Boogey Man
This week see's me in California...Los Angeles to be exact.
Something that happened this week in Washington D.C. has gotten stuck in my craw. There was a shooting at the Holocaust Memorial Museum by this white supremacist. He killed one guard, a black man (who was so kind he opened the door for the killer).
This killer should have been on some FBI watch list, he had been in jail, lived on a Neo-Nazi commune in Idaho and even had some hateful postings on a website. Why is it that the vast majority of Americans are more afraid of the Arab Terrorists (in turban) versus the homegrown type?
Take for example the guy who killed Dr. Tiller in Kansas, that murderer was also on some FBI watch list, or Timothy McVeigh, all of these jerks were American born and raised. Why don't we fear them to the level of paranoia we do foreign looking terrorists?
I think its easier to fear those that don't look like us than to admonish or even consider that their are hateful people who look just like someone's son, father, brother??
posted by Virginia Gal @ 2:34 AM
7 Comments:
It's a sad world we live in today.
how undeniably,but sad truth
People are prone to those us/them dichotomies. But I am an equal opportunity worrier!
As happens, sometimes, I began writing a comment that then turned into its own blogpost. See my response - which essentially agrees with your ending thesis there - at my blog.
I agree! It is a shame. Do you think it has a bit to do with the media and/or policy decisions of the government? I don't know. I tend to think it has a bit to do with educating the public about what is actually out there....who knows, but it is incredibly sad.
Joe - are you being sarcastic?
Brenda - sad world, true that.
Mommantor - yes it is sad : )
Citizen - if one must worry be equal about it, I say.
Molly - I responded to you on your site, tee hee.
My Mind Wanders - I agree it definitely does have something to do with the media, fearmongering.
I can't help thinking about a book I read awhile ago about helping to keep your children safe. The whole "don't talk to strangers" thing is misleading and confusing. If you ask a child who's been warned about strangers to draw a picture of a stranger, they'll typically draw a horrendous monster. They don't understand that it's not what people look like, it's what they do. This book talks about how you need teach them to judge people by how they act - if they ask a child for help, for example, that's a red flag. Adults shouldn't ask children for help. That sort of thing is an extension of this issue, isn't it? We need to judge people by how they act and what they do, not but what they look like. Seems simple, clearly it's not.
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