The recent shooting in Charleston, South Carolina is starting a much needed debate on what terrorism really is, and who can perpetrate it. A 21-year-old white male named Dylann Roof shot and killed nine black people in the historic Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church on June 17. Roof's actions were fueled by his hatred for African Americans and his belief in a segregated society. His friends stated that it was his intension to spark a new race war.

All of this raises an important question: If this isn't terrorism, then what is?

“The use of force or threats to demoralize, intimidate and subjugate, especially such use as a political weapon or policy," is the definition of terrorism in Webster’s New World College Dictionary. While "terrorism" has been a term that is typically reserved for Islamic extremists, this shooting proves that it is a term that should be used to describe all such acts, no matter where the perpetrator come from. The belief that this shooting was purely a hate crime is blind to the blatant proof that Roof is not only a white supremacist, but a terrorist.

We get a closer look at Roof through a picture on his Facebook. It's easy to see the hatred in his eyes that fueled his actions. The more obvious proof of this man's terrorist intentions lie on his jacket, in which two flags stand in bright contrast against his dark jacket. On a website Roof registered in February, we get a direct look into his twisted mind. Words that spew hatred against blacks and pictures that show Roof holding a confederate flag are easily present. Though the website is no longer working, it was found on Roof's computer with the icon of the browser tab appearing to be the Othala rune, an ancient symbol commonly used by neo-Nazi groups. These beliefs that Roof held as true are defining characteristics of a radical white supremacist.

Terrorism isn't an exclusive term for foreigners that hate Americans. It's a term that describes anyone, foreign or domestic, that wants to strike fear into the hearts of the innocent and seeks to spread hate. What Dylann Roof was more than a shooting, and more than a hate crime. It was an act of terrorism.