Photo: AP
On the evening of June 17, 2015, Dylann Roof shot and killed nine innocent people at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Charleston, South Carolina. On Thursday, a jury found him guilty of all 33 counts of federal hate crimes brought against him. Although in the eyes of many his conviction is seen as a given, I, for one, wasn't convinced.
Justice is not something that African-Americans can take for granted. Even with recorded evidence, witness testimony, signed confession and hard DNA evidence; there is no such thing as an open and shut case when it comes to white crimes perpetrated on black victims. The assumption of humanity and level of compassion afforded to white people juxtaposed against the presumption of guilt and criminality attributed to black people often creates absurd justifications for injustices that play out at every level of the criminal justice system. So although I was appalled, I was not