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McCracken: America facing a hate problem

On the heels of yet another mass shooting targeting the African American community, this time in Buffalo, New York, it’s clear we have a hate problem in this country. We have a vocal minority embracing this toxic framework as its throwback way of thinking.

A manifesto written by the teenage shooter draws on the white replacement theory rhetoric of none other than Tucker Carlson of the Fox Entertainment Network. This kind of hate is, of course, initially learned — and reinforced — in the home.

What did this domestic terrorist learn that led him to drive to an area in another part of the country to murder innocent people going about their day? More to the point, what did he not learn?

This clearly isn’t just the tip of the iceberg. We have hit the iceberg head-on. Sirens are going off and they are deafening.

I would like to approach this topic from a specific perspective: Is this behavior a lasting effect of not educating our youth about our imperfect history?

By fighting professional educators on teaching accurate history, we teach our children to value the villains, not the heroes who fought the atrocities.

It has been well-documented in child development that toddlers ignore visual differences in social settings with their peers. How that all changes is in what they are taught — and more importantly, who is doing the teaching in school and behavior modeling at home.

As an example, if a child overhears a phone conversation in which a parent rails against teaching about the Black experience and  tolerance of others in school, how is that child going to feel when he tries to process what he just heard? If he has a school friend of another race, would that not cause him some profound confusion?

Let’s keep in mind a child’s limited understanding of the world around him. For him, that world consists largely of parents, immediate relatives and close friends. 

If a parent models a racially hostile worldview, the conflict can overide what he’s learning in school. It’s not the material, it’s the parental reaction to the material!

As your child progresses in his education, do you want him to identify Frederick Douglass, who helped lead the abolitionist movement, or Jefferson Davis, who led the charge to keep fellow human beings in bondage?

By erasing the history and experience of a good deal of our population, the message to children is that not everyone has value. That message overcomes a child’s natural instincts, continuing a  cycle of hate and intolerance.

A child’s value system comes from those who are their protectors and caregivers. He looks for helpers in every situation, making every situation is a teachable moment.

Children love you and look up to you. Maybe you should stop and ask yourself what message you are sending.

Comments

Rotwang

If only one or two of the shoppers were able to carry their personal firearms, the threat would have been stopped almost immediately. Unfortunately, it was in New York, home of some of the harshest gun laws in the republic - and the shoppers and staff were like fish in a barrel, and the criminal knew it. By the way, you misspelled "White."

tagup

That’s a huge assumption....having more untrained & unskilled people carrying firearms doesn’t add up to a safer community.
The “good guy with a gun” ( the police trained security guard) in Buffalo got killed as I recall.

BigfootLives

Tag up - the tired line of ‘un trained gun owners taking pot shots’ is almost as ignorant as it is offensive. That good guy with a gun, if I remember correctly, shot that kid 3 times. He had body armor on, how many people were not shot because he was trading round with someone who put his life in front of others. But that’s ok, if God forbid you find yourself in a similar situation you just cower on isle three and hope he doesn’t come around the corner.

Ms. McCracken, the Tucker Carlson spin is bs, read the manifesto and stop believing the media.

Rotwang

I tried unsuccessfully to find a "for dummies" article explaining White replacement theory; I had no time to do a deep search. But, having found article after article from MSM which basically all said the same thing about Tucker Carlson, tells me by default that the idea might have some merit. Witness the associated press's style directive, which McCracken used, which directs the "black" as a race description should always have a capital B, where "white" as a race does not get the same treatment. I have commented often in another "newspaper" trying to spell "White" with a capital W, and the computer will not let me.

tagup

So Bigfoot, you think required training to carry is a bad idea? ....about 20% of licensed ccp holders have had no formal training. And yeah, untrained shooters that have never been to the range concern me.

Rotwang

In 2022, I wouldn't give the gun-grabbers an inch. Require "training" and you give the government a way in to restrict everyone's right to carry. Remember the "literacy test" that some states used to give to black voters, where you had to sign your name on wax paper. No "formal" training? So what? Parents teach their sons and daughters to shoot every day, from childhood. That's the best kind of training.

tagup

Weak argument given the number of gun Related deaths in our country. It will take some common sense to change the status quo....

Rotwang

Relative to the vast number of firearms in civilian hands, being used legally and responsibly, any number that you can scrape up is still statistically insignificant. By the way, the end of your last message is missing, as indicated by the ellipsis.

tagup

Your best argument is punctuation.

Don Dix

From the article -- 'By erasing the history and experience of a good deal of our population, the message to children is that not everyone has value.'

So does that mean the ongoing cancel culture that wishes to ignore and dispel 'history and experience' has some responsibility in these shootings? Those two teaching moments (history and experience) have always been a reliable gauge going forward.

