Trying to explain to my 14 and 10 year old daughters why this punk did this is impossible. "Daddy, why did he kill those people?" I couldn't do it without breaking down. "Because he hated black people." My daughters have never seen me cry. Not even after I crushed my hand and lost a couple fingers. "Promise me girls, don't hate. Don't judge people based on color or religion. It's just not how we are supposed to be."
Waking up this morning, I really thought I would be remembering fallen brothers of the past. Though I'm not a fan of Nikki Haley, she summed it up well when she said " the heart and soul of south Carolina has been ripped out."
Trying to explain to my 14 and 10 year old daughters why this punk did this is impossible. "Daddy, why did he kill those people?" I couldn't do it without breaking down. "Because he hated black people." My daughters have never seen me cry. Not even after I crushed my hand and lost a couple fingers. "Promise me girls, don't hate. Don't judge people based on color or religion. It's just not how we are supposed to be."
Waking up this morning, I really thought I would be remembering fallen brothers of the past. Though I'm not a fan of Nikki Haley, she summed it up well when she said " the heart and soul of south Carolina has been ripped out."
Thanks for letting me vent here.
As mentioned in earlier post had lunch in cafeteria. Cnn on with this story running and 8 African American women and me. Only me. Other whites/Hispanics left. I wanted to say something so bad. It sucked and knowing dumb ass whites that feel persecuted when they have it made and are racists and contributed to this.
That fellow sort of has that look from the guy in the movie A ClockWork Orange.
Peace
*We CAN bomb the World to pieces, but we CAN'T bomb it into PEACE*...Michael Franti
*MUSIC IS the expression of EMOTION.....and that POLITICS IS merely the DECOY of PERCEPTION*
.....song_Music & Politics....Michael Franti
*The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite INSANE*....Nikola Tesla(a man who shaped our world of electricity with his futuristic inventions)
He hates black people, but I imagine that's who he's going to be surrounded by when he is sent to prison. It'll be like American History X when he steps out of his jail cell for the first time and looks around at his fellow cell mates.
Another habit says it's in love with you
Another habit says its long overdue
Another habit like an unwanted friend
I'm so happy with my righteous self
He hates black people, but I imagine that's who he's going to be surrounded by when he is sent to prison. It'll be like American History X when he steps out of his jail cell for the first time and looks around at his fellow cell mates.
And yet he had black FB friends. This story gets weirder by the minute.
So many leaders in the community dead. For no reason at all. A goose creek hs track coach. A librarian. A senator. Reverends. These were people that taught, made laws, and led this community.
So many leaders in the community dead. For no reason at all. A goose creek hs track coach. A librarian. A senator. Reverends. These were people that taught, made laws, and led this community.
Sad situation and there has to be more to this story. I went to HS for a year at Goose Creek, played basketball and baseball.
Peace
*We CAN bomb the World to pieces, but we CAN'T bomb it into PEACE*...Michael Franti
*MUSIC IS the expression of EMOTION.....and that POLITICS IS merely the DECOY of PERCEPTION*
.....song_Music & Politics....Michael Franti
*The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite INSANE*....Nikola Tesla(a man who shaped our world of electricity with his futuristic inventions)
So many leaders in the community dead. For no reason at all. A goose creek hs track coach. A librarian. A senator. Reverends. These were people that taught, made laws, and led this community.
Sad situation and there has to be more to this story. I went to HS for a year at Goose Creek, played basketball and baseball.
Peace
I did not know you were a local. When were you in Berkeley county?
These types of hate crimes will never go away ever we've been down this road countless of times nothing will get done it's like a bad movie on loop , i'm done with the " I THINK WE HAVE TO MANY GUNS IN THIS COUNTRY " i say have all your guns as many as you want as many bullets as you want but dont fucking complain when episodes like this happen this is part of the gun culture fucking own it !!!!!!!!!!
These types of hate crimes will never go away ever we've been down this road countless of times nothing will get done it's like a bad movie on loop , i'm done with the " I THINK WE HAVE TO MANY GUNS IN THIS COUNTRY " i say have all your guns as many as you want as many bullets as you want but dont fucking complain when episodes like this happen this is part of the gun culture fucking own it !!!!!!!!!!
I think it's probably a lot more about the racist culture than it is the gun culture in this case....
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy. ~ Desiderata
These types of hate crimes will never go away ever we've been down this road countless of times nothing will get done it's like a bad movie on loop , i'm done with the " I THINK WE HAVE TO MANY GUNS IN THIS COUNTRY " i say have all your guns as many as you want as many bullets as you want but dont fucking complain when episodes like this happen this is part of the gun culture fucking own it !!!!!!!!!!
