I am personally in grief over this. If we think about it, for us, if we are honest, can understand. I personally think that in the deep "South," we have produced a culture where some crazy, ignorant, brainwashed youngster could spout off such racism/fanaticism and not get called on it.
When I was growing up, it was a culture, "blacks in their place." The "N" word was part of our vocabulary. Everything was segregated and there were all these conspiracy theories. People talked about "them and us." We had all these social mores, i.e., I worked in a grocery store when I was about 12 and the rule was that you called a black by his first name and whites, Mr or Mrs/Miss.
Has it changed? No! Not really. More integration in schools and the workplace but no social integration.
We are not going to solve the race problem in our lifetime but to me, I feel awful that we have a culture in the South where something like this can happen.
Here is this 21 year old, goes to a black church. They are having a prayer meeting and welcome him and are so kind, he almost changes his mind. He shoots nine.
By contrast, in San Francisco, every crazy in the world, has appeared at one time or the other but not someone like the murderer, Roof. It is just less likely to happen as somebody would be all over a racist like this. But, in the South, it does happen because nobody will get "called out." I am more than ashamed.
Brainwashed? Sure. He's been spouting off all these slogans, hanging out, watching people nod their heads. He says, "I'm going to shoot me some n.....s." Nobody says a word. In a sense, I think all Southerners are complicit.
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