Terrorism is a symptom of a greater disease in society

To Thee Daily Sun,

In response to Steve Earle, once again: I generally avoid entertaining rebuttals that were designed to attack stripped-down versions of my arguments; however, the subject matter of the following affairs is incredibly relevant to modern American politics and, considering the upcoming elections, I feel it is important that people know the reality of these issues.

Regarding police brutality, there is no official deal or statement within law enforcement to silence people of color through brutality tactics. That said, allow me to provide a short list of the names of people of color who were subjected to intense use of force over the last few decades: Tamir Rice, Philando Castile, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Alton Sterling, Stephon Clark, and many, many more. All of these individuals were pulled over or stopped for dubious reasons and all of them are now dead.

On a broader scale, African-American men aged between 15 and 34 make up over 15 percent of all deaths caused by police use of force despite accounting for only 2 percent of the population. African-Americans of all age groups make up around 13 percent of the total population and more than double that in lethal police-perpetrated shootings. This is a systemic problem that has led to generations of African-Americans who are terrified to even look at a police officer. Whether you are willing to acknowledge it or not doesn’t matter.

It is true that not all violent attacks on U.S. soil are perpetrated by white supremacists. However, that wasn’t my point. I stated that 73 percent of all domestic terrorist attacks against all types of victims are committed by white supremacists or individuals with similar ideological motives. This means that 27 percent of domestic terrorist attacks were committed by other racial/ethnic populations, political organizations, or religious groups. There is, admittedly, a lot of overlap between these motivations, as many terrorist organizations are propelled by multiple driving factors. But, considering a little over 60 percent of the U.S. population is non-Hispanic or Latino caucasian, the rate for white supremacist terror isn’t particularly surprising or disproportionate. As for the media’s presence on this issue, the sad truth is that atrocities committed by white people are often brushed off as “lone-wolf lunatic” attacks despite their clear political and/or religious motivation (i.e. the Charleston church shooting, the Charlottesville protest vehicular homicide, the Oklahoma City bombing, the Overland Park Community Center shooting, the Parkland Massacre, and many more).

On the issue of Israel-Palestine, violence perpetrated by or on the behalf of the Palestinians is unacceptable and should be condemned. That said, consider the conditions in Gaza for a moment before suggesting that the perpetuation of civil violence in the region is entirely the fault of the Palestinians. Starting in 2007, Israel established a blockade against Gaza in an attempt to “contain the violence.” This blockade included high concrete walls and the prevention of resources from entering or leaving the area.

In other words, the Gaza Strip has become an open-air prison, which has isolated its inhabitants from the world beyond the walls. Gaza has no room to grow economically and 44 percent of Gazans are unemployed. The only real source from which Gazans can obtain food is a six-mile stretch of shoreline for fishing purposes. If they wander beyond those ordinances, a swift death at the hands of an Israeli soldier awaits them. Of course, the actions of Hamas are damnable, but, for the Gazans, the battle isn’t between morality and savagery; it is a life-or-death struggle.

Finally, we come to the overarching point that I must reiterate: Terrorism is a symptom of a greater disease. Yes, religious indoctrination is, in many instances, a large motivator in progressing such violent ideologies. However, for most of those who have fallen into the arms of ISIS, Al Qaeda, Hamas, the IRA, the PKK, or any other terrorist organization, the deciding factor in their allegiance is the lack of protections for their rights. When a group of people consistently experiences poverty, hunger, humiliation, slaughter and is forced into silence by their government or an occupying force, there is, under such dire circumstances and especially in developing or emerging nations, no other option. How many civilian men, women, and children will die before we recognize this?

Julia Davis

Gilford