Recently, there was a horrific attack at a historic church in Charleston, South Carolina, carried out by a young white man who targeted the church simply because it was serving African-Americans. As per the witnesses, he said that he was there to shoot the black people. Although the country might give it any name but it is clear that it is an act of terrorism.
Unlike a dozen or more superficially similar events since 2009, the gunman, a young, white racial bigot identified in court as Dylann Storm Roof, specifically targeted black people. He reportedly shouted racist abuse as he opened fire.
“I am not in the position to, alone, go into the ghetto and fight,” read part of the 2,500-word online screed attributed …show more content…
Cornell William Brooks, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, spoke for many. “This was not merely a mass shooting. Not merely an incident of gun violence. This was a racial hate crime.”
The fragile relationship between whites and blacks in America is another reality that shows up in incidents like Charleston. In the ultimate analysis, incidents like Charleston pose a question mark over the U.S. administration’s capacity to harmonize ties between the nation’s two largest communities. No amount of official affirmative action to uplift the black masses has helped to bridge the differences. Undoubtedly, there is a trust deficit in the U.S.
It should act as an alarming bell. Race and guns is a toxic mix and one that Obama, though forever famous as America’s first African American president, looks powerless to tackle. There is an urgent need to bring a proper gun legislation act which could prevent the widespread gun violence in the United