Dylann Roof's Manifesto
I've written a lot (too much) about racism; I'm not going to spend any time parsing Dylann Roof's manifesto--obviously he's wrong and he's bad, and so are the people who deplore his acts while endorsing his analysis.I would just add that the KKK and the CCC and even the neo-Nazi groups like the NPI aren't the biggest problem we face as a nation when it comes to racism--even most racists find them despicable. And they're not being disingenuous when they disown Roof. The CCC's Jared Taylor, for example, is a separatist, not an eliminationist; he believes that white nationalists should emulate Israeli settlers, Chasids in upstate NY, and the die-hard separatists in Rhodesia and build white-only ethnocracies. One thing they do have in common with Roof is that they no longer presume to speak for "America," but for cadres of right-thinking whites. They believe the Republic was poisoned at its inception by its "all men are created equal" rhetoric and finished by the Civil War and the 13th Amendment. If they aren't as sanguinary as Roof, they hate the US with an equal passion. Here are Root's words on patriotism, veterans, Jews, and the flag, which are sure to bring Tea Partiers and Libertarians and Democrats and Republicans together in execration:
I hate the sight of the American flag. Modern American patriotism is an absolute joke. People pretending like they have something to be proud while White people are being murdered daily in the streets. Many veterans believe we owe them something for “protecting our way of life” or “protecting our freedom”. But im not sure what way of life they are talking about. How about we protect the White race and stop fighting for the jews. I will say this though, I myself would have rather lived in 1940's American than Nazi Germany, and no this is not ignorance speaking, it is just my opinion. So I dont blame the veterans of any wars up until after Vietnam, because at least they had an American to be proud of and fight for.
As loathsome as fringe racists like Taylor are, as despicable and dangerous as psychopathic nut jobs like Roof are, I believe that the mainstream enablers, sustainers, and normalizers of white privilege--the people who believe that separate and unequal schools and neighborhoods and opportunity structures, a militarized police force and citizenry, and an attendant prison-industrial complex are the bulwarks of their freedom--are far worse.
