New Zealand mass shooting, black "racism," and words “matter”

Mass shootings in the U.S. are so commonplace that it is “unusual” that a week goes by without news of another one. While suicide bombings in the Middle East are so common that they merit no more than passing note, mass killings perpetrated in “civilized” countries by “civilized” persons tends to be more “shocking.” Take for instance the mass rampage by Norwegian Anders Breivik—whose targets were not Muslims themselves, since there are few of them in Norway to be found in one place—but “liberal” young Norwegians whose “misguidedness” allowed these “impure elements” into his pure Arian-Nordic country. Perhaps more shocking is the fact that Norwegian law capped Brevik’s sentence to only 21 years in prison; he will certainly be young enough when he is released to plan another such attack—given that the killer in another mass shooting allegedly received sanction from Brevik for his act, this time in another “unexpected” locale, New Zealand. 

49 Muslim worshipers were killed by a gunman or gunmen in an attack on two mosques in New Zealand. The man under the most scrutiny, Brenton Tarrant—a native Australian—conducted his attack with weapons scrawled with white supremacist slogans to the tune of a song praising the genocidal nationalism of Radovan Karadžić, who some may still remember from the Bosnian war during the Clinton administration. On at least one of his weapons was scrawled the so-called “14 Words” coined by David Lane of the now defunct neo-Nazi group The Order, “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.” These sentiments would have remained in the sewer with him, except that his wife decided to publish his thoughts; "Because the beauty of the White Aryan woman must not perish from the earth” was probably one that touched her dark heart deeply.

Tarrant also saw fit to “justify” his murderous rampage via an 80 or so page “manifesto” in which outlined the usual ugly stereotypes that racists have for Muslims and immigrants of non-white racial or “ethnic” persuasion generally. He named dropped a few people he admired, mostly  your typical well-known white supremacist types. But one name he “dropped” that has not received the attention it should by the mainstream media is Candace Owens: “Yes, the person that has influenced me above all was Candace Owens.” Tarrant confessed that she above all other people “radicalized” him the most. “Each time she spoke I was stunned by her insights and her own views helped push me further and further into the belief of violence over meekness.” Rather interestingly, given what he has just done, he still thought he should “disavow some of her beliefs, the extreme actions she calls for me are too much, even for my tastes.”

Who the hell is Candace Owens, and why is the mainstream media so reticent about talking about a person who some call the “Ann Coulter in blackface”? Well, maybe the mainstream media doesn’t want to call attention to fact that she really is black, and that she is responsible for truly heinous beliefs that she has a habit of denying when confronted with them, or accuses “liberals” as taking out of “context.” Whenever her name does pop-up, it is usually in connection with musician Kanye West, who now blames his “misguided” support of Donald Trump from being brainwashed by Owens. He now claims that "My eyes are now wide open and now realize I've been used to spread messages I don't believe in. I am distancing myself from politics and completely focusing on being creative.” Furthermore he is back to his “ACTUAL beliefs and my vision for a better world." West also did a 180 on Owens’ virulent anti-immigrant stance, voicing empathy for migrants seeking to escape “violence and war.”

Owens is the founder of the so-called “Blexic” movement, which invites blacks to leave the Democratic Party and her with the far-right Republican fringe. While Blexit is supposed to support “free thinkers,” the question what is so “free-thinking” about far-right ideology, especially in the hyper-partisanship that has largely been the creation of the right? Just because it is “right-wing” doesn’t mean it is “free”—just ask any “moderate” Republican who is assaulted by the Trump “base” and feels cowed to abandon their “principles” to follow the hate-mongering mob. Furthermore, the Blexit website, like other far-right outliers, typically traffics in misinformation and outright lies. While white “liberals” can’t be entirely trusted, at least they don’t go out of their way to harm minorities, like the increasingly white nationalist Republicans do. 

Like other far-right fanatics like Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham and the rest of those sewer dwellers (mostly found on Fox News), Owens runs headlong into controversy every time she opens her stupid mouth. She claims racism doesn’t exist because slavery no longer exists, and claims that Hitler wasn’t all that bad until he went “global.” Owen’s defended her ignorance of history by attempting to put her comments in “context,” that Hitler was not a good “nationalist” but a bad “globalist,” which is wrong on both counts. Hitler was a raging “white nationalist” who sought to purge Germany of “impure elements,” and his goal was for nations under German control to serve the economic and “living space” needs of Germany alone, which is hardly a “globalist” preoccupation. There is an astonishing amount of false mythology regarding the German economic “miracle” during the Nazi period, which by 1937 40 percent of its national budget was deficit spending, and like that during the Reagan administration nearly all government manufacturing spending was geared toward the military at the expense of support for consumer production (which helped along the loss of U.S. domestic consumer goods manufacturing first to Japan and then China and elsewhere); as an economic and budgetary policy, this was the recipe for disaster. Germany’s financial and banking leaders knew this and argued against continued massive deficit-creating military spending, but Hitler believed that another economic meltdown could be averted by conquest and the theft of the resources (and gold reserves) of other nations. 

