White Privilege And It’s Built-In “Lone Wolf” Excuse

I’m exhausted. This election season, along with other events, has beaten me down. It’s endless, and next Tuesday will not put an end to it. And now we have another lone wolf.

Here’s how the NYT described the “ambush shooter” who killed two police officers:

Investigators quickly identified a suspect in the slayings, who then surrendered — a local man described as a troubled loner who was familiar to the police in his suburban town, Urbandale. He had a string of arrests and confrontations with officers and others, but nothing in his record approached the scale of violence that erupted here.

Sgt. Paul Parizek, a spokesman for the Des Moines Police Department, “We may never actually know what motivated this act.”

A troubled loner. Oh well then, let’s move along. He couldn’t possibly be part of a culture. Why? Because white men are viewed as individuals. I’m so tired of this. There is a problem here, and why we keep ignoring – and excusing – it escapes me.

And the idea that “we may never actually know what motivated this act” strikes me as ridiculous. How about this:

1. Just hours before the two officers were killed, a court had ordered the man, Scott M. Greene, 46, to move out of his mother’s house, after she accused him of emotional and physical abuse. A few weeks ago, the Urbandale police had escorted him out of a football game being played by his daughter’s high school, after he waved a Confederate flag in front of black students, leading to restrictions on his ability to set foot on school property.

2. In April 2014, the Urbandale police charged Mr. Greene with interference with official acts, after he resisted officers’ efforts to pat him down for weapons. He was “known to go armed,” the police report stated, and was “noncompliant, hostile, combative and made furtive movements towards his pockets.” He fought with officers, who used a Taser to subdue and arrest him.

Hmm… “Made furtive movements toward his pockets” and lived to tell the tale. Amazing how that works, no?

3. Just two days later, he was arrested again and charged with harassment, accused of approaching a man in an Urbandale parking lot, shining a flashlight at him, threatening to kill him and using a racial slur.

4. Mr. Greene was arrested on an assault charge in 2001, but the charges were dropped.

Hey, Des Moines Police Department, I found your motive. But when we look at their statement following the incident it seems they were quite comfortable with putting forth a motive:

However, in a statement about the shooting Wednesday, Des Moines police spokesman Sgt. Paul Parizek said that people with “not-so-positive views of law enforcement” were to blame for “clear and present danger to police officers.”

“We’re very well aware of the society that we’re living in right now and the time.”

Whoever could he have been referring to?

Can you imagine if this white, trouble guy turned out to be black, brown or Muslim? Immediately it would be linked to BLM or terrorism. It would be a “group” activity and all black/brown people and Muslims would be held accountable. Go read the NYT article. They bend over backwards to explain this guys actions.

Josh Marshall sums it up: “But, man, quite often the contrast is simply too jarring and large not to state the obvious. Blacks and Muslim killers are part of political movements and socio-political forces. White guys are “troubled.”

This guy is an extreme example, but he isn’t alone. This election season has been brimming with rhetoric that, if said by anyone other than white men, would be cause for drastic measures. And let’s consider all this talk of violence from Trump supporters and militias. Who exactly are they going to end up fighting? The police, right? Seriously, think all this talk through. The only way this “uprising” happens is if these guys end up fighting law enforcement – Unless someone can put forth a different scenario where armed protesters “take their country back” without a showdown with police?

I have more examples.

• Eric Trump told a Denver radio station that David Duke “deserves a bullet.”
• “Anyone that commits treason should be shot,” Al Baldasaro, an adviser to the Trump campaign for veterans issues, told The Daily Beast. “I believe Hillary Clinton committed treason. She put people in danger. When people take confidential material off a server, you’re sharing information with the enemy. That’s treason.”
• West Virginia lawmaker Michael Folk said earlier this week that Hillary Clinton should be “hung on the mall in Washington, DC” for treason. And on the campaign trail, reports show that Trump supporters have repeatedly called for her death.
• Bennett wrote, “2 words … firing squad,” in a Tuesday night post that included a link to a conservative blog criticizing Clinton for the 2012 deaths of American officials in Benghazi. In a text message to The Oklahoman, Bennett said his comments were intended to be sarcastic, but he also said he believed Clinton had committed treason, a crime punishable by death. “She has committed nothing less than treason by leaving fellow Americans to die in Benghazi,” Bennett said. “If anyone else had done that they would be charged with treason and thrown under the jail at a minimum, and a firing squad likely.”
• Still in July, a County Commissioner for Licking, Ohio Duane Flowers also called for the hanging of Clinton for treason.
• More recently, North Carolina senator Richard Burr mused on Saturday that nothing makes him happier than aiming his firearm at a target printed with Clinton’s face.
• Donald Trump: “By the way, if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do folks. Although, the Second Amendment people maybe there is. I don’t know.”
• Donald Trump calling out Katy Tur (who he calls “Little Katy”) again and then letting his mob shout at her. The last time he called her out she had to be escorted to her car by the Secret Service.
• David Duke: ““It was just admitted by Clinton that our government’s been supporting Saudi Arabia which she admits was supporting ISIS. The lady should be getting the electric chair, being charged with treason.”

There’s more. So much more. Can you imagine what would happen if anyone other than white men said these things? Seriously, try and imagine that. What would the reaction of the press, and others, be if any of these words were said by Keith Ellison, Van Jones or Shaun King. Does anyone think the reaction would be the same?

I’m not sure how much violence there will be on Tuesday and the days following the election. I just know there will be violent incidents. I also know who will be responsible and what their motives are. Perhaps the Des Moines police should hire me.