if he was motivated by a desire to start a race war or a civil war, as some initial reports suggest, ormotivated simply by racial hatred, then the mass murder was clearly an act of terror.

He hated African-Americans.

Racism was built on the exploitation of one race by another for economic gain.
Justifications were made up to facilitate that exploitation including nonsense like 3/4 quarter human and the superiority of one race over another.

It is the Atlantic slave trade that facilitated capitalism. Where we agree is that racism is terror but it wasn't built on terror - it was built to facilitate free labor to enrich white people.

I don't disagree with you, but slavery has been popular as long as people have relied on agriculture to feed themselves, agriculture is hard work, and that has always been based at root on terrorizing the slaves into obedience with regular rounds of frightful violence. All the way back. One of the original jobs of the Greek armies we think so much of now was keeping the agricultural slaves ("helots&quot in their place. The masters were always the guys with weapons, the proles always the guys without. Human history is largely the history of the arguments among the masters, who tend to be a sorry lot. A lot of times the masters were nomads, foreigners who came in and took over. Slave armies were tried at various times, but they tended to be unreliable, to decide to cut out the middle man and take over themselves.

Race came into the question when the Yurpean masters had a big new continent to exploit and found another big new continent full of vulnerable black people, easily distinguished, so convenient, who were often sold out by other locals. It was very much a business, we sort of industrialized it, for profit, lots of profit, but always based on frightful violence too, the stuff we are squeamish about now. The slaves always resisted, and the "Masters" always lived in fear of them, and they still do. You can still see that fear in that asshole in Charleston, irrational though it is now.

but notice that I said atlantic slavery

Was used to maintain the slave states security. The greatest fear white slave holders had was that a slave uprising would occur. That economics is in the mix does not mitigate the fact that the slave holders were terrorists. They even hired exceptionally vicious field bosses to maintain order. That great edifice Wall Street started and grew due directly to the "Atlantic slave trade". Every state county, parish, city or town that flies the confederate flag is declaring its support for racial murder and terrorism.

was and is to protect the economic system.

I would start at gun shows where racist literature and plots abound.

See: Timothy McVeigh

this morning. Why does it matter so much what it is called?

(and I know you were asking malaise)

I feel it matters because it's a matter of how the story is framed -- and lessons to be learned from the horror.

We know that when black men commit a crime, it reflects on all black men and that they're all "thugs."

When a person of Middle Eastern origin or a Muslim commits a crime, they're all terrorists.

When a white person kills or commits a horrible crime, it's a lone, disturbed person -- not a reflection on all white people (edit to add: or even a certain group of white people).

Deflecting from the fact that this was a racial attack (Fox News, et al) or not referring to it as a terrorist attack, denies the experience of the victims (and the group being victimized), imho.

We know if it were a Muslim man who went into a predominantly white Christian church and killed 9 people, it would be called a terrorist attack for sure. This level of hate toward groups of people is terrorism, imho.

and groups face the same scrutiny as other so called 'terrorists.

The official data shows 28 persons killed by 'terrorists' and 48 by white supremacist groups/individuals.
Institutional racism facilitates the targeting of all but the white racists.
Truthfully I hate the amorphous word 'terrorism'. All hate crimes must be treated equally - no more privilege for white racists or white anti-government goons.

Lock up Bundy and let them know the Feds are serious.

I love your username - it still makes me laugh

The media continues to shape much of the population's perception. The media is quick to label things in accordance with the official dictates of a power mad right wing few at the top.

White people are rarely terrorists and the entire race is NEVER tarnished by the action of a few. Muslim people are always labeled terrorists and the entire religion is judged by the actions of a few. In this society, with this horribly biased media, the actions of one black man tarnishes the entire black population.

It doesn't have to be one or the other. It is all covered under the umbrella of "domestic terrorism".

and even though our current president didn't say it was, our next president did!

and Limbaugh bear much of the responsibility for this. Hear me, you low life assholes?

Their reaction to the 'free speech' of those who disagree with them tells us all we need to know.