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The Dollar General hate crime reopens old wounds. [1]
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Date: 2023-08-27
A beautiful woman named Laura Ann Carleton, mother of a blended family of nine was killed in San Bernadino by psycho Travis Ikeguchi for the crime of flying a gay flag outside of her clothing store, Mag.Pi.
Not long after this woman’s senseless killing, we learned the shooter was a raging MAGA cult member—the spin began in earnest. The right quickly trotted out all the same tired-and-true pro-gun and hate crime apologetics — guns don’t kill people; people kill people. Homophobia existed before MAGA, blah, blah, blah.
Let’s Occam Razor this, shall we?
People who pull triggers kill people. Bullets also kill people.
Yes, hatred for others has always existed, but people have used hate to rise to power for centuries. No, that is not okay!
Of the above two statements, I’ve always found the argument that (insert —ism) has always existed to be especially egregious. People who say this seem to be excusing hatred or throwing their hands up and saying, “What you gonna do? It will never change!”
Do they hear themselves?
Travis Ikeguchi was a frothing-at-the-mouth MAGA supporter, full stop. Yes, bigotry, racism, and hate have always been around. Does this mean we shrug it off or harness it for personal use?
Trumpers say yes, and that philosophy is taking its toll!
Mah family visited the GA State Fair in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Ellijay yesterday, and man, we had a ball. It had been some time since we had a day of fun that was strictly a “let’s hang out” affair.
Prior to this, we’d taken in a Ville Valo concert downtown.
It was entertaining yet somewhat formal.
Today, we let our hair down, allowing the kiddos to be kiddos. There is nothing like eating cotton candy, scarfing down funnel cakes, and riding the Ferris Wheel with your teen babies.
It was bittersweet, too. They are getting older, you see, and one day, a ride called THE WILD WILLY will not excite them anymore.
But throughout the day, another specter followed us around. I couldn’t help but look over my shoulder as we walked along, fearful of what may lurk in the shadow of the day. Honestly, this was not a new feeling. I have done this my entire life. I grew up in the Atlanta Hood—lost people whose only crime existed in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Black people grow up fully aware that they may be killed and the tragedy of their deaths will be minimized. Ask any Black person who grew up poor if they know of anyone murdered before age 30, and most would raise their hands.
It is an existence that creates hypervigilance, nervousness, fear, and sometimes the inability to relate with others. I tend to keep to myself; admittedly, such isolation does little to help my CPTSD.
Still, for the sake of my kids, I try to go out. Do things.
But I am never not aware of the exits. Never not aware that things can go south quickly.
I hate that my fears overshadowed such a beautiful day with my family—but I doubt I will ever not feel this way—not so long as people kill others simply for the sin of being in the skin they were born in…
This leads me back to Jacksonville...
Three people entered a Dollar General in Jacksonville, Florida. They were alive when they went in and left in body bags—
Not because they had committed a crime.
Not because they had antagonized someone to a boiling point.
Not because they hurt someone innocent.
Not due to an accident or a freak occurrence.
They died because their skin was dark.
MAGA world is already in hyperdrive, creating their latest conspiracy theory du jour by blaming the FBI and calling what happened a false flag. Heaven forbid any member of the Trump cult indulge in a bit of introspection and recognize that they may be fostering a sinister and evil environment that gets folks murdered.
The killer in question lived at home with his parents, was a 20-something-year-old, and, in his last communications with the world before his death, stated he simply wanted to kill people of color.
Was the Flordia Dollar Store Murder a hate crime? Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan thinks so, "This was a hate-filled crime.” She stated, “And we shouldn't have that kind of hate in Jacksonville."
Well, there’s a duh!
Even DeSantis weighed in, which IMHO should only result in revulsion and derision—he is as much at fault for fostering this kind of ugliness and hate as anyone else.
Can we blame MAGA directly for what happened in Dollar General? Let's say the movement isn’t helping the world become more tolerant and welcoming.
As I write this, my kiddos are peacefully asleep in bed, exhausted after a day of fun in the sun, but my heart is heavy. I am trying my best to fight, in my own way, the darkness that wraps its way around the hearts of men like that boy, who find strength and salvation in the hateful, violent rhetoric of the right.
Am I winning that fight?
There is no easy answer here, but there is a first step we can all take to get us on the road toward progress and change that could make a difference.
Vote blue.
ONE ANGRY BLACK CHICK SUBSTACK
oneangryblackchick.substack.com/...
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https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/8/27/2189911/-The-Dollar-General-hate-crime-reopens-old-wounds
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