Contextualizing South Carolina

Hundreds of thousands of people die each day. According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 56 million people died worldwide in 2012. Most people died of noncommunicable diseases – 68% died of cardiovascular diseases, cancers, diabetes and chronic lung diseases. The other deaths were communicable, maternal, neonatal and nutrition conditions collectively – accounting for 23% of the 56 million total, while 9% of all deaths were caused by injuries. In 2008, in the United States where 7 in every 10 deaths are among people aged 70 years and older, 2,473,018 people died. That meant, on average, that 6,775 died per day. So, just like taxes, many of us are pretty sure that death will come our way. We work to avoid it, prevent it, postpone it – simply, not die.

But just like President Obama said on learning of the incident in Charleston, South Carolina, the nine people were lost in ‘senseless murders.’ Obama acknowledged that any death of this sort is a tragedy. He mentioned that it was particularly heartbreaking that these people were gunned down Wednesday night in a church by Dylan Roof, a 21-year old sociopath who had attended Bible study with them for upwards of an hour. And it is on this sociopathic behavior that we must focus upon.

As someone who came to these United States at the age of 33, I am still yet to grasp a complete exegesis of this society. Just when I think I understand it, I am taken right back to square one. And of course, I am shocked when nincompoops such as Bill O’Reilly are given platforms to help shape public opinion. Listening to this drivel on what purports to be and is a leading television show gave me a headache. That O’Reilly could find fault in those who support the fact that this was, obviously, a racially-motivated crime is astounding. Again, you have to watch the Fox News clip to fully comprehend the dissonance of American society. One side sees things as they really are, while the other one, without a doubt has an agenda to obfuscate the reality. And for the record, that’s the Bill O’Reilly side of things.

Now, let us move away from these things and focus on American society: In a country that is mostly white, there are millions and millions who cannot believe that the United States is being governed by a half-black man. While we have argued, before, that loathing for Obama is not based on racism but political machinations – we are not going to withdraw from our position – we must also admit that not facing up to race playing a factor in these things is nonsensical. And just like race was at the heart of these recent deaths, race is a major issue in what many thought was a post-racial society. Forget our articles on ‘tomorrow people’ and all sorts of things. The United States of America is a country where black people are second class citizens and they face all manner of injustices – most imposed by society and ingrained into the American social fabric.

Some people do not want to admit this reality. These people are mostly worried that if they acknowledge that wrongs have been committed on the black population, demands for reparations will ensue. And they are probably right since the price and burden the African American has paid or carried these 200 or so years is much too great to repay. But if this was suddenly reversed, what would happen to the institutions that currently profit from the status quo? Would the prison industry ever be the same again? Would the conservatives, for whom O’Reilly speaks, afford to say that it is not just about individual responsibility but also about the institutions that can help right past wrongs, or at least level things to a certain degree? Perhaps, with the recent deaths, we can start to understand why the Republican Party and many conservatives abhor the federal government.

To Be Continued.