Fighting hate in America

Dear Readers, We live in a toxic country. Maybe, what is coursing in our politic body is bad elsewhere; maybe, the world is just full of hate and venom. Ukraine and Russia, China and the Uighurs, whatever ethnic tribal war is brewing in Africa. But we sure seem to have a monopoly on fratricidal murder. The mass killings in Buffalo this week are just the most recent example of this.

An 18-year-old white man, disturbed by images of Replacement Theory, legally buys a Bushmaster XM-15 rifle about a week ago with specific intent to kill him some Black people. He drove 200 miles from his home in upstate New York to fulfill his Manifesto, on March 8, scouting out a Buffalo Tops Friendly Markets as a massacre sight. He planned, he plotted, and he posted his intent on white supremacist platforms like Discord and 4Chan. Within hours of his assault, he publishes on-line a 180-page Manifesto detailing his vomit; he proudly live-streams on Twitch his sick act of shooting and killing innocent New Yorkers.

Hate may have lurked in the dark recesses of society; it is now out in the open. Replacement Theory has gone mainstream in easily accessible conservative media. It is the idea that White America is being “replaced” by Black and brown populations. It encompasses anger at immigration as a fuel; “they” are coming to get us. Statistically, this is both true and inevitable. In 2018, in the under-15 population, white children dropped below 50%. Immigration (legal and illegal) renews us, it has kept us strong, and from becoming economically stagnant like Japan.

The hysteria of Replacement Theory is ugly racism. In 2015, 9 African-Americans were gunned down during Bible study at the Mother Emmanuel Church in Charleston, South Carolina. In the wake of the Pandemic and the “China Virus” epithet, 8 people were randomly executed in March of 2021, at three Atlanta-area Asian spas. This hate is deeper, it is not just anti-Black or anti-immigrant. It is anti-Semitic. In October of 2018, at the “Tree of Life” synagogue in Pittsburgh, 11 faithful congregants were murdered at morning Shabbat. In 2019, Brenton Harrison Tarrant livestreamed his attack on two mosques in New Zealand. Tarrant was the inspiration our Buffalo-white “toy soldier.”

In addition to a hysteria about immigration, Replacement Theory has spawned lies of voter fraud, laws that make it harder to vote, and steroid-gerrymandering. This hate has infected our legislatures, as White America seeks to desperately cling to power before the “barbarians” replace them.

New York has a “red flag law” which allows for a judge to issue an order that blocks someone from legally purchasing a firearm. It didn’t work with this killer. A year ago, at 17, he made “ominous” threats of murder/suicide while attending a Susequehanna Valley Central School. The instructor took this information to an administrator, who called in the New York State Police. A formal investigation ensued and the State Police grabbed him from his home and took him into custody, to a mental hospital for an involuntary commitment and evaluation, and … nothing. This hospitalization was not enough for a “red flag” order. A year later, the Bushman was legally bought (and illegally) modified for maximum effect.

Percolating in Congress is a bill to formalize and coordinate units in the Departments of Homeland Security, Justice, and FBI, to focus on domestic terrorism. Americans tasked with spying on other Americans to stop the spread of this hate. This is what we have come to, searching out hate lurking in the bowels of dark media, dark speech, in our own country. Turning the Justice Department on fellow Americans may be necessary, yet it will only intensify the virus of racial psychopaths. Our “War on Drugs” illustrates that aggressive policing cannot stop the spread of a society’s illnesses.

The search for answers Still, it appears politics has crept into these two (2) judicial decisions; a Trump appointee went one way, an Obama appointee went the other. This is not good for our judicial system. The law should be the law regardless of politics. Whatever you think about the merit of these lawsuits, it’s unhealthy for us to be able to predict an outcome based upon a judge’s political ascension.

Another important question is if these lawsuits are “good” for our democracy. The defense argument is that voters should be able to cast ballots and elect whom they want, regardless of personal foibles. Adam Clayton Powell was “excluded” from Congress because of corruption. The next election he was re-elected and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Congress did not have such a power, although be “expelled.” He took his seat.

Yet, insurrection or hostility to the United States is a whole different level of “personality.” Trying to keep someone from running for office because of what they said, as Rep. Gosar’s attorney points out, raises issues of First Amendment speech. You can hate what someone says and defend the right to say it in the same sentence – still, there are lines.

Post WWII, Germany had to find one. Too many people failed to react to Nazi propaganda; there is acceptable speech and anti-democratic speech. This is not to say that January 6th is an equivalent. What is important, though, is when lawsuits try to thresh out where that line might exist for us.

HHJ News