I did not expect that I would have to follow-up on yesterday’s essay so soon, but I can’t say I’m surprised. In the past 24 hours, there were two mass shootings in the US. It is shocking and horrifying, yet somehow entirely predictable.
In Atlanta, 8 people were killed in what clearly appears to be an act of racist (specifically anti-Asian), white supremacist domestic terrorism, though people in power are currently refusing to admit this.
In Indianapolis, 4 people were killed (including a child) after a fight over a stimulus check — which, ironically, was intended to reduce the preventable suffering manufactured by neoliberal capitalism.
White folks (myself included) will continue to confront the difficult reality about this country, its history, and the myths perpetuated by white fragility and white supremacy, until we act to dismantle the violent systems of white supremacist oppression and capitalist exploitation — which we have collectively built, nurtured, and benefited from for centuries — that resulted in these tragedies. That means redistributing power and wealth.
But for now, this is America. Returning to normal after a deadly pandemic.