Like so many on the far-right, Owens not just rages against (Hispanic) immigrants, but blames them for all the problems of blacks in this country. A tweet about DACA was instructive particularly about those who support what she says:

Regarding #DACA: Send them ALL home! — Unlimited illegal immigration has harmed the black community for decades. Put Americans first, not law-breaking illegal immigrants. In conclusion: WALL!

There are a lot of different ways of being a “law-breaker”—some worse than others. Owens does have a lot of white fans who appreciate her racism (you only have to be racist against one group to be one). A tweeter with a "Spanish" surname who is about as “Latina” as blonde-haired Kirsten Vangsness on the TV show Criminal Minds responded with the usual ignorant stereotyping:

It upsets me that these people are protected. My grandpa came to this country the proper way. He became a us citizen, never spoke Spanish in the Home learned English in less than a year, contributed to our society in a positive way and raised two sons who served our military. 

Another said:

Only people with easy lives want immigration: cheap labour and inferior people to raise their own self esteem. The don’t want Norwegians.

But she has many black fans as well, those who did not read between the lines of that particular comment:

What does DACA stand for, Democrats Against Children Of America or Dreamers Against Conservatives Americans ,anyone out there help me.

Thank You For Being A Young American, With Some Damn Common Sense! Most of the last couple of generations, were skipped over for common sense! You have proven to me some of you have some! Thanks again, from an old broken dude!

Maybe you will be the one to articulate these things to the wider black population. Its time for a sea change in black politics.

If losing their voting power after the 65 immigration act won't change their mind about this what will? They had 13% of the vote then and still do, but the Latinos are up to 17% from 5%. If you wonder why Dems pander to them, that's why + more coming.

The ignorance of some these people is astonishing, especially those who should be the last ones throwing stones. Some try to “justify” their racism:

I agree. Just because the language barrier is there does not mean they don't know what they are doing. They can file for citizenship from Mexico! Our inner cities need major help as do our homeless.

Immigrants did not create homelessness in this country, nor black ghettos. Undocumented workers, furthermore, tend to be far more self-reliant than “natives” whining on their sofa’s watching Fox News or Jerry Springer. But not all were supportive, however:

Yes send the 5000 DACA troops all “home”

Do you actually have anything valuable to contribute to the conversation or are you just going to keep shouting right wing talking points?

 

Nice to know of the warmth and compassion shown by tweeters in the US towards 'aliens'. What was that slogan so beloved of an earlier, more humane citizenship, something like 'send me your poor and disposed... your huddled masses...' And does the torch of liberty still burn?

As I have pointed out before, before the 1924 immigration law which was meant to curb the influx of “inferior” southern and eastern Europeans, only the Chinese exclusion law made any effort to “regulate” free-flowing immigration. Owens also published a video of a visit to an immigrant children’s detention center, saying “I usually don’t rant like this, I’m usually not this angry, but today I am pretty infuriated. I am infuriated for the children of America, who nobody gives a shit about on the left.” Of course, she was not referring to the conditions that these children were living in, which she described more as a vacation “resort.” An interesting sentiment, given that Trump is backing a five percent across-the-board cut in social safety-net programs as well as massive cuts in Medicaid and Medicare—something that Republicans in general tend to support as well. Predictably, some black responders could not look past their own self-pitying bigotry: “They’re letting these illegal immigrants in to replace the black vote, and black people”; I should point out now that the Pew Foundation believes that Asians will be the largest nonwhite group in the U.S. by 2050--and likely surpassing Hispanics as the largest group of illegal immigrants. Others, however, pointed out that Owens’ description of the detention center was stark raving racist nonsense—not helped by her raving tone of voice. 

Owens goes further in a recent video, where she claims that the “ideology” of the film Black Panther should inspire pro-Trump black folk: “They don’t allow the struggling outside people into their society, because refugees bring their problems with them…Wakanda was a thriving black nation because they were tough on borders, realize you shouldn’t give asylum to refugees.” An interesting analogy, since many of them come from Africa (like her ancestors did), and particularly since I have noted before that DNA testing has demonstrating that the vast majority of Mexican/Mexican-Americans in this country are mostly or entirely indigenous to this part of the country, unlike the descendants of European invaders and the people they brought over here, even if against their will.

At any rate, most black politicians and media commentators know very well that supporting policies that can be deemed “racist” against Hispanics can blow back in their faces—especially when you are “confused” about where all your white “friends” disappeared to when things go bad; note that Indians—one/sixth who are in the country illegally and only growing—are the “minority” of choice now, and currently the third largest racial/ethnic demographic appearing in television commercials today, despite the fact they still comprise less than 1 percent of the population (it just seems like there's more, because thanks to the power of "positive" stereotyping, most convenience store franchises across the country have been awarded to people from South Asia). As I noted before, while Trump labels African and Latin American countries as “shitholes,” the WHO reports that 60 percent of India’s population is so poor that they have no access to indoor toilet facilities. That is 800 million people out of a population of 1.3 billion; is there even that many people living in Latin America and sub-Sahara Africa combined? When I was in college I asked a person I knew who was Indian about the de facto continuation of the caste system in that country, and it was apparently a subject he wasn’t comfortable talking about at all.

