Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Had to do it...

In the past week, I've heard two newsbites in which a man stated something to the effect of "It had to be done, so I did it."  The two newsbites were about two very different events, but both made me very uncomfortable.

The first was a young (White Supremacist) male who was sentenced to death for shooting multiple (African-American) churchgoers in Charleston. He refused defense attorneys, stating that he didn't want to be misrepresented. He felt it was important that everyone know: "I felt like I had to do it, and I still do feel like I had to do it," he said." 

The second was when a high school student's painting in congress was getting removed for depicting animal-headed police officers against the people, one of which is also animal-headed, of Ferguson, MO. He had submitted his art into the annual congressional art competition and won first-place in his district. But the image offended 4 members of congress, one of whom was U.S. Rep Duncan Hunter, R-Calif. “I just felt it was something that had to be done,” said U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif. “So, I just did it.”

Is it just me, or am I sensing a theme? White men are taking it upon themselves to silence minorities, in violent and seemingly non-violent ways. Why does it have to be done?