Lulu

Rotwang--Do you lose sleep because AP style capitalizes the word Realtor? By the way, you forgot to use upercase letters for Associated and Press. And Bigfoot, "isle" is actually "aisle" in your meaning. They are examples of homonyms, like patients and patience; sword and soared; flew and flu; shoot and chute; died and dyed. Also, BS is capitalized. Maybe guns should be allowed only for people who can spell.

Rotwang

I spell it "associated press" due to their own woke style directive. Turnabout is fair play.

Rotwang

Lulu, actually, "Realtor" is a copyrighted term - has been for years, and as such, gets capitalized, when referring to real-estate agents who are licensed to use the term. Radio's Bruce Williams was a stickler for its proper use.

Jean

Fox is the jet fuel that got a mob of Neo-Nazis to attack the capitol. Hate has been monetized by Fox. Their viewers lap it up and love being constantly pissed off. So why would Fox ever stop?

Shorty

Rotes good-Realtor is not a copyrighted name. REALTOR is a trademark. A copyright protects original work whereas a trademark protects items that distinguish or identify a particular business from another. Copyright is generated automatically upon the creation of original work, whereas a trademark is established through common use of a mark in the course of business. The trademark is written in all caps using the registered trademark symbol. If the trademark symbol can’t be used then the preferred form is all caps not just the first letter in caps.

Shorty

Rotes good odd spell check for Rotwang

RobsNewsRegister

Misinformation from the author. The shooter's manifesto was all over the place, however, it never mentioned Tucker Carlson and the only mention of Fox News was in criticism.

>In the 180-page document purported to be authored by the shooter, he does not mention Carlson once. The sole explicit mention of Fox News is an infographic demarcating top Fox hosts such as Maria Bartiromo and Greg Gutfeld as Jewish. (Rupert Murdoch is decried as a "Christian Zionist" who may have Jewish ancestry, "although it's never publicly admitted.) Ben Shapiro is mentioned multiple times, including as an example as the "rat" phenotype of Jewish people.

>Moreover, the Buffalo shooter is a self-described "ethno-nationalist eco-fascist national socialist" who loathes libertarianism and conservatism in particular.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/the-buffalo-shooter-was-an-eco-socialist-racist-who-hated-fox-news-and-ben-shapiro

Bizzyditchaz

The pushback seems suspiciously like the author was talking about those pushing back.

Jean

Here is the essence of the divide: Dems want Democracy and Capitalism to work hand in hand, to build a better USA.....and Republicans want Capitalism to assassinate Democracy with an AR-15.

Jean

"A religion that worships a gun, is a religion that worships the idol of death."

Don Dix

Sorry Jean, but from the perspective of the non-partisan, both parties want total control, however that is accomplished -- and neither is innocent of disregarding the wishes of the people. And the fringes on both sides are precisely where the unwelcome and harmful blueprints originate.

Jean

Sure, Don. Just like Charlotteville....there are many fine people on both sides.

RobsNewsRegister

Wow, the Charlottesville Lie still floats around? I happened to see the interview so knew it was baloney the whole time but below is the transcript.

> President Trump: "and I’m not talking about the neo-Nazis and the white nationalists, because they should be condemned totally."

https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-trump-charlottesville-transcript-20170815-story.html

Don Dix

Choosing which 'side' to support or join is exactly the design the division needs to survive. Wouldn't a government that is healthy, cooperative, and responsible first to the people be the better alternative?

Jeb Bladine

RobsNewsRegister,
It wasn't clear to me whether you have read the 180-page document -- the link provided an analysis by Washington Examiner, but I didn't see a link in that article to the document itself. Did you find that link and read the full document?

RobsNewsRegister

Jeb - I've read several excerpts and assessments by various journalists and some screen grabs but getting to the 180-page document now is difficult as Google has pulled it down so I haven't seen the whole thing. He is definitely a white-supremacist who was influenced online during the lockdowns from what I've seen. I don't understand how kids like this fall through the cracks after they turn 18 (e.g. 2018 Florida) and can buy guns. As far as politics go, see the excerpt below but as I'm older I don't give all that much credence to the understanding of political nuances of someone 18. I've lived/learned a lot since I was 18 and don't have the same views as my younger self.

"When I was 12 I was deep into communist ideology, talk to anyone from my old highschool and ask about me and you will hear that. From age 15 to 18 however, I consistently moved farther to the right. On the political compass I fall in the mild-moderate authoritarian left category, and I would prefer to be called a populist."

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10817617/Buffalo-supermarket-shooters-chilling-180-page-manifesto-mentioned-great-replacement-theory.html
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/matt-margolis/2022/05/15/heres-what-the-buffalo-shooters-alleged-manifesto-actually-says-n1597997

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