2015 was a year of exceptionally overt police violence against black folk and tragic mass shootings. A common response to these events has been that they are the result of "sick" individuals. Many conservatives have suggested that the shooters were
mentally ill: that the problem was a proliferation of bad people,
not a proliferation of guns. When, however, the murderers happen to be people "of color," the
narrative often changes to one of terrorism and extremism (though the NRA position remains consistently pro-gun, even
defending the rights of the San Bernadino terrorists to acquire their weaponry).
In fact, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services, just three-five percent of violent acts are attributable to mental illness. And in fact, police have frequently simply treated nonviolent mental illness as a capital offense requiring
instant lethal force.
But what about inciting people to violence? We should not fail to recognize the systemic interplay between race, class, NRA lobbying, and gun-related deaths. The myth of black criminality is conveniently used to replace an institutional analysis of what is wrong with our country. These myths, both for police and for the majority of Americans, justify
summary executions, the refusal of police to acknowledge the wrong-doings of fellow officers, and the courts' general unwillingness to hold individual officers accountable, opting instead to prop up a system of cover-up, delay, and denial. The rare exceptions boldly highlight the rule.
America is literally violently ill. This society is feverish on the valorization of violence. Victims of violence - speaking out and demanding accountability for racism (such as in Charleston or Ferguson), or regarding violent sexism (as in Planned Parenthood) - are blamed as the cause. This 'blame culture' is a symptom of America's frankly sick relationship to violence.
Comment: Also see: Muslim Kristallnacht: French island of Corsica bans all rallies after huge rise in violent anti-Muslim protests