As 2015 comes to a quick close, we, as Americans, often like to look back upon the year and reflect. Unfortunately, much of the public eye has been focused on terrorism within our nation. The pressing and omnipresent fear of ISIS has plagued the American mind, and perpetuated harrowing stereotypes about Islam as a religion. The media will have you believe that all forms of “terrorism” that occur on American soil are executed by Islamic extremists. What they're not telling you is how unbelievably untrue and warped that statement is, and yet so many people believe it.
In fact, a study completed by the New American Foundation discovered that the primary source of terrorism on American soil is executed by white right-wing terrorists. Yes, you read that right. There have been more deaths by the hands of white American terrorists than by the hands of Jihadi extremists. We know the names Robert Dear and Dylan Roof, but do we hold the same level of disdain and contempt for them as we do for Dzhokar Tsarnaev? While you may say yes, the media will show no.
Within the past two weeks, America has been rocked by killings in San Bernadino and in Colorado Springs. One has been loosely and questionably tied to ISIS, the other motivated by conservative belief. One executed by Robert Dear, the other by Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik. When news first broke about both shootings, the reactions were entirely different.
It goes without saying, Dear targeting a Planned Parenthood clinic was absolutely politically motivated and, therefore, an act of terrorism. However, the primary concerns the media conveyed to the public were the state of his mental health, and “How could this gentle loner do such a thing?” For Farook and Malik, though their motive was unknown, their crime was immediately labelled an act of terror simply because they were Muslim. Instead of questioning how such a gentle and quiet couple could commit such a heinous crime, they were hastily labelled terrorists. There was no question of their mental health, and little question of their motive, because the media will have you believe that if you are Muslim, you are ISIS. However, if you are white, you are mentally ill. This pattern of reporting acts of terrorism has gone on too long, and keeps the American mind sheltered and narrow.
I'm tired of reading and hearing about how we should pity Robert Dear because of his supposed "gentle nature" and his “lone wolf” status. I'm tired of being told to be surprised when a white male commits an act of terrorism while being unsurprised when a Muslim man commits the same crime. Terrorism has no skin color, terrorism has no faith. In order to combat terrorism in America, it's essential that every act of terrorism is acknowledged as such, and treated with the same level of trepidation and animosity.
Why is it when we hear of a potential ISIS attack we plummet into a state of national distress, but when we hear of a 21-year-old white supremacist massacring nine people followed by a string of burning churches, it's erased from our immediate conscience after a week? We must go into 2016 acknowledging the media's biased reporting tendencies. For as long as we pity some terrorists and demonize others, our safety remains at risk. The truth about terrorism is dirty and ugly, but at the rate domestic violence has grown, we must stop pretending right-wing American terrorism is not a huge piece of the puzzle.
