There aren’t a mass of details on the scope of the assault on Westminster in the United Kingdom beyond a name and the number of fatalities - as of this writing, the Guardian reports that Khalid Masood was responsible for the assault, and seems to have been “a late convert to Islam”. You can read more here on the deceased assailant as well as the list of victims, but this wording disturbs me a bit - Islamic terrorism, contrary to popular belief, is usually not the work of some Monstrous Other who somehow bypassed layers of security, but is rather homegrown. Unsurprisingly, ISIS/Da’esh is claiming that Masood was one of theirs, but as we all should know by now, this is a scare tactic on their part to give themselves the illusion of authority and scale.

This would not be the first time that a terrorist attack in a Western country led to a white backlash that targeted Muslim communities. I fear that as a result of the British government being directly attacked in a sense, this will embolden Neo-Nazis to further entrench themselves in the Conservative hierarchy as well as inspire retribution at the local level. The irony is not lost on me that London’s mayor is Muslim himself - neocolonialist strutuctures often adapt to allow for diverse faces to helm their positions of power. But just as we saw an increase in Muslim hate crimes under the Obama administration in the United States, ostensibly a more tolerant adminstration than Bush, so too this may give Prime Minister Theresa May to enact harsher security measures a la the Patriot Act.

But even if none of this comes to pass, it is important to understand how we got here (at least in a few words, for the history of imperialism is an entire field of study). For us in the States, the 9/11 attacks were the result of Reagan-era foreign policy in Afghanistan that built up hostility to American presence. Britain herself is infamous for allying itself with Bush to pursue the Iraq War. Former Prime Minister David Cameron pushed for numerous airstrikes in Syria which indiscriminately bombed civilians as well as supposed ISIS radicals. These actions are indicative of imperialism - the intent to conquer and subjugate foreign interests to a Western agenda, irrespective of the long-term consequences. Whether ISIS was really involved in Masood’s radicalization or not, the United Kingdom and her citizens must understand the role that stoking hostility towards Muslims at home and abroad plays in creating homegrown terrorists who go on to hurt innocent people.

It is likely that this lesson will continue to go unheeded, but I would suggest you take the time to educate yourself on the origins of “radical Islamists” as our dear Mr. Trump might call them.