[WCUSP] violence and racism

[yvonne simmons]

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Violence and Racism

Two issues jumped at me in the media coverage of
violent events recently: the terminology and lack of
context on violence.  Imagine if a student who happens
to be a Muslim and/or Arab carried out the attack at
Virginia Tech.  Imagine the media frenzy that would
have ensued to serve Zionist interests.  The religion
of the killer in this case was not mentioned.  While
it was mentioned that he is Asian/Korean no one used
terms like Korean Terrorist or Asian Terrorist, let
alone Christian Fascist or Christian Terrorist.  But
such language as Islamofascist or Arab Terrorist is
now so common and no talk show (let alone government
official) is censored or fired for using them. 

Does anyone doubt that the interview with the gun
dealer would have been very different had the killer
been an Arab or even Middle Eastern looking?  This is
part and parcel of the same mentality that holds that
elevates certain victims while dehumanizing others.*
The hypocrisy is astounding. While few mumbled things
about gun control, few dared to challenge the culture
of violence that is promoted at the highest levels of
this government, in the media, in Hollywood, and in
just about every segment of public discourse in the
US.  To the detriment of our economic and physical
well being as taxpayers and citizens, the racism that
begets violence is increasing thanks to the influence
of those who unabashedly work to make the US into the
image of racist Zionist Israel.   Where was the
outrage when Imus insulted Arabs and Muslims (a
regular part of his show**)?

The largest single donor to the Democratic Party is an
Israeli by the name of Haim Saban who became a
billionaire peddling violent video games (e.g. Mighty
Morphin Power Rangers***) and promoting violence in
his ever-growing media empire. I think people will
begin to see that this horrific violence at Virginia
Tech cannot be separated from the violent and racist
lifestyles that many lead without even knowing it
(games they play, videos they watch, talk show they
listen to, movies they attend).  It is this
normalization of violence and racism that allows
people to ignore the role of our government in the
violence that resulted in the continued ethnic
cleansing of Palestine (70%) of Palestinians are now
refugees or displaced people) and the violence
unleashed on Iraq and Afghanistan.  It is the same
ideology of racial superiority that informed US and
Israeli collaboration for decades with Apartheid South
Africa and the US war on Vietnam.  Why is there little
in our media bout the hundreds killed at Universities
in Iraq**** or the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi
civilians killed thanks to a war of choice built on
lies and deception. 

Most US discretionary spending goes to the military
(not even counting supplementals to pay for current
wars on Iraq and Afghanistan). The US makes 70% of all
the weapons in the world and is by far the largest
weapon exporter. The criminal justice system imprisons
the largest number and percentage of any
industrialized nation (nearly 7 million on
parole/jail/probation) and employs 2% of the US
workforce. Yet crime rates in the US are higher than
most countries.  The toll this past week for these
failed policies: 32 innocent lives lost in VA,
hundreds of US citizens murdered in inner cities, more
young soldiers killed in Iraq, and hundreds of Iraqi
civilians massacred.  When do we say enough is enough:
that violence begets violence, that racism promotes
violence, and that, as MLK said "injustice anywhere is
a threat to justice everywhere."

*The Holocaust as political asset by Amira Hass,
Haaretz
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/849669.html
**Where Was the Anger When Imus Insulted Arabs,
Muslims? 
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=94974&d=14&m=4&y=2007
***http://www.mediamonitors.net/mazin32.html
****http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/2387/Blood_on_Textbooks_Campuses_Under_Fire
  


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