Our hearts are heavy. Again.
Our hearts are heavy. Again.
This weekend, we saw the sickening consequences of hate 鈥� as we鈥檝e seen over and over in recent months.聽
Twenty-two people were killed by a gunman in El Paso, Texas, on Saturday.
He wasn鈥檛 an ISIS fighter. He wasn鈥檛 a brown-skinned 鈥渋nvader.鈥�
He was an angry white man, U.S.-born, who had access to weapons capable of killing dozens of people within seconds.
Although the motives are unclear in two other mass shootings over the last eight days in Dayton, Ohio, and Gilroy, Calif., those acts also were committed by white men. This is the truth our country must confront.聽聽
The suspected killer in El Paso 鈥� who聽used military-style weapons to kill 22 people 鈥� appears to have been fully indoctrinated in the same white nationalist movement that has spawned numerous other domestic terrorists in recent months.聽
This is nothing less than a global terrorist movement, one animated by white supremacy and the belief that white people are being systematically replaced by people of color in Western countries.
And make no mistake: It鈥檚 a movement that has been energized and encouraged by our own president, who uses words like 鈥渋nvasion鈥� and 鈥渋nfestation鈥� when talking about people of color. In describing U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings鈥� majority-black congressional district in Baltimore, he said 鈥渘o human being would want to live there.鈥�
A racist 鈥渕anifesto鈥� apparently posted online by the suspect in El Paso echoes the same themes that President Trump invokes to stoke militant anger and hate among the campaign rally-goers who roar chants like 鈥淪end her back!鈥� in reference to women of color in Congress. In the post, the writer frets about a 鈥淗ispanic invasion of Texas鈥� and warns that white people are being replaced by foreigners.
This fear and resentment of our nation鈥檚 growing diversity is at the heart of the hate that鈥檚 swelling across America.聽
It鈥檚 no coincidence that the number of we鈥檙e tracking across America in 2018 鈥� for a cumulative 30 percent increase that coincides with the last presidential campaign and the current administration.聽Hate crimes also have risen by about the same amount during this period, following three years of declines.
Words matter. Especially the words of our political leaders.
In 1963, in the midst of his feud with civil rights leaders, Alabama Gov. George Wallace said, 鈥淲hat this country needs is a few first-class funerals.鈥� Just days later, Klansmen bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, a meeting place for civil rights activists, killing four little girls.聽
Today, more and more, we are seeing hate crimes and terror attacks committed by white nationalists. Unfortunately, El Paso may not be the last.
This white nationalist fever will not break on its own.
It鈥檚 up to people of decency and goodwill across America to work together toward an agenda of love and hope 鈥� of opportunity, equality and true justice.
We must reject the politicians who traffic in fear and hate. And we must relentlessly call out those who enable them.
As a nation, we鈥檝e done it before. We must do it again.
Photo by Mark Ralston/Getty Images
