It hurts that the title of this post rings true. Wednesday night when I saw trending on Facebook “Charleston Church Massacre”, I scrolled past it and didn’t give it more thought than: “Oh Not Again.”
That’s right. “Oh. Not. Again” This has been happening enough in the US that the extent of my outrage was “Not Again”, because after all nothing happening when 21 children were gunned down and nothing happened after Columbine, and the terrifying truth is that it is almost guaranteed that nothing will happen after this latest massacre.
Jon Stewart spoke to this very issue on the June 18th episode of The Daily Show. (He also spoke with Malala Yousafzai, a victim of extremism, an apt guest.)
Fox News has attempted to frame the shooting as part of the “War on Christianity“, and many others on the right are Attacking Obama for calling for Gun Regulations and continuing their baseless claim that “More Guns = Less Violence”
The shooter himself said he wanted to start a race war. He chose the Emmanuel African Methodist Church not because of religion, but because of hate. The AFME was a former stop along the Underground Railroad and has long been seen as a pillar of Justice and Equality. Claims that this was “Christian persecution” are lies, and if I thought the devil was real, I’d attribute the lie to him, but the only real devil is the evil that humanity is capable of.
Beyond the evil of action, their is the evil of non-action. Silence is Violence. The longer we remain indifferent, or simply indignant, nothing will change. How many lives have to be lost? How many Women, Men, and Children have to be lost, their lives destroyed and their families devastated before America wakes up and fixes it.
We have to stop sitting around and thinking “Not Again.”
We need, today, to resolve to make it “Never Again” by whatever peaceful loving means necessary. We must create a peaceful, ACTIONABLE solution. Gun Regulations, better race education and an end to poverty are just some of the things that need addressing.
And now this song about Love!
Olivia Jackson is a trans theatre artist, feminist-faith activist, writer, reader and anarchist.