https://shareblue.com/hung-from-a-t...alls-for-lynching-critics-of-white-supremacy/
Critics demand Missouri lawmaker resign after saying vandals should be 'hung from a tall tree with a long rope' | Political Fix | stltoday.com
Missouri lawmaker posts hope that monument vandal be 'hung' | Nation | stltoday.com
So over the past few weeks there have been many arguments about how antifa are just as bad as white supremacists. Many of the equivocations point to the fact that both are just fringe extremist groups.
Aside from the fact that we have seen many Charlottesville marchers associating with Republican senators, we now get actual sitting representatives ultimately calling for the lynching of those who would deface statues. Maybe you disagree, but to me, calling for lynchings in Missouri carries certain race connotations with it. As the article states, it's a terrorist act specifically associated with white supremacists and the KKK.
Of course, he 'denies' that's what he meant.
But the issue still remains - this kind of sentiment, the sentiment that I would expect from white supremacists, is something that pervades American society at every level to a
far greater degree than the rhetoric of antifa. This is exactly why the threat posed to Americans by white supremacist far outweigh the threat posed by Antifa or BLM. There exist people in power structures who hold biases that align with those of white supremacy.
To add, I don't think there is an excuse for violence but this is also a key reason why those who try to fight oppression often turn to violence. It's much harder for a group like BLM to make change within the confines of the law when there are people like this who help control the law.
Of course, this is simply the actions of one man, but it's one man who holds a fair amount of power, and it's indicative of a far more deep rooted problem.
