By Karina Cashman
Staff Writer
In years past, in regard to the ongoing threat on terror, the use of political fear tactics was seen left and right. Politicians will have you believe that groups you should fear, who resort to acts of radical terrorism, mass shootings and violence, are of the Muslim and African American communities. This is based solely on prejudice, racism, bias and ignorance. Statistics show that the majority of acts of violence are committed by white middle-aged men, or more specifically, the far alt-right.
According to PolitiFact, 74 percent of attacks by violent extremists were committed by far-rights, as opposed to the 26 percent committed by radical Islamic sects. According to the Investigative Fund, we see that the numbers indicating right-wing domestic terrorism incidents far outweighs incidents by Islamic sects and the far-left combined.
The Oklahoma bombers, the Columbine school massacre, the Chardin school massacre, the Isla Vista massacre, the Charleston church massacre, the Las Vegas massacre, Sandy Hook, Aurora Theater, Casa Adobe, the Austin Bomber, Parkland, Santa Fe, Jacksonville, the MAGA Mail bomber. There is an alarming trend in the types of people committing these atrocious acts, and while not all of these criminals were middle aged, it’s clear to see there is some correlation in what demographic is really the culprit.
Time and time again, we have seen that the type of individual who perpetrates this violence and aggression is a part of the very same group that continually blames Muslims, African Americans and illegal immigrants. While the data is undeniable, this begs the question as to whether or not we should be directly fearing the alt-right after these shootings and terrorism attacks. The answer? Not really; here’s why: blaming any group as a whole for the unforgivable acts of extremists is wrong, and moreover, nonsensical.
We saw it with Al-Qaeda after the events on 9/11, and the repercussions of the stigma that came as a result still has negative impact on Muslim communities to this day. Should you fear the alt-right in general? That’s up to you. Should you fear the alt-right because an extremist sect is crossing a major line regarding terrorism and gun violence? Not really. To blame an entire political group for the actions of extremist makes you no better than those who blame and fear Muslims for the incident on 9/11.
Now it’s fair to ask, what does all of this mean? I’m not saying we shouldn’t be focusing on white middle-aged men due to these acts of violence; far from it actually; that’s exactly what we should be doing. All of the data shows that this is the group that has been the most prevalent in these kinds of attacks, and so we should be focusing our collective efforts on this demographic. What we shouldn’t do is call up a witch hunt.
This isn’t Salem in 1692, and we shouldn’t be crucifying any one group for the acts of radicals. We should instead be re-organizing and re-strategizing in order to prevent more senseless tragedies from occurring in the future. Let’s reiterate once more. Is the far alt-right the group that has been predominantly the cause of these attacks? Yes. Should the entire group as a whole be crucified for this? No. Should the United States as a nation be refocusing its efforts on middle-aged white men rather than immigrant and minority groups in regard to these types of attacks? Definitely.
The facts are there, and the choice is yours, what must be done to face the real threat?