The Washington Post published a column in which the two authors discuss that the problem of mass shootings is actually a problem of "white males". Here is the opening of the article:
Imagine if African American men and boys were committing mass shootings month after month, year after year. Articles and interviews would flood the media, and we’d have political debates demanding that African Americans be “held accountable.” Then, if an atrocity such as the Newtown, Conn., shootings took place and African American male leaders held a news conference to offer solutions, their credibility would be questionable. The public would tell these leaders that they need to focus on problems in their own culture and communities. But when the criminals and leaders are white men, race and gender become the elephant in the room.
The amazing thing is that these two authors (who are women) seem actually to mean what they wrote. Have they lost their minds? Let's examine the facts.
The biggest number of mass shootings and killings in the country takes place on a regular basis during gang wars in big cities. How many drive-by shootings have you read about? Beyond that, how often have you read about a family that was killed during a robbery in the inner cities. These things do not make big news because they happen all the time. What made the Aurora and Newtown killings such big news is the fact that these mass killings were not done by the usual culprits. America has become enured to the gang slayings and the random violence of the cities. It is just when that violence moves elsewhere that people pay attention.
And remember the DC sniper? That was a black man and his side kick (also black) who engaged in mass shooting, albeit one person at a time. Was there any racial condemnation then as a result? No.
The authors of the article also point to Nidal Hassan who killed people at Fort Hood as yet another white man engaging in mass murder. Again, are they kidding? Hassan was and is a Islamic terrorist, killing in the name of jihad. On that basis, I wonder why the authors failed to include the 9-11 terrorists who killed over 3000 on one day.
Here is another excerpt from this demented article:
When white men try to divert attention from gun control by talking about mental health issues, many people buy into the idea that the United States has a national mental health problem, or flawed systems with which to address those problems, and they think that is what produces mass shootings.
But women and girls with mental health issues are not picking up semiautomatic weapons and shooting schoolchildren. Immigrants with mental health issues are not committing mass shootings in malls and movie theaters. Latinos with mental health issues are not continually killing groups of strangers.
Let's just look at the last sentence for a start. "Latinos with mental health issues are not continually killing groups of strangers." Well, neither are white men. No one is CONTINUALLY killing groups of strangers. But if you were to look at gang activity in Los Angeles or activities connected to the Mexican drug cartels, you might well come to the conclusion that Latino men are continually killing groups of people. I don't know if the dead are "strangers" or not, but does it really matter?
And how about saying that women are not shooting children with semiautomatic weapons? No surprise there. Throughout human history, men are the ones who have been the killers. Whether that is killing of animals in hunting, killing of enemies in battles, or killing of any sort, it has always been the man's job.
Over the last fifty years, American society has developed mostly academic groups that look at society as if it has been divided into oppressors and the oppressed. White men, of course, are always portrayed as the oppressors. Use of this twisted paradigm results in so-called analysis which is bizarre at best and ridiculous at worst. The truth is that we would do better to divide society into two different groups: the sane and the hopelessly demented. Clearly, the authors of the article in the WaPo belong among the demented.
Imagine if African American men and boys were committing mass shootings month after month, year after year. Articles and interviews would flood the media, and we’d have political debates demanding that African Americans be “held accountable.” Then, if an atrocity such as the Newtown, Conn., shootings took place and African American male leaders held a news conference to offer solutions, their credibility would be questionable. The public would tell these leaders that they need to focus on problems in their own culture and communities. But when the criminals and leaders are white men, race and gender become the elephant in the room.
The amazing thing is that these two authors (who are women) seem actually to mean what they wrote. Have they lost their minds? Let's examine the facts.
The biggest number of mass shootings and killings in the country takes place on a regular basis during gang wars in big cities. How many drive-by shootings have you read about? Beyond that, how often have you read about a family that was killed during a robbery in the inner cities. These things do not make big news because they happen all the time. What made the Aurora and Newtown killings such big news is the fact that these mass killings were not done by the usual culprits. America has become enured to the gang slayings and the random violence of the cities. It is just when that violence moves elsewhere that people pay attention.
And remember the DC sniper? That was a black man and his side kick (also black) who engaged in mass shooting, albeit one person at a time. Was there any racial condemnation then as a result? No.
The authors of the article also point to Nidal Hassan who killed people at Fort Hood as yet another white man engaging in mass murder. Again, are they kidding? Hassan was and is a Islamic terrorist, killing in the name of jihad. On that basis, I wonder why the authors failed to include the 9-11 terrorists who killed over 3000 on one day.
Here is another excerpt from this demented article:
When white men try to divert attention from gun control by talking about mental health issues, many people buy into the idea that the United States has a national mental health problem, or flawed systems with which to address those problems, and they think that is what produces mass shootings.
But women and girls with mental health issues are not picking up semiautomatic weapons and shooting schoolchildren. Immigrants with mental health issues are not committing mass shootings in malls and movie theaters. Latinos with mental health issues are not continually killing groups of strangers.
Let's just look at the last sentence for a start. "Latinos with mental health issues are not continually killing groups of strangers." Well, neither are white men. No one is CONTINUALLY killing groups of strangers. But if you were to look at gang activity in Los Angeles or activities connected to the Mexican drug cartels, you might well come to the conclusion that Latino men are continually killing groups of people. I don't know if the dead are "strangers" or not, but does it really matter?
And how about saying that women are not shooting children with semiautomatic weapons? No surprise there. Throughout human history, men are the ones who have been the killers. Whether that is killing of animals in hunting, killing of enemies in battles, or killing of any sort, it has always been the man's job.
Over the last fifty years, American society has developed mostly academic groups that look at society as if it has been divided into oppressors and the oppressed. White men, of course, are always portrayed as the oppressors. Use of this twisted paradigm results in so-called analysis which is bizarre at best and ridiculous at worst. The truth is that we would do better to divide society into two different groups: the sane and the hopelessly demented. Clearly, the authors of the article in the WaPo belong among the demented.
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