The Shakerite VOL 91 ISSUE I

W
hat is the first thing that comes
to mind when you hear the word
“terrorism”?
Terrorism is like a buzzword
to me. Being born in 2003 means I
feel the effects of a post-9/11 world
without experiencing the fear those who were alive
then did, and perhaps the fear they carry with them
now.
To me, terrorism never seemed like a legitimate
threat. Terror attacks seemed akin to shark attacks:
horrific stories that rarely happened and scared you,
but didn’t affect you. Four years
The attack on
the Capitol
represents the
threat white
supremacy
poses to us.
Even when its
violence doesn’t
directly affect
you, its message
does.
ago, I realized terrorism was not
what I thought it was.
In August 2017, the “Unite
the Right” rally became a defining
moment in American history.
While activists cheered the removal
of Confederate statues, white
supremacists chanted hate toward
Black people, Jewish people and
anyone who didn’t fit the “Aryan
ideal.” I watched as a Black teenager
was savagely beaten and a
woman was mourned after a white
supremacist murdered her with his
car.
That was terrorism.
The threat of terrorism may
scare people, but the word itself
can prove dangerous to people as
well. After 9/11, the persecution of
Muslims greatly increased in the
United States. According to the
FBI, hate crimes against Muslims
from 2000 to 2001 increased by
1,600 percent. The Patriot Act of 2001, passed in reaction
to 9/11, was abused by the FBI to target Muslims
when preventing terrorism.
In 2005, after the ACLU wrote a letter to Congress
outlining these abuses, Congress agreed that the Patriot
Act had been exploited by the FBI to discriminate
against Arab and Muslim communities in the United
States. However, these abuses were not curtailed,and
the FBI continued to wield its power against minority
communities. Mosques were surveyed by the FBI,
and anti-terrorist agents were taught to look out for
factors that may indicate the radicalization of Muslims.
These factors included more involvement with
Muslim activities, increased mosque attendance and
growing facial hair.
Being a Muslim does not mean you are a terrorist,
no matter how devout you are or how thick your
beard is. Law enforcement practices like these show
how the word terrorism can be abused.
On Jan. 6, terrorists attacked our nation’s Capitol.
Police on standby shockingly met threats to hang our
vice president and speaker of the
house with inaction. Law enforcement
officers treated the attackers
like people attending a rally, not
the terrorists they were.
The attack on the Capitol represents
the threat white supremacy
poses to us. Even when its violence
doesn’t directly affect you,
its message does. While the overwhelming
majority of Americans
condemned the Capitol attack, a
Huffington Post poll found that “a
third of Trump supporters empathize
with the mob.”
The events of Jan. 6 were examples
of both fascism and white
supremacy. The violent rioters
tried to turn over the election results
by threatening the lives of the
former vice president and members
of Congress. The attackers
carried Confederate flags into the
Capitol, and one man wore a shirt
reading “Camp Auschwitz.” These
disgusting and racist symbols show the true motivations
behind the attackers. And still, the Huffington
Post poll revealed that 18 million Trump supporters
approved of the attack and 24 million Trump supporters
believed that the attackers represented people like
them.
Not all white supremacy is terrorism, as it is prevalent
in many forms and institutions. In some cases,
these institutions are more dangerous and powerful
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VOL. 91 ISSUE I