Last week was the eight year anniversary of the tragedy at Columbine High School in Littleton CO. On April 20, 1999, two Columbine students came to school intending on killing as many people that get in their way, if that means by a gun, a bomb made out of a propane tank, or any of their grenades or devices made by hand. Twelve students and one teacher died because of the horror caused by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. Eric and Dylan later committed suicide, but who are these kids? Another incident in Colorado had taken place just a few years ago, James Holmes (pictured above) killed 12 and injured over 140 people while entering an Aurora movie theatre and opening fire on the public. James was convicted on 24 counts of murder and 140 counts
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These people have been misunderstood for however long mass murders have been taking place. Experts may say that these people may have a social factor contributing to the idea of mass murders. Jeffrey Kluger from Time Magazine writes, “There are, too, the social factors: violent video games, a culture of physical aggression fueled by contact sports and the general tendency of all societies to turn their men into hunters and warriors” (Time Magazine). One of the most contributing factors though that is not talked about throughout the media is the overwhelming presence of man in these mass murders. As Mother Jones reported, "Since 1982, there have been at least 70 mass shootings across the country... Forty four of the killers were white males. Only one of them was a woman." The immense population of males is greater than the presence of females when talking about mass killings because of multiple reasons. “There is a correlation between feelings of entitlement among white males and homicidal revenge against a specific demographic”(Vice). To use the example of the Columbine High School incident, one of the killers, Eric Harris wrote in his journal, “I feel like GOD and I wish I was, having everyone being OFFICIALLY lower than me.” Eric wanted to feel entitlement and above everyone else socially. Eric also wanted to feel as if he needed to show revenge to a specific …show more content…
This is not the case, data from CNN shows that 65% of all mass murders are committed by white people. Black people committed close to 16% of the mass shooting Mother Jones looked at, while Asians were responsible for around 9%. People identified as either Latino, Native American and unknown rounded out the study. Although the United States population is made up of 64% of white people, the 17% hispanics or latinos so far have shown no sign as committing any kind of mass murder. The hispanic and latino community have so far not committed any kind of mass murder. What does that mean for the whites? What drives the white population to commit such things? The reason may lay deep beneath the present day roots all the way to the slavery era. When slavery in the South was a problem, the reality was that the white community felt as if they were superior. PBS writes, “ slavery gave the farmers a group of people to feel superior to...They gained a sense of power simply by being white”(PBS Slavery). Also, when compared to Muslim and Black people, the country sees the kinds of racism as, “When Black people or Muslims commit crimes or terrorism, we tend to describe the criminals in general terms speaking of the ‘inherent’ negative qualities of their racial or religious group...But in the U.S., White crime is almost always
These people have been misunderstood for however long mass murders have been taking place. Experts may say that these people may have a social factor contributing to the idea of mass murders. Jeffrey Kluger from Time Magazine writes, “There are, too, the social factors: violent video games, a culture of physical aggression fueled by contact sports and the general tendency of all societies to turn their men into hunters and warriors” (Time Magazine). One of the most contributing factors though that is not talked about throughout the media is the overwhelming presence of man in these mass murders. As Mother Jones reported, "Since 1982, there have been at least 70 mass shootings across the country... Forty four of the killers were white males. Only one of them was a woman." The immense population of males is greater than the presence of females when talking about mass killings because of multiple reasons. “There is a correlation between feelings of entitlement among white males and homicidal revenge against a specific demographic”(Vice). To use the example of the Columbine High School incident, one of the killers, Eric Harris wrote in his journal, “I feel like GOD and I wish I was, having everyone being OFFICIALLY lower than me.” Eric wanted to feel entitlement and above everyone else socially. Eric also wanted to feel as if he needed to show revenge to a specific …show more content…
This is not the case, data from CNN shows that 65% of all mass murders are committed by white people. Black people committed close to 16% of the mass shooting Mother Jones looked at, while Asians were responsible for around 9%. People identified as either Latino, Native American and unknown rounded out the study. Although the United States population is made up of 64% of white people, the 17% hispanics or latinos so far have shown no sign as committing any kind of mass murder. The hispanic and latino community have so far not committed any kind of mass murder. What does that mean for the whites? What drives the white population to commit such things? The reason may lay deep beneath the present day roots all the way to the slavery era. When slavery in the South was a problem, the reality was that the white community felt as if they were superior. PBS writes, “ slavery gave the farmers a group of people to feel superior to...They gained a sense of power simply by being white”(PBS Slavery). Also, when compared to Muslim and Black people, the country sees the kinds of racism as, “When Black people or Muslims commit crimes or terrorism, we tend to describe the criminals in general terms speaking of the ‘inherent’ negative qualities of their racial or religious group...But in the U.S., White crime is almost always