Charleston shooting: The nine victims were murdered by a terrorist, not a 'whacked out kid'

Yesterday an act of domestic terrorism took place at the AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. At the media briefing that took place afterwards, none of the state authority figures dealing with the massacre uttered those two words, though.

Instead, the portrayal of the white shooter was one we've come to know all too well. The contrast it has with mass murderers of other racial profiles is enough to take your breath away, if it wasn't so typical. Black people are still being terrorised in America – this time by someone who is thought to have once decorated himself in the apartheid-era flags of South Africa and Zimbabwe. At a time like this, language matters even more than it usually does.

However, it doesn't look like Dylann Storm Roof will be referred to as a domestic terrorist by the authorities or the media, but “one of these whacked out kids,” as South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham stated on The View yesterday (he then went on to say "I don’t think it’s anything broader than that. It’s about a young man who is obviously twisted”).

Likewise, with only his race and rough age known, Joseph P. Riley, the Mayor of Charleston, told the public that the shooter was a “hate-filled person” – not a terrorist. This hides the the fact that Charleston faces serious and systemic issues around race. Lest we forget, the unarmed Walter Scott was shot in the back and killed as he ran away from a white police officer in North Charleston in April.

Charleston's Chief of Police Mullen also struck a similar tone yesterday, telling reporters: “I do believe this was a hate crime” – not a terrorist attack. In a Facebook post, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley followed suit: “While we do not yet know all of the details, we do know that we'll never understand what motivates anyone to enter one of our places of worship and take the life of another.”

We actually do know why one would enter a historically black church and commit a terrorist attack, though: anti-black racism and the white grievance industry. This industry, led by Fox News and talk radio, constantly tells aggrieved white citizens that their plight is real, illegal immigration is the reason they can’t get ahead, a black President and his black Attorney General will continue to plot ways to take away their guns so their only hope is to “take back this country!”

The refusal to use the language that is typically assigned to terrorist attacks further calls into question how authorities deal with terrorism and race in America. Consciously or unconsciously, the attempt to limit what has happened to one "unhinged" individual, when nine black bodies have been strewn in a black church with a storied past, only plays into the hands of the shooter, and is hugely problematic.

The refusal to accept that this was a terrorist attack is also rooted in America's institutionalised detachment from black people. All too often blackness is viewed through the lens of an "interesting" spectacle, which is why the Rachel Dolezal saga has outlived the 24-hour news cycle.

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Black people in America aren’t viewed as three-dimensional humans, but one-dimensional actors in a spectacle that constantly needs to be fed. The clearest example of this narrative could be found on Fox and Friends yesterday, when co-host Elizabeth Hasselback opened the segment by saying: “A horrifying attack on faith killing nine people, including a famed pastor.

So, if we're not safe in our own churches, then where are we safe?” According to this logic, which is followed across many parts of America, black people can be people of faith or black, but not both. And when they suffer, the first question a white host is compelled to ask is: how does this affect us? Are we safe?

Once the media has settled on its final Charleston narrative, one thing will be clear. The nine victims won’t be black, or even victims of terrorism. They will be Christians who may or may not become martyrs to advance right-wing politics. And the spectacle of black America will continue to be fed.