News observation | White supremacy is becoming increasingly prominent in the United States
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According to a report by the US police on August 26th local time, a white man in Jacksonville, northern Florida, shot and killed three black people in a store that day, and then committed suicide. On the 28th, the local police stated at a press conference that this was a racially motivated crime.
After the shooting incident, although US President Biden condemned white supremacy on the 27th, claiming that white supremacy "has no place in America," the fact is that in recent years, white supremacy has become increasingly prominent in the United States. Data shows that in 2022, over 80% of large-scale killings in the United States were committed by white supremacists.
A 2012 bill in the United States Congress referred to "mass killings" as incidents where three or more people were killed in a single incident. The Anti Defamation Alliance in the United States has sorted out the large-scale killings that occurred in the United States in 2022, categorizing 25 of them as "related to extremism". Among these 25 murders, 21 were related to white supremacists, accounting for 84%. The Anti Defamation Alliance also released a report in March this year, stating that the organization recorded over 6700 propaganda and on-site activities by white supremacists last year, setting a "historic high". And, except for Hawaii, every state in the United States is filled with propaganda such as anti Semitism and racism.
According to data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation on hate crimes, hate crimes targeting African Americans and other ethnic minority groups in the United States have been on the rise in recent years. The report shows that compared to 2019, hate crimes against African Americans in the United States increased by 49% in 2020, and an additional 14% in 2021. In addition to African Americans, the number of hate crimes against Asian Americans has also increased by 167%.
Jacksonville City Councilor Pitman: Systemic racial discrimination has existed for a long time. We see an increase in hate crimes, not only in Jacksonville, but also around our community and in our country. This is very heartbreaking.
Some argue that it was policies aimed at teaching African American history in Florida that instigated this racist attack. In July of this year, the Florida Board of Education approved a new set of standards on how public schools in the state teach African American history, requiring instruction to state that "the skills learned by slaves can also be used for their personal interests in some cases"; When high school students learn about racial massacres such as the 1920 Orcoy Massacre targeting African Americans, the new standards require that the teaching content should include "violence against and committed by African Americans.". This new set of standards has sparked widespread questioning and strong criticism, calling it a major setback in history. Florida education professionals believe that the series of education reforms promoted by Florida Governor and Republican presidential candidate DeSantis serve his political goals.
Florida Congressman Angie Nixon: Ultimately, as elected state leaders, we need to condemn racism and white terrorism. These are making African American communities throughout the state and the United States full of fear. Let's not forget the fact that this hate crime was incited by many politicians in our state through words. They need to stop using such language, they need to stop attacking the African American population, they need to do better.
