Copycats: Charleston

The Charleston Shootings are too terrible to really get to grips with right now.

I’ve sat here in the US, just down the coast and watched the whole thing unfold. I’m not going to talk about guns or gun control now (if you disagreed with me, I’m sure you wouldn’t listen). But I am keen for us to realise where this stuff comes from – if you don’t understand the kind of problem you’re dealing with you’re going to find it that much harder to solve it.

We know that this kind of thing doesn’t tend to be shaped by what goes on between an individual’s ears but rather based on the examples picked from outside (incl. the media) and group ethos (white supremicist websites are 10 a penny for the impressionable mind). Being isolated from those who might disagree with you also means no-one can contradict half-truths or groundless assertion and myth.

But it’s also worth remembering that publicising this kind of thing helps it spread further and faster.

Here’s Charlie Brooker on the subject\

BTW not seen any mention of this but my first thought was whether this was modelled on the 16th Street Bombing at the height of the Civil Rights movement. Thoughts anyone?