The scourge of the right-wing white man
The white man has struck again. Add Nikolas Cruz to the pile of caucasian and, if initial reports and a picture of him in a “Make America Great Again” hat are to be believed, right-wing American mass killers.
The reported 17 dead and more injured in Florida are at the end of a thread which includes Dylann Roof, shot and killed nine churchgoers in South Carolina in 2015; Adam Lanza, shooting 20 children in Sandy Hook; Jared Lee Loughner taking 19 counts of murder and attempted murder in a 2011 Tuscon shooting; James Holmes killing 12 in Aurora, Colorado, in 2012; Stephen Paddock opened fire on some 900 concertgoers in Las Vegas; Alexandre Bissonette, charged with six counts of first-degree murder with a firearm at a Quebec Mosque.
What do they all have in common? They are white, and for the most part, leaning rightwing.
“Hey Dale! That’s racist! What does their skin colour have to do with anything?” says the interrupting reader who won’t let me finish.
Their race is everything for one reason: the difference in the way U.S. lawmakers (more specifically Republicans) react and spin like an Olympic figure skater compared to when the shooters are violent actors of any other skin colour or background.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, cautioned against a “knee-jerk” political reaction in a radio interview.
Yes, God forbid we institute some sort of travel ban on white people. Oh help us if we call Cruz a terrorist.
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (no relation) cautioned against Democrats politicizing the tragedy. The age-old adage Republicans stick by, when convenient. The same right wingers who are quick to call “terrorism” on any shooting containing a suspect with darker skin.
The double standard is disgusting and completely transparent, as are the donations of NRA to political representatives. I am, like I assume many are, at a loss. We were taught at schools of the long fight for democracy in the West. Well, it appears it was all for naught. It cannot become more clear to me that we no longer live in democracy. We live in a democratic system hijacked by capitalist interests.
The spineless NRA buyouts in the American political system and the constant lack of change has made it abundantly obvious. This is an oligarchy: a structure in which power rests with a small number of people, usually distinguished by wealth. A country run by lobbyists, Super PACs, and those with the monetary power to buy more influence than the single vote they should be allotted.
We are not above money running politics in Canada, far from it, but at least we have some decent gun control.
In the past 10 years I have, piece by piece, lost faith in most political systems as well as the ability of people to see anything beyond the financial bottom line.
That’s not much of an ending for this column, I wish I had an uplifting note to go out on, but there isn’t one. Keep your “thoughts and prayers,” or sell them at market value to see what they’re worth.
Pods and Ends: This past week I had the pleasure of speaking with Canadian podcast producer Katie Jensen. I’m recommending checking out some of her work on The Secret Life of Canada. A podcast about the people, places and events regularly left out of Canadian history. Specifically the not-safe-for-work but nonetheless interesting episode “Bear.”
Dale Boyd is a news reporter at The Penticton Herald. To contact the writer: dale.boyd@pentictonherald.ca.