it's why we don't care. That part is simple. But it's not why we don't label it as terrorism.
I agree. I think the terrorism debate is a red herring. Every act of violence worth caring about doesn't have to be terrorism.
I'm not saying everything should be labeled terrorism. That isn't even remotely my point. I'm saying we are not consistent on what terrorism is and oftentimes it seems to be tied to who is the villain and who are the victims.
We were calling Boston a terrorist act before we even had a villain!
It is a word that has no meaning and so much meaning.
LOL I am pretty sure in the Boston thread I was saying it was too soon to call it terrorism since there was no indication of motive nor that it was politically motivated. And nearly everyone was ready to behead me for it
I wasn't around for the Boston stuff (I was in the middle of about 40 hours of travel and then viewing international news coverage), so I can't speak to that, but I don't think it's unreasonable to treat bombings different than shootings with initial assumptions. How many bombs are not terrorist related vs how many shootings?
It's not really subjective. Political motive is an essential part of the operational definition.
Now, if you were to argue maybe there is a political motive here but we don't bother to even look because it's just blacks guys doing what they always do, I'll listen to that argument.
See what I said above. We assume there is not a political motive because its just another black person killing black people.
Is that really it, though? Or is it because there really hasn't been a terrorist attack like that of someone just randomly firing into a crowd (and I'm not even sure it was random) and then fleeing? Is it about the race of the suspect or is it about the MO?
I just think it's kind of a stretch that racism is the reason we don't call it terrorism. Racism is certainly the reason why these shootings don't get the same kind of outrage or calls for gun control that shootings in middle class suburbs do, but I just don't see it when it comes to labeling terrorism or not.
As for why this didn't get more attention, I can't speak for any tv news. I don't watch any of it. I just read news online and listen to NPR, and it's been covered there (though perhaps not as thoroughly, you are right).
As to why national media didn't give it more time, sure, it could be racism in that they don't care about the black victims, or it could even be liberal white guilt fueling caution to a fault when it comes to news of black criminals, to avoid reinforcing racist stereotypes. Or maybe they were too wrapped up in all the political news lately. I don't know.
Regardless, oh my God, Ka'Nard's story breaks my heart.
Post by vampsterdam on May 16, 2013 15:44:10 GMT -5
Going off topic, but the discussion of what terrorism is made me think of my college Spanish class.
I got into a debate with my professor who kept telling me that ETA (the Basque separatist in Spain) should not be considered terrorist. Man, that was one debate that I would not back down from and I'm still bitter about it!