EDITOR’S NOTE: This commentary was written by Heather Gray, a white woman from the Atlanta area and the founder of Justice Initiative, on October 3, in the aftermath of the massacre at the country music festival in Las Vegas by 64-year-old whacked-out millionaire-turned-mass-murderer Stephen Paddock, who as of this writing has killed 59 people and wounded over 500 more before taking his own life in a hotel room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel as police closed in on him. As she notes below, she received a number of comments in response to her commentary. In case you missed it, we are sharing it with you at this time. Ms. Gray has allowed us to reprint several of her commentaries, as they often pertain to issues of racial justice and the struggle against white supremacy.
Note: I have begun to receive many comments about this editorial and am sending it out one more time. I think many of us in America are wanting to address this issue both of white violence and white supremacy. It is way past time for all of us to honor the other and begin to teach in our schools and in our communities overall the sad history of European violence and white supremacy so that we can move beyond this. We have kept it under the radar screen for far too long even though it faces us promptly every single day! I welcome your comments and suggestions for community action and literature overall.
Should America be Deporting Domestic Violent White Males?
Now there’s a good idea but nobody would want them!
Violent “white” American males are the problem in America as they have killed far more Americans than any other male group. Yet, just imagine the press and comments from Donald Trump if Las Vegas killer Stephen Paddock had been a black male or a Mexican male or a Middle Eastern male or a Muslim male. Under those circumstances, I can just hear Trump saying, “See, I told you so! We need to control them or get rid of them!” So the question remains, when is the press, and especially Donald Trump and his supporters, going to acknowledge that this was a violent crime by a “white” male and that it is “white” American males who are far more dangerous than any other male group in the United States. Is it not time for white males in America who are concerned about the violence by other white males to begin addressing this issue? I think it is way past time for some action by white males themselves and the white community overall.Yet, Paddock had all these guns and used an “automatic” weapon to kill 59 people and injure more than 500 now suffering individuals. And Paddock’s use of an “automatic” weapon for this killing spree was the first ever in an American massacre! And no authorities knew he had a sizable compilation of weapons? And/or there was no surveillance of him? That, in itself, is a tragedy.
Should Trump include on his banning list and priorities the deportation of American white domestic terrorist males? Now, there’s a unique idea, except for the fact that nobody would want them! But where would he send them? Whites in British prisons, both convicts and debtors overall, were, for example, sent to the Britain’s American, Australian and other colonies in the 18th and 19th centuries with Georgia being a debtors colony. But I can’t imagine any country in today’s world wanting to increase their violent American white male population. Can you?
The other problem is that the American white males and those in police departments invariably are inappropriately acquitted of the most outrageous and heinous crimes, primarily against people of color, and are not placed in jail as they should be for the safety of all of us. But, nevertheless, most can be identified. This is, in fact, a major issue. Too many white males are acquitted for acts of violence that virtually any other male of color, or those not belonging to a main-stream American religion, would be penalized. In addition to the acts of violence, these inequities in the court system, or the so-called justice system, have to end.
I know that deportation of violent white males is not realistic but we do need to explore ways to better control guns and address the violent tendencies of white males in America. White males need to become accountable. Finally, American whites overall need to end this insane white supremacist mindset and, with compassion, acknowledge the beauty, profound cultures and humanity of all human beings on the face of the earth.
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