White America Isn’t Bothered By Domestic Terrorism

White America’s refusal to acknowledge the very real threat of domestic terrorism is what led us to where we are today

According to the USA Patriot Act passed in response to 9/11 in 2001, domestic terrorism is defined as “activities that (A) involve acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the U.S. or of any state; (B) appear to be intended (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and (C)occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the U.S.”

Despite identifying what domestic terrorism is, the government cannot file charges of domestic terrorism because no such law exists. The definition in The Patriot Act simply allows the government to investigate an individual and any group they might be affiliated with. However, the government can charge a suspect with international terrorism if the act was conducted on behalf of international groups such as radical Islamists as defined by the State Department.

The reasons for this are vast. Many are opposed to implementing domestic terrorist laws. Such laws have historically been more often used against people of color. Especially when you look at how the FBI identifies Black civil rights activists and their allies as ‘Black Identity Extremists’. A label that neither properly identifies the fight for civil rights nor the activists who are bringing the cause to the forefront of the American psyche. The idea of domestic terrorist laws exposes the dangers of the government criminalizing ideology, theology, and individual beliefs.

Such laws could easily be politicized as well. Imagine for a moment if Donald Trump and his cohorts had the power to criminalize Black Lives Matter based on the acts of a few who used the opportunity to destroy property. The hyper-politicization of movements in America would have easily opened the door for such abuse. Instead, the government opts to prosecute domestic terrorists using existing laws such as it did with Timothy McVeigh.

Despite not having laws with which to prosecute domestic terror cases, the reality of its existence is one most of White America refuses to acknowledge. Witnessing how White America responded to Black Lives Matter with counter-movements such as All Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter, it’s easy to see where the abuse of such laws would come into play. Counter-movements such as those mentioned are notorious for labeling supporters of civil rights movements as terrorists for inciting violence.

A charge once levied on Martin Luther King Jr.

Even Robert Kennedy, brother of John F. Kennedy, helped summon many fears as U.S. Attorney General. According to Nick Bryant of BBC News, Robert told his brother, “Negroes are now just antagonistic and mad and they’re going to be mad at everything. You can’t talk to them. My friends all say [even] the Negro maids and servants are getting antagonistic.”

The Growth Domestic Terrorists

Since the advent of social media, domestic terrorist groups have seen an explosion in their recruitment numbers. Once relegated to the far reaches of the Internet, social media provided an opportunity for radicalizing many Americans who once held mild discriminatory beliefs. It also allowed for the spread of conspiracy theories and lies about civil rights movements with little to no moderation. Moderation would interfere with the profit motives of social media companies.

While social media companies such as Facebook allowed for the polarization of American politics and race issues, they made billions selling ads attached to the most polarizing content that had the most traction. In other words, if a post was based on hate they would refuse to take it down because it generated traffic. Their so-called rules about organized hate were enforced in what would seem to be an arbitrary manner.

The reality is that it hasn’t been arbitrary at all. They simply refuse to remove content that is profitable to them despite the damage it does and who it hurts. Many Americans have died in mass shootings and individual attacks due to content that had been shared by millions across social media platforms. Facebook, Twitter, and many others are as responsible as those who espouse hateful ideologies for knowingly allowing it to spread unfettered and for a profit.

“Negroes are now just antagonistic and mad and they’re going to be mad at everything. You can’t talk to them. My friends all say [even] the Negro maids and servants are getting antagonistic.”

As Americans witnessed the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, the hateful extremism that has existed for decades has reached new heights. The mob that led the attack was called to action by then-President Donald Trump and his cohorts such as Rudy Giuliani who called for a “trial by combat” urging Trump supporters to raid the Capitol building contesting Trump’s loss in the 2020 presidential election.

During a rally on the Ellipse near the White House, Trump himself echoed many of the lies and conspiracy theories that his followers believe. Trump wasn’t shy about telling his supporters to “fight like hell” and to “take back the country”. He encouraged them to conduct an attack on Congresspeople who were in the process of certifying the Electoral College votes that had him losing the election to Joe Biden. Some were motivated to kidnap and murder elected officials.

Once relegated to the fringes of society, the motives that led to the attack originated in far-right groups that can still be found on various social media platforms. While social media allowed for these ideas to become mainstream, they are not new. The warnings about the expansive growth of extremist hate groups went largely ignored by White America. During that time, Black people were regarded as “thugs” and “welfare queens” while Latinos were labeled as “drug dealers” and “rapists” among so many other disparaging labels placed on non-white groups.

Branding non-white groups is an American pastime as celebrated as baseball and apple pie.

The Warnings Were There

Despite Black people and minorities (along with federal authorities) warning Americans in near-constant reports and bulletins, those warnings have been ignored by the vast majority of White America. Even today, those warnings are disregarded as alarmist. Minorities in America can attest to being disregarded and targeted for speaking up about growing domestic terrorists and despite hate crimes reaching new heights, White America again ignored the problem.

Now, as we sit and watch the militarization of our city streets in an effort to thwart near-constant threats against the government and government officials, Americans are still refusing to face the hate behind what motivates many extremist groups. As white people talk about ‘Black on Black crime’ and tell minorities to pick themselves up by their bootstraps, they are willfully ignoring not just the systemic issues that plague minorities but street-level racism at the hands of their own.

In the last several years we’ve witnessed mass executions and lynchings of Black and Brown people by White people who have bought into extremist thought. Nowhere in America have we seen a movement to try and address it by the family and friends of members of hate groups. In America, White people have historically remained silent in the face of systemic oppression as Black and Brown people suffer and die at the hands of racists and racist systems.

That needs to end.

“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”

The great civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Jr., once said, “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” Since then we have witnessed more and more silence than ever as many White Americans believe racism ended with the Civil Rights Act or the election of President Barack Obama. What they are ignoring is the growth of street-level racism (hate crimes) and the explosion of systemic racism at the highest levels.

Historically speaking, White America has never been bothered enough by any issues affecting Black, Latino, Indigenous, and other minority populations. White people benefit from what is often referred to as white comfort. That comfort breeds complacency based on the assumption that racism doesn’t exist despite all the warnings from minority populations. That complacency is what led America to lock asylum seekers and their children in cages, the mass incarceration of Black and Brown people, and the demonization of non-Christian, non-white populations.

The time for White America to join minorities in exposing racism and extremist hate is long overdue.

Despite minorities being forced to rely on White allies in the fight for racial justice, not enough of White America has stepped up in that fight. There is no better time than the present to start. America will never see the systemic change it needs until White America collectively speaks up to address hate crimes and force policy change to benefit minorities that have long-suffered the oppressive systems that have been in place for over 100 years.

In other words, White people need to clean their own house before ever saying anything about non-white people again.

Arturo is an anti-racist political nerd, journalist, and founder of The Antagonist Magazine. He is a top writer on racism on Medium and a regular contributor to several news media outlets. If you’d like to learn more about the issues covered here, follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. You can also support his work here

Shoutout to Marley K., Herbert Dyer, Jr., Allison Gaines, and Johnny Silvercloud. All of which have been cited in this article.