By: Sam Blake:
When it comes to acts of domestic terrorism, there is no room for comfort amongst any of us. The feeling of safety has almost been eliminated because, there is essentially nowhere to turn. One day, police are shooting and killing an unarmed black man such as what happened in Sacramento, CA in March. And a month later, American born citizens are turning on each other in examples of mass shootings.
So how does this affect the everyday American? Do the people we interact with on a daily basis live in fear regularly, or is there a sense of comfort that, “That will never happen here.”
I asked senior Cody Williams, quarterback of the Assumption College football team, how he felt about living in a world where race is no longer a discriminatory factor in cases of terrorism.
“Being half white and half black, I’ve always played both sides of the fence. I appear to be white more than anything, but I grew up in the inner-city of Springfield, (MA) where I was technically the minority.” Williams went on to say, “In terms of acts of violence, I don’t believe there are any target groups any more. The people behind these acts seem to have motives of just devastating lives. It’s not fair, but it’s also not a discriminatory process as much anymore.”
Despite the fact that Williams is biracial, he doesn’t believe that he is any more or less likely to be targeted for such an act. I asked junior Stephon Hill, a writing and mass communications major here at Assumption, about how he feels being a black man during these times.
“Being a black man in America has always come with its own set of problems. As far as today’s society is concerned, I feel as though black men in particular are still commonly targeted by either terrorists or police.” Hill went on to further reference the mass shooting that happened in South Carolina in 2015.
“If you look at that instance from 3 years ago, you can’t help but to be shell shocked. For an American born white man to come into a church and kill that group of innocent people, is something that we won’t and shouldn’t forget as a country. That creates a level of discomfort in the black community.”
(Image via stacksmag.net)
Hill went on to say that, “It’s because of acts like this, that black men like me do feel uncomfortable when we interact with police, or any people in positions of power. For whatever reason, it seems as though white people see us as a threat first and then a human second in many situations. That’s scary to think about.”
Throughout American history it’s clear that certain groups of people have been targeted for acts of terror. Now being that the discrimination factor has been eliminated, there’s no telling who could possibly be the next target of such a tragedy. What we do know as Americans is that unification is important and necessary. In order to end the problem, we must come together.
THE AC301 