I think it's probably a lot more about the racist culture than it is the gun culture in this case....
i would say that it is not an either/or. any bad part of culture mixed with gun culture is going to lead to the same events always happening.
Is it about a specific culture or about this specific man? Not sure how much more info some of you have, but I don't know of his history and haven't read too much about him aside from the main, sweeping articles (and those photos - g sort of nailed his look with the comparison to Clockwork - the eyes, the facial expression. Jesus, he looks soulless).
I can't get how this guy could sit for an hour in a church with these good people - spend time with them, listen to them - and then, simply kill them.
Is it about a specific culture or about this specific man? Not sure how much more info some of you have, but I don't know of his history and haven't read too much about him aside from the main, sweeping articles (and those photos - g sort of nailed his look with the comparison to Clockwork - the eyes, the facial expression. Jesus, he looks soulless).
I can't get how this guy could sit for an hour in a church with these good people - spend time with them, listen to them - and then, simply kill them.
Is it about a specific culture or about this specific man? Not sure how much more info some of you have, but I don't know of his history and haven't read too much about him aside from the main, sweeping articles (and those photos - g sort of nailed his look with the comparison to Clockwork - the eyes, the facial expression. Jesus, he looks soulless).
I can't get how this guy could sit for an hour in a church with these good people - spend time with them, listen to them - and then, simply kill them.
It's about insecure weak ass whites.
A racist thing to say, Callen. None of my white friends or I could even think of doing something like this and this very act has affected us greatly.
I thought we were working at trying to eliminate broad, racial based comments.
While listening to a story today,I listened to the author talking about horrific violence among our younger generation.A good point I had not thought of , was brought up.
The Sandy Hook shooter,The Movie theatre shooter,Both Columbine shooters,The Virginia Tech shooter all were avid video gamers(violent /bloody first person type ones). Does immersion into that kind of world breed this kind of results with some people that may not have the moral compass of others?Is it like a gateway drug to the next step?
I found this very interesting.But I admit short of Madden,Asteriods,Galaga,Pac man I don't know much about that world.Especially the ones where you get to run around and kill people in horrible ways in great detail. My kids weren't into the violent video games.But he brings up a point that should be looked at.
It's all of the above we have some major issues in this country that the population needs to come to terms with , Racism still very prevalent to many god damn guns to many nut cases running around with guns >>>>>>
Trying to explain to my 14 and 10 year old daughters why this punk did this is impossible. "Daddy, why did he kill those people?" I couldn't do it without breaking down. "Because he hated black people." My daughters have never seen me cry. Not even after I crushed my hand and lost a couple fingers. "Promise me girls, don't hate. Don't judge people based on color or religion. It's just not how we are supposed to be."
Waking up this morning, I really thought I would be remembering fallen brothers of the past. Though I'm not a fan of Nikki Haley, she summed it up well when she said " the heart and soul of south Carolina has been ripped out."
Thanks for letting me vent here.
Last-12, I too have been crying a lot today. After college in the mid-90s, I moved to Charleston and spent the best five years of my life there before moving away. I return to Chas several times a year for 20 years now to visit my friends who are as close to me as family. I have a trip planned next week, in fact. I've been following my friends' posts and the P&C all day, and it's just been heart-wrenching. I was a teacher in the public school system. I know everything you mean about the deep-seated racism that exists among so many. Ultimately I left that racist system because I felt so useless and powerless to change anything and therefore part of the problem. Of all the career decisions I've ever made, it's the only one I regret on a morally conscious level. The day I announced I was leaving, one of my most challenging students said to me, "Why do all the good ones leave us?" Her words haunt me all these years later and tug me back to wanting to return -- that and Folly Beach, which is a whole other story :-). With all that said, I am also heartened by the outpouring of support from everybody in the city. There are the typical jackasses commenting in the local rags, but overwhelmingly people are sending their prayers. Mock religion all we want, but southerners do hold their God dear to them and do not hold back from expressing their prayers in dark times. It will be the collective faith of Charleston residents that ultimately does heal them. If that's what it takes, I'm okay with that.
These types of hate crimes will never go away ever we've been down this road countless of times nothing will get done it's like a bad movie on loop , i'm done with the " I THINK WE HAVE TO MANY GUNS IN THIS COUNTRY " i say have all your guns as many as you want as many bullets as you want but dont fucking complain when episodes like this happen this is part of the gun culture fucking own it !!!!!!!!!!
I think it's probably a lot more about the racist culture than it is the gun culture in this case....
i would say that it is not an either/or. any bad part of culture mixed with gun culture is going to lead to the same events always happening.
You don't know gun culture until you have spent time in the Deep South. And the same folks who love their guns hate blacks just as much. On the local newspaper's FB page, the open carry folks are saying that if only the blacks had brought their guns to church, they would be alive. Yes, I said open carry. These people bypass concealed carry.
we just wish that it doesn't take more things like this to happen before your nation has a real discussion about guns. mental health, racism and violence in general
But let’s be clear: at some point we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries. .... And at some point its going to be important for the American people to come to grips with it, and for us to be able to shift how we think about the issue of gun violence collectively.
I am convinced that nothing is going to change in this generation. If Sandy fuckin' Hook didn't bring about any concrete changes for reform I don't for the life of me see anything that will. It's going to have to be one of those things that happens in a couple decades when the KIDS WHO SURVIVED are in powerful places and able to make changes. For now I think we're screwed.
I can't pretend to understand gun culture or "deep south" anything. My only experience with the "deep south" was a little over a decade ago I was helping out a friend who was driving two cars back to NY from Miami. This equates to me (5'2 Caucasian female) an Asian dude, and 3-4 brown people stopping for gas and meals and once for a catnap. As it was some time ago the story has become unclear as whether it occurred in Georgia or South Carolina but we had communication issue with a waitress who couldn't understand our accents, which is innocent enough. But the part that terrified me was in the gas station when I went to get everyone some cold caffeine and some scary ass motherfucker cornered me asking what I was doing with a bunch of wetbacks and making generally creepy sort of advances. Every chick on here who's been in public knows what I mean. I just don't know the right words for "looking at me like i was dinner". I shit you not I refused to leave the car without an escort, INCLUDING to use the restroom after that until we got to Jersey. Obviously that's an isolated incident and the waitress was a rather innocent sort of ignorance thing - But I'll take the South Bronx over the American South any day, thank you very much.
I don't think that this kid should be given any level of leniency whatsoever despite the inevitable finding that he is mentally ill. How many people of color are in the US prison system with mental illness that never got address or treated or garnered them any sympathy?
I've lived here for 16 years. I came from NW Indiana where everybody but me seemed to hunt and had guns. My brother had several guns. I still don't understand the fascination with them. I always thought hey, it's our right. The constitution says so. But after Sandy hook and now this, I believe my right, Senator Clementa Pinkney, and the 8 other victims as well as the 26 killed at Sandy hooks right to live far exceeds your right to own a gun.
That document was written when the most powerful weapon known to man was a musket that took 4 minutes to reload if you were a marksman.
These types of hate crimes will never go away ever we've been down this road countless of times nothing will get done it's like a bad movie on loop , i'm done with the " I THINK WE HAVE TO MANY GUNS IN THIS COUNTRY " i say have all your guns as many as you want as many bullets as you want but dont fucking complain when episodes like this happen this is part of the gun culture fucking own it !!!!!!!!!!
I think it's probably a lot more about the racist culture than it is the gun culture in this case....
i would say that it is not an either/or. any bad part of culture mixed with gun culture is going to lead to the same events always happening.
You don't know gun culture until you have spent time in the Deep South. And the same folks who love their guns hate blacks just as much. On the local newspaper's FB page, the open carry folks are saying that if only the blacks had brought their guns to church, they would be alive. Yes, I said open carry. These people bypass concealed carry.
You're right, I don't know gun culture. Period. The idea of even keeping a gun in your home for protection is completely alien to just about everyone where I live (most would consider it a super paranoid and weird thing to do unless the person was suffering from PTSD after some kind of home invasion), so yeah, the gun culture in the States kind of blows my mind every which way. But what blows my mind even more is that so many people's answer to events like this is for everyone else to walk around with guns waiting for a mass shooting to occur so they can get into a shootout. Even in Church. That is FUCKED, and such a backwards reaction from my perspective.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy. ~ Desiderata
My dad gave me a gun 3 years ago after a rash of home break ins in my area. I was terrified having that thing in my house with three kids. It still sits in my closet, untouched since the day I put it there.
While listening to a story today,I listened to the author talking about horrific violence among our younger generation.A good point I had not thought of , was brought up.
The Sandy Hook shooter,The Movie theatre shooter,Both Columbine shooters,The Virginia Tech shooter all were avid video gamers(violent /bloody first person type ones). Does immersion into that kind of world breed this kind of results with some people that may not have the moral compass of others?Is it like a gateway drug to the next step?
I found this very interesting.But I admit short of Madden,Asteriods,Galaga,Pac man I don't know much about that world.Especially the ones where you get to run around and kill people in horrible ways in great detail. My kids weren't into the violent video games.But he brings up a point that should be looked at.
I really don't believe in a connection at all. I grew up with violent video games and they don't incite violence in me or anyone else I know. In your day it was violent TV and movies that were suspected, violent music for a while... I don't think sickos need anything but imagination to drive them to these sorts of depravities.
I've lived here for 16 years. I came from NW Indiana where everybody but me seemed to hunt and had guns. My brother had several guns. I still don't understand the fascination with them. I always thought hey, it's our right. The constitution says so. But after Sandy hook and now this, I believe my right, Senator Clementa Pinkney, and the 8 other victims as well as the 26 killed at Sandy hooks right to live far exceeds your right to own a gun.
That document was written when the most powerful weapon known to man was a musket that took 4 minutes to reload if you were a marksman.
My experience in rural Ohio is probably extremely similar. Everyone hunts and acts like it's the bees knees...looks boring to me, and I don't take pleasure in killing. Hunters do, any word otherwise proves a hunter to be a liar. Everyone talks about their guns like they are so amazing..they aren't it's a juvenile hobby. I enjoyed "blowing shit up" when I was a juvenile, then I grew up and it lost it's appeal.
Trying to explain to my 14 and 10 year old daughters why this punk did this is impossible. "Daddy, why did he kill those people?" I couldn't do it without breaking down. "Because he hated black people." My daughters have never seen me cry. Not even after I crushed my hand and lost a couple fingers. "Promise me girls, don't hate. Don't judge people based on color or religion. It's just not how we are supposed to be."
Waking up this morning, I really thought I would be remembering fallen brothers of the past. Though I'm not a fan of Nikki Haley, she summed it up well when she said " the heart and soul of south Carolina has been ripped out."
Thanks for letting me vent here.
Last-12, I too have been crying a lot today. After college in the mid-90s, I moved to Charleston and spent the best five years of my life there before moving away. I return to Chas several times a year for 20 years now to visit my friends who are as close to me as family. I have a trip planned next week, in fact. I've been following my friends' posts and the P&C all day, and it's just been heart-wrenching. I was a teacher in the public school system. I know everything you mean about the deep-seated racism that exists among so many. Ultimately I left that racist system because I felt so useless and powerless to change anything and therefore part of the problem. Of all the career decisions I've ever made, it's the only one I regret on a morally conscious level. The day I announced I was leaving, one of my most challenging students said to me, "Why do all the good ones leave us?" Her words haunt me all these years later and tug me back to wanting to return -- that and Folly Beach, which is a whole other story :-). With all that said, I am also heartened by the outpouring of support from everybody in the city. There are the typical jackasses commenting in the local rags, but overwhelmingly people are sending their prayers. Mock religion all we want, but southerners do hold their God dear to them and do not hold back from expressing their prayers in dark times. It will be the collective faith of Charleston residents that ultimately does heal them. If that's what it takes, I'm okay with that.
As I've mentioned before, I've seen racism with my bosses. I'm not quite as quiet about it as some. I know to keep my mouth shut if I want to keep my job. But I've made it perfectly clear to my boss that I do not think the same way he does about black people. One of my best friends and life long brother (who coincidentally his cousin died 8 years ago today in the Charleston 9 fire) is a black man. He was on shift on Calhoun street today. Steps away from the church.
Funny quick story. If you were watching CNN around 11 or so thks morning, you saw CNN anchor John Berman in Charleston. You saw him duck when a Charleston city fire department engine came through that intersection blowing every horn and siren they had. I text Mike and ask if he was the on that engine that just goosed that reporter. His response "I may have been driving that engine."
More than guns, I'm wondering when we will finally address the problem of all the anti-psychotic drugs being fed to people. I will be absolutely stunned if we find out this guy wasn't fucking nuts and loaded up on pills. The problems we have in this country are a psychological epidemic. This is the saddest day I've had in a long time. Thoughts and prayers to all the families.
I wouldn't be a bit surprised if this kid wasn't on one Zoloft or Prozac. This is the confederate flag toting capital of the US. The fucking flag used to fly ON TOP of the capitol building. Now it's just on the capitol grounds. Racism is bred here.
Comments
Waking up this morning, I really thought I would be remembering fallen brothers of the past. Though I'm not a fan of Nikki Haley, she summed it up well when she said " the heart and soul of south Carolina has been ripped out."
Thanks for letting me vent here.
Peace
*MUSIC IS the expression of EMOTION.....and that POLITICS IS merely the DECOY of PERCEPTION*
.....song_Music & Politics....Michael Franti
*The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite INSANE*....Nikola Tesla(a man who shaped our world of electricity with his futuristic inventions)
He hates black people, but I imagine that's who he's going to be surrounded by when he is sent to prison. It'll be like American History X when he steps out of his jail cell for the first time and looks around at his fellow cell mates.
Another habit says its long overdue
Another habit like an unwanted friend
I'm so happy with my righteous self
Peace
*MUSIC IS the expression of EMOTION.....and that POLITICS IS merely the DECOY of PERCEPTION*
.....song_Music & Politics....Michael Franti
*The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite INSANE*....Nikola Tesla(a man who shaped our world of electricity with his futuristic inventions)
I can't get how this guy could sit for an hour in a church with these good people - spend time with them, listen to them - and then, simply kill them.
I thought we were working at trying to eliminate broad, racial based comments.
The Sandy Hook shooter,The Movie theatre shooter,Both Columbine shooters,The Virginia Tech shooter all were avid video gamers(violent /bloody first person type ones).
Does immersion into that kind of world breed this kind of results with some people that may not have the moral compass of others?Is it like a gateway drug to the next step?
I found this very interesting.But I admit short of Madden,Asteriods,Galaga,Pac man I don't know much about that world.Especially the ones where you get to run around and kill people in horrible ways in great detail.
My kids weren't into the violent video games.But he brings up a point that should be looked at.
I was a teacher in the public school system. I know everything you mean about the deep-seated racism that exists among so many. Ultimately I left that racist system because I felt so useless and powerless to change anything and therefore part of the problem. Of all the career decisions I've ever made, it's the only one I regret on a morally conscious level. The day I announced I was leaving, one of my most challenging students said to me, "Why do all the good ones leave us?" Her words haunt me all these years later and tug me back to wanting to return -- that and Folly Beach, which is a whole other story :-).
With all that said, I am also heartened by the outpouring of support from everybody in the city. There are the typical jackasses commenting in the local rags, but overwhelmingly people are sending their prayers. Mock religion all we want, but southerners do hold their God dear to them and do not hold back from expressing their prayers in dark times. It will be the collective faith of Charleston residents that ultimately does heal them. If that's what it takes, I'm okay with that.
On the local newspaper's FB page, the open carry folks are saying that if only the blacks had brought their guns to church, they would be alive. Yes, I said open carry. These people bypass concealed carry.
I can't pretend to understand gun culture or "deep south" anything. My only experience with the "deep south" was a little over a decade ago I was helping out a friend who was driving two cars back to NY from Miami. This equates to me (5'2 Caucasian female) an Asian dude, and 3-4 brown people stopping for gas and meals and once for a catnap. As it was some time ago the story has become unclear as whether it occurred in Georgia or South Carolina but we had communication issue with a waitress who couldn't understand our accents, which is innocent enough. But the part that terrified me was in the gas station when I went to get everyone some cold caffeine and some scary ass motherfucker cornered me asking what I was doing with a bunch of wetbacks and making generally creepy sort of advances. Every chick on here who's been in public knows what I mean. I just don't know the right words for "looking at me like i was dinner". I shit you not I refused to leave the car without an escort, INCLUDING to use the restroom after that until we got to Jersey. Obviously that's an isolated incident and the waitress was a rather innocent sort of ignorance thing - But I'll take the South Bronx over the American South any day, thank you very much.
I don't think that this kid should be given any level of leniency whatsoever despite the inevitable finding that he is mentally ill. How many people of color are in the US prison system with mental illness that never got address or treated or garnered them any sympathy?
LIVEFOOTSTEPS.ORG/USER/?USR=435
That document was written when the most powerful weapon known to man was a musket that took 4 minutes to reload if you were a marksman.
In your day it was violent TV and movies that were suspected, violent music for a while... I don't think sickos need anything but imagination to drive them to these sorts of depravities.
Everyone talks about their guns like they are so amazing..they aren't it's a juvenile hobby. I enjoyed "blowing shit up" when I was a juvenile, then I grew up and it lost it's appeal.
Funny quick story. If you were watching CNN around 11 or so thks morning, you saw CNN anchor John Berman in Charleston. You saw him duck when a Charleston city fire department engine came through that intersection blowing every horn and siren they had. I text Mike and ask if he was the on that engine that just goosed that reporter. His response "I may have been driving that engine."