bad. Just try being nicer to each other. Tell people you love that you love them. Stop assuming that people will be here later today. You know, one thing I think about sometimes is the fact that people have a family member they can call and say they love. I can't do that with my late brother. We are so presumptuous about life. I was. 

I'm sure no one in that church thought it would be their last day on Earth. I'm sure when they let this kid in they never figured he would shoot them. They were being nice people and he saw nothing in them but something he hated. Not another human being that happened to be born with darker skin than him.