Interestingly, Owens used to be a “liberal,” and had alleged “liberal” notions until she (falsely) blamed “liberals” for the attacks on her social media project called “Social Autopsy,” which intended to “shame” people who were making nasty comments about other people.  The website purported to do the following “We attach words to their places of employment, and anybody in the entire world can search for them. What we are doing is figuratively lifting the masks up so nobody can hide behind, you know, Twitter handles or privatized profiles. It’s all real, and it’s all researchable. You can still say whatever you want to say on social media, but you have to be willing to stand by your words.” Obviously, there was some backlash to it, especially when it could be used as a forum for libel by vindictive people. Apparently this came to the notice of the people at Gamergate, where there was battle between “progressive” gamers who thought games should be more “inclusionary” and those who preferred the status quo. Owens claimed that she started receiving racist hate mail, which she chose illogically to blame “liberal” Gamegaters for. 

Monique Judge of The Root noted Owens’ hypocrisy: “Would that be the same racism that Candace and her family filed a federal lawsuit against the Stamford Board of Education over in 2007 and for which they subsequently received a $37,500 settlement” after a 2007 incident where three white males, apparently students at the school, left threatening and racist messages on her phone answering machine. That begs the question of why Owens became a flaming righty. Judge writes

You are a slave to the white gaze. You will do and say anything at this point to be seen as other—and while the psychology behind this would be fascinating to explore, the optics of it give you the appearance of being the female version of Stephen from DJango Unchained. That’s not a good look, sis.

Up until three years ago, you still thought racism was a thing. You only became a conservative spouting this ridiculous rhetoric when you got called out for using the Social Autopsy website to dox people. You decided in that moment to lash out at liberals and progressives and blame them for the abuse that was likely coming from the very people whose hill you want to die on now.

You are a disgrace. You should be ashamed of yourself. Considering the harassment your family received in the wake of the high school phone incident, I have to wonder if they are even able to show their faces in public considering what you have come to represent now.

You eagerly and unapologetically stand up and champion the causes of a racist who wouldn’t spit on you if you were on fire.

Wake up. Look your black ass face in the mirror and realize that you will never be one of them…Good luck, girl. You gon’ need it.

Owens is not the only one who is being laughed at by racist whites behind their backs and embarrassing “conservative” blacks. Last year, NewsOne reported that

The Sunken Place Summit was in full effect on Friday in Washington, D.C., and sadly it brought about a flock of Black people embracing white supremacy. In fact, the Young Black Leadership Summit was going beyond heir typical tap dancing for the president, with attendees literally chanting racist lines that are normally reserved for a Trump rally. One young man, who live-streamed the summit on YouTube, was babbling into the camera with young people chanting, “Build that wall!” in the background. The young man said, “It’s Black excellence at its finest, to the highest degree.” More like anti-Blackness at its highest degree.

The same young man also told the Grio that “Our Black-owned businesses are turning into taco stands overnight because of illegal immigrants.” 

Trump clearly has convinced these young people to believe his lies. As Vox explained, “A 2016 study conducted by scholars at Penn’s Wharton School of Business found that the increase in the labor supply resulting from immigration could actually generate more employment in industries such as home construction and food production. More people means more consumption, and, specifically, more consumption by the working poor.”

In addition, “Existing data simply doesn’t support any definitive correlation between the stark unemployment rate of African Americans and the employment of recent immigrants. Nevertheless, those striving to push through xenophobic, racist, Islamophobic, and inhumane immigration restrictions find unusual allies among some African Americans seeking to lower the black unemployment rate.”

The truth is, it is gentrification that is hurting Black business, which has nothing to do with immigration.

The Young Black Leadership Summit is the fraudulent brainchild of Candace Owens, who was anti-Trump two years ago.

Pray for these lost souls.

The sad reality is that supporting racists is racist. Why in the world would a mass murderer claim someone like Owens’ as a “major influence” on him if he believed what she said “justified” his actions? As noted before, he implied in his manifesto that he felt that Owens went even further than he wished to go. What does that mean? Of course, Owens has gone on the defensive, attacking “liberals” or deriding anyone who claims she had anything to do with what set him off. People who initially made the analogy are of course backtracking, but in truth no one should let Owens—or anyone like her, say Trump, Ingraham, Coulter, Buchanan, Miller, Malkin, etc.—off the hook that easily. Words DO MATTER when someone is listening to them and acting on them. When a mass killer says someone influenced his actions, we should take what was said seriously. 

Because people are not taking "mere" words seriously, 49 people were killed in New Zealand. We could say the same about other similar incidents in this country.