Thank you President Biden for calling the May14th Massacre an act of “Domestic Terrorism”. We did not need thoughts or prayers. And yes, we are dealing with the “poison” of white supremacy. But, that threat has moved beyond an intellectual or ideological battle. We are in the middle of a low-intensity war being waged by the radical Right. Their weapons are anti-Black and Brown rhetoric, fear-mongering, and in again in this century, guns and bullets. 

         Conservative Parties and the Religious Right, which include many of the GOP leaders, are promoting and implementing racist, sexist and hateful ideologies: anti-immigration, anti-Critical Race Theory, anti-abortion, anti-Muslim, anti-LBGQTT, anti, anti, anti. Trump and his ilk enflame and create foot soldiers amped up into a frenzy from the likes of Kyle Rittenhouse — the Right’s golden-boy — to Payton Gendron; individuals who support that agenda and carry out violent, terrorist attacks.

      This kid, old enough to buy guns and ammunition, but not alcohol or tobacco, was not a lone wolf. His actions (including intel and surveillance) are classic underground guerrilla tactics. Fast-paced, small scale violent attacks by individuals or groups, who work independently, yet in conjunction and support of a formal body politic. Moves the Radical right have been using for generations, and that have escalated since Trump’s presidency.

     The killer is from the small town of Conklin, NY whose residents stated they were “shocked by it all”. Yet, many of those same residents shamelessly fly the Confederate Flag. That flag, created by slavers and traitors, cannot be separated from its racist history or its thinly veiled threat against people of color.

     The Center and the Left need to realize that their public protests and demands for policy change are not working.  History has shown that movements based on equal rights do not confront or defeat racism, bigotry, anti-semitism, and sexism: all major tenets of White Nationalism.

       Government leaders need to challenge themselves and the growing Right radicalism within the Republican Party. News, entertainment, and social media outlets need to be held accountable for dissemination of hate speech and lies. Serious changes need to be made to our Senate representation. The Electoral College needs to be eliminated. We need to move away from the rhetoric of “rugged individualism” to the practice of “a collective good”.      

     The massacre on Saturday targeted Black Buffalo, traumatized Black and White Buffalo, and terrified our country. Support for White nationalism is growing. Violence for White nationalists is growing. A line is being drawn in the sand. It is time to seriously address the dangerous Right radicalism that is taking possession of the soul of our nation; the only soul we need be concerned with. Or else, we will not be great enough to avoid a second Civil War.