On 'white Male Rage'
Hi Guys! Happy Monday.
One of my regular commenters (who's awesome!) left a comment on my Chapel Hill video asking why I felt the shooting was a form of terrorism, and this really inspired to me FINALLY get my video up on white male rage. Because IMO, it's very clear to say that what Craig Hicks did when he murdered Deah Shaddy Barakat, Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha was a form of domestic terrorism.
Terrorism is simply defined as 'the use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims,' so one might wonder what was the 'political aim' of the Chapel Hill shooting. Well, I believe that all of white supremacy is a political cause; that white male entitlement is a political agenda and white power is a political agenda, just like black power or feminism are political agendas. So to kill someone in a fit of white male entitled rage for daring to challenge your white male authority, for daring to challenge the politics system of white supremacy just by EXISTING in what you feel is 'YOUR' white male space, is a political act of terrorism. That is a political response to a perceived threat to the political agenda that is white male supremacy, white power, and white privilege, and it is entirely fair IMO to call this terrorism and to call these people part of a domestic white terrorist group.
87% of mass U.S. shootings are committed by male Caucasians between the ages of 13 and 56, and the majority of these shootings revolve around perceived injustices from and revenge killings of people that fall outside of the entitled white male bloc (like women, like blacks, like Muslims, etc). Elliott Rodgers revenge killed women because of the perceived injustice of them not dating him. The Columbine killers revenge killed other students because they felt they were outcasts who were deprived of what was rightfully theirs in terms of popularity. There is a link between this sense of white male entitlement, this deservedness, and deadly rage.
white male entitled rage revolves around the entitlement that white men feel as a direct result of white male privilege, where they live in a world that is catered to them, revolves around them and where they are promised that they SHOULD have everything; and white male rage is the rage that they feel when that entitlement is not fulfilled. When it's blocked. When Muslims have the audacity to move in next door. When women have the audacity to not respond to dating advances. When Black people have the audacity to talk back, or attempt to vote, or not get their asses on the sidewalk, or exercise their rights. When any of these things happen, their white male entitlement, their place as rightful masters of the universe, is challenged. And white men have been proven time and again to show that their response to this 'challenge,' is deadly rage, violence, and mass murder.
This whole shooting was about using violence to further a political cause, and that political cause was white supremacy. This was about using violence to further white entitlement, and it was about using violence to pacify Hicks' white male rage. This was about a white male atheist being so angry and so entitled that he feels his opinions on religion should be everyone's opinions, and he was willing to kill for that. That was a terrorist act.
But since Hicks is white, as with many other domestic terrorists, we will see him labelled instead as a 'lone wolf' or 'disturbed loner;' as 'mentally ill' or 'brilliant with problems,' as 'a good person who would NEVER do something like this.' All excuses made to continue to encourage this sense of white male entitlement.
white male rage is a thing. white domestic terrorism is a thing, and it is a direct result of the indoctrination our white supremacist society and white power as a political agenda. Being both white and male typically leads to an unchecked sense of white male privilege that can, and often does, become deadly when it turns into rage.
Thanks for watching.
Links:
'White guy killer syndrome: Elliot Rodger’s deadly, privileged rage:'
http://www.salon.com/2014/05/27/white_guy_killer_syndrome_elliot_rodgers_deadly_privileged_rage/
'The Chapel Hill shooting: White male atheist murders three Muslim students:'
http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/02/chapel-hill-shooting-white-male-atheist-murders-three-muslim-students
'Nice White Boys Next Door and Mass Murder:'
http://thefeministwire.com/2012/12/nice-white-boys-next-door-and-mass-murder/
'White Privilege and Mass Murders in America:'
http://threesonorans.com/2012/07/21/white-privilege-in-american-mass-shootings/
'Suspect’s Past Fell Just Short of Raising Alarm:'
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/09/18/us/washington-navy-yard-shootings.html
'F.B.I. Confirms a Sharp Rise in Mass Shootings Since 2000:'
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/09/25/us/25shooters.html