The Rise of Domestic Terrorism

Now that the election and all its distractions are over, perhaps we can turn our attention to the rise of domestic terrorism, which struck again the day after the election in Thousand Oaks, California.

There have been over three hundred mass shootings in the United States so far this year, and the rate at which they occur is accelerating. In US Law Enforcement Failed to See the Threat of White Nationalism recently published in The New York Times Magazine, author Janet Reitman explains how politics and racial prejudice have blinded policy makers from fact and reason, making our country vulnerable to escalating domestic terrorism. Due to this failure, law enforcement is unprepared – and in some cases unwilling – to stop the violence that White Extremists incite.

I urge you to read the article.

While the United States is spending untold resources attacking foreign terrorism and preventing peaceful refugees from entering the country, our government is actively ignoring domestic terrorism. When a terrorist attack does occur, the public talks about gun control rather than the underlying fear and paranoia motivating the civilian white boys who use military grade arms against American citizens. Yes, there’s a place for rational gun safety laws, but there’s a root problem that’s even more fundamental we’re not talking about: White Nationalism terrorizing our homeland.

I’m greatly relieved that the US House of Representatives is at least now in a position to apply brakes to this administration’s racist policies that focus on refugees, Muslims and minorities instead of the real threat from white American men with guns and power.

White Nationalism is a larger threat to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness than any group of downtrodden people pursuing the American Dream. It’s angry white men we should fear, both the young ones who admire Hitler and violence and the old ones in the Senate who support the administration’s disregard for American values of fairness, education, and freedom of speech.

The new majority in the House is only a tap on the brakes, and the train is accelerating downhill. Sure, there’s lots of legislation that needs passing, from health care to climate protection. But what we really need to do is wake up to the rising tide of White Nationalism before we find ourselves in a fascist state.

Please read this article.

Written to educate and entertain, Living in Place is where I publish my sometimes pointed, sometimes poetic and sometimes irritating essays about the human condition. By subscribing, you will have an essay every week delivered to your email and you will be supporting my independent, non-commercial voice. Thanks.