![]() ![]() He has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder and more charges are expected. For evidence, one need only look at the shooter in Buffalo who mowed down 10 Black people at a supermarket this month, in a deadly attack fueled by racism and allegedly perpetrated by a young man who identified himself as a White supremacist. They are links in an unbroken chain of hate that continue. Such acts of racial barbarity have not been relegated to America’s past, however. These artifacts often bore photos showing graphic lynching scenes as well as the jubilant White crowds in attendance. Their celebratory nature was captured by postcards that were popular souvenir items of the day. The hideous mutilations were looked at in much the same way as we might regard sporting events today. ![]() Fathers lifted their young children on their shoulders for a better view. White parents routinely brought their children to spectacle lynchings of Black men and women as family entertainment. And these oppressors did not hesitate to use violence to safeguard the system.Īnd lynchings were not only bloodthirsty events, they were also jarringly festive. Lynching as public entertainment was not unusual in the decades after the official end of slavery in 1865, when Black people often were terrorized by Whites intent on buttressing an oppressive, racist hierarchy in which they were at the pinnacle. People arrived by chartered train from Atlanta, some 40 miles away, to witness the appalling spectacle, which was viewed by as many as 2,000 people, according to contemporaneous accounts. We have to fight it.His grisly execution was widely attended. In order to prevent more atrocities like the one in Buffalo, we can’t look away from white supremacy. We must also step up our fight for equal rights and call out racism when we see it, as well as acts of hate against women, LGBTQ people, Muslims, and Jews. We must fight against this backlash that is determined to strip truth out of education. Legislation in other states includes similar provisions. The law effectively bans educators from teaching their students about racism and dictates that social studies and civics teachers “may not be compelled to discuss current events or widely debated and currently controversial issues of public policy or social affairs” in their classes. Strikingly, the anti-education bill passed in Texas last year might actually prevent teachers and students from learning anything about the killings in Buffalo. Racism is alive and thriving today and its impacts are deadly. The goal of this reactionary movement is to wipe away this important history, or at the very least to claim that racism is a thing of the past.īut tragedies like the one in Buffalo make it clear that ignoring white supremacy doesn’t make it go away. This shooting comes in the midst of a backlash against teaching students about the darker parts of American history - including the deep-seated white supremacy and racism that are woven into our nation’s earliest beginnings. The NYCLU stands in solidarity with members of the community in east Buffalo who experienced this unspeakable terror. And in it, the suspect expressed admiration for other white supremacist mass shooters. ![]() The manifesto plagiarized a similar one written by the white supremacist who killed 51 people at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019. Left unchecked, white supremacist ideology spreads and multiplies. The livestream was taken down, but it continues to be shared on white supremacist websites. The 18-year-old gunman reportedly posted a racist manifesto before livestreaming the massacre, during which he targeted a grocery store in a predominantly Black neighborhood in east Buffalo. Our hearts are with their loved ones and we must honor their memory by confronting the white supremacist ideology that spurred this brutal act of racist violence. We are all reeling from the horrific, racially-motivated shooting in Buffalo on Saturday that left ten people dead and three others wounded. ![]()
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