On 17 June this year, thirteen people gathered in a church in Charleston, South Carolina, for a Bible study class. So far as I can make out, all were black except for a young white man. Eventually he pulled a gun and began killing people. He preceded his shooting spree with the words: I have to do it. You rape our women and you're taking over our country. And you have to go.
Nine people were killed, and a young man called Dylann Storm Roof has since been arrested. He is a white supremacist who loves the Confederate flag and related emblems. He is also a known drug user.
At least one national newspaper has described this as a hate crime, and at least one has published an essay by a well-known communist idiot calling for gun control in the USA. By contrast, the murder of at least three people in Graz, Austria, by a man driving a speeding car has not yet been described as a hate crime, and I am not aware that any communist idiot is calling for car control in Austria.
I think it is fair to point out that in almost any country in the world, the number of people killed by guns in a typical year will be smaller than the number of people killed by cars.
It is also reported today that a woman and her four children are fighting for their lives in hospital after being hit by a speeding car in Handsworth, Birmingham.
But to return to Charleston: the USA has had lax gun controls for as long as anyone can remember, whereas many people are old enough to remember a time when violent crime in the USA was far lower than it is today. Since then there has been an increase in the availability of illegal drugs in the USA, and also an increase in the black population.
Dylann Storm Roof was angry about white girls being raped by black men, and let me tell you about two true stories in the USA.
In 2006, three young white men - students at Duke University in North Carolina - were arrested for raping a black woman. This was widely described as a hate crime. The men denied rape, but it was not until a year later that all charges against them were dropped. The police and district attorney had deliberately failed to follow correct procedures, and a subsequent lawsuit by the three men was only partially successful.
In 2008, a 16yo white girl in Texas was gang-raped. One of her attackers was a black teen called Rakheem Bolton, who attended the same school as her, and who was a keen sportsman. Not only did he avoid prison for his crime, but his victim - a high school cheerleader - was kicked off the cheerleading squad for refusing to take part in a cheer for the scumbag who had raped her.
If the people of the USA want to put an end to killing sprees like the one in Charleston, then they should elect a federal government which will legislate for the death penalty as the only punishment for convicted drug dealers. As for black men who rape white girls, they should be punished at least as severely as white men who are convicted of rape.
Another point worthy of consideration is that the black civil rights movement is calling for the Confederate States flag to be removed from outside the state capitol. The flag is part of the history of the state, but a lot of people want it removed - apparently because it is seen as a symbol of white supremacy.
Would anyone want the flag removed if it were seen as a symbol of non-white supremacy?
Related previous posts include:
Immigration and crime: a response to Eric Schlosser
The death penalty - who dies?
The death of Peaches Geldof: another liberal triumph
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