Black lives still matter too little

Ihave to do it. You rape our women and you’re taking over our country.”

These were the words reportedly spoken by the gunman before murdering nine black people in a church in my hometown of Charleston. In the sanctuary where the great Denmark Vesey once preached about the eradication of slavery, Dylann Roof allegedly made a calculated and premeditated decision to execute members of Emanuel AME Church. Their only crime? Being a circle of black people engaged in prayer.

According to an acquaintance of Roof, he told friends he initially intended to kill “a bunch of people” at the College of Charleston. This is where I’m an assistant professor of African-American studies.

As the politicians and media pundits argue that race is not an issue in Charleston, as at least some pundits claim this is not a hate crime, let us be reminded that the history of the United States is rife with these types of events. Although the standard narrative will posit these actions as an isolated encounter by a young man with “mental issues,” we must understand the salience of systemic racism and the dominant cultural narrative that continues to provide evidence that black and brown lives are not valuable.

No more than six months ago, Walter Scott, an unarmed black man in North Charleston, was gunned down while running from an armed policeman. As Charleston and the nation sit in stunned silence, we must be reminded that the enormity of this act is not lost on the black and brown people who encounter systemic forms of racism and oppression on a daily basis.

While we are angry, hurt and in somber disbelief, this is the time when an honest dialogue about racism, sexism, Islamophobia and privilege needs to occur. Failure to do so will only continue the cycle of hate and the perpetuation of systemic inequalities that we will accept as isolated incidents. As such, we must remember this incident is not history repeating itself; it is a continuation of an American cultural norm.

Anthony Greene is an assistant professor of African-American studies at the College of Charleston.