Do people make the times that we live in or are the times carved by people? When President Barack H. Obama was initially elected to the White House in 2008, many people from varying demographics and political mindsets lamented that racism was in its death throes. But when President Donald H. Trump was elected some of the very same individuals screamed and ranted that this was bad because it meant that America was becoming even more racist.
But, as is often the case when individuals have ideas that seem diametrically opposed, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. As a country, America isn’t getting more racist or less racist. At this point, racism is just a static normality, in my opinion.
On Sunday, the University of Maryland police chief told a group of reporters that 22-year-old Sean Urbanski, a white student and a member of a racist Facebook group Alt-Reich Nation, is the primary suspect in the stabbing death of Lt. Richard Collins, who just graduated from Bowie State University last week.
“We are looking forward to the quickest investigation as possible,” the police chief said. “Hate has no place in America. Hate has no place on a college campus where young minds are coming together to try to change the world.”
This tragedy comes after a series of racist incidents at the college in recent months. A noose was found in a fraternity house earlier this month, and posters promoting nationalism were found on campus earlier this year.
“This was not a thug,” family spokesperson Rev. Darryl L. Godlock said. “This was a very caring individual. He was highly intelligent and he was at the peak of his career. He loved his family, he loved people that he came in contact with, and more importantly he loved his God.”
Indeed, whenever a white person kills a black person it usually is a nasty war of imagery and counter-imagery. While I understand what Rev. Godlock was getting at when he felt it necessary to mention that Godlock was not a “thug” it pains to see that some of us still feel as if the injustice of it can be summed up by mentioning what he was not instead of what he was; a bright, beautiful, hopeful American who was killed by a person whose views are racist and treasonous. These people have always been around. They’re just getting bolder. You would think the former would immediately get the benefit over the latter.
