Ten days ago our city experienced evil incarnate enact wrath upon innocent human beings.

Nine individuals, brought together by faith, were taken from us in an incredulous act of violence which has sent shockwaves throughout the nation as public and pundits alike try to make sense of why such nonsensical destruction exists. In the aftermath of the massacre our nation has united together in prayer and humility in an attempt to cope with the reverberations such events toll on our minds. President Obama recently visited Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church to pay his respect to Clementa Pinckney and the other brave fallen who lost their live that fateful day. Through song and prayer, our president rallied the crowd to find strength in the most dismal of places. Our country must hold true to ourselves and continue to hold each other in embrace, unbroken by the radical acts of individuals raised with hate.

Charleston is a loving, warm city. Last fall I entered my freshman year wide eyed and a little nervous to start college so far from home. The anxieties fell away as I reached Mcalister Hall, dropped my bags and suddenly found myself caught up having the best time in my life. Rarely in my first year, if ever, did I feel unsafe whether it be walking home from a party or biking down Calhoun to Harbor Walk. But let's not forget. Our school witnessed a bomb threat that was absolutely real and quite possibly could have left a lot more than nine people dead. And what was the response? Well, despite the later release of phone calls from a still at large individual who threatened to shoot people with outright aggression to the College itself, classes continued after a brief window of evacuation. Looking farther back to the outset of widespread panic our emergency response system flat out failed leading to a panic of students asking each other if or if not a bomb had been either found or planted in the business center. This lackadaisical response seemed funny at the time. Last Monday Dylan Roof proved the gravity of such dire situations when he opened fire on a bible study group.

This tragedy has been spun in all different directions by the media at large. Gun control and racism are just some of the many distractions thrown around in order to stir some reaction from the masses.

Let me be adamant in my belief that this act holds no weight in the argument for gun control. The assailant used a concealable glock 41 pistol that is legal and readily available in South Carolina for purchase. I do not advocate the use of weapons for violence rather the necessity of weapons in the event an individual must defend themselves. If you ask me the real argument for whose guns need controlling I’d tell you the 5-0’s, but that’s a story for another article.

The more prominent discussion arising in the aftermath of the shooting that is leading to major controversy not just in Charleston but across the nation is how Roof enacted violence on the basis of racist aggression towards individuals on non-white descent. It is impossible to argue the murderer’s motives. A child raised by hate and twisted by false interpretations of a culture that often blurs between how equality and polarity coexist within our society. My one discrepancy with the media’s portrayal of this situation is how narrow of a scope they choose to portray the story.

In Malcolm X’s autobiography, the reader journeys along a harrowing rollercoaster through the ups and downs of what it meant to be an African American in segregation era America. His trials and tribulations brought his own beliefs to a spearhead where he famously was quoted to say all Black people will and shall obtain their rights, “by any means necessary.” Now, I believe Malcolm came to this extreme because he was a product of a certain environment. One that treaded upon a people clawing to be looked upon as equal. Dylan Roof proved that it does not take more than a clip of Walmart brand bullets to snap our nation back on its ass when it comes to the discussion of race.

Now I use the example of Malcolm X because the man was a genius. While he may had once issued violence against his oppressors as a meaningful tactic, this was only narrowed to his experiences in America where racism against blacks as propagated by whites was viewed as “domestic.” It was only after his travels to Africa and abroad that he realized just how global this struggle is. It appeared that his dreams of true equality would never be reached until all men were united through borders and boundaries in peace.

Some would just pass off Roof’s actions as being fostered through his love for the Confederacy. Sure this nation backed slavery but in all instances there are the majority who do neither good nor evil but rather exist on the side. These innocents all too often get swept into the conflict and pay the price by association. I say all this in hope that these demonic acts aren’t just brushed off as another American shooting, but a part of the even larger, growing trend of terrorism. Dylan Roof is just as much of a terrorist as Islamic State radicals overseas destroying museums and bombing mosques.

I challenge you, the reader to peel back the layers of this tragedy and gather your own opinion of the situation so that future events may appear as another cog in an unraveling chain that without fail continues to take the lives of innocents in our country and across the globe. I challenge all of us at the College to band together and show the world that we are more than capable of triumphing over tragedy. Those who were taken from us shall not be forgotten, let us respect their deaths by reviving our city, and breathing fresh air back into our Nation.