It is terrorism

Melissa McEwen of Shakesville has a few important things to say about the murder of nine black people at a church in Charleston, South Carolina. She notes a lot of people in the media are quite willing to get caught up in the loudest voices trying to say white supremacy was not the motive. But McEwen responds: We do understand his motive; it isn't a mystery. It wasn't a senseless crime; it makes perfect sense in the world of white supremacy. He wasn't a lone gunman, his companion was supremacy. He wasn't a lost boy, he didn't have mental illness, he wasn't merely "concentrated evil" (a way of dismissing his guilt). He is a terrorist. This isn't a hate crime. It is terrorism. This act of terror does not happen in a vacuum. It happens in a culture of anti-blackness and white supremacy.

McEwen takes a look at double standards around this and the Ferguson, Baltimore, and related killings:

A black person who commits mass violence on white people is a terrorist. A white person who commits mass violence on black people is a lone gunman committing a hate crime.

A black person suspected of a crime is frequently killed by police. A white person who has killed nine people is taken alive.

A black teen killed by police is described as a "man" and called a thug. A white person who has killed nine people is called a "boy" and his life is searched for evidence he is mentally ill.

White families in general are not held to blame for a white man's mass murder. Black families in general are held to blame for black crimes.

Black people committing crimes are said to reflect problems of "black culture." White people committing crimes with obvious links to white supremacy are isolated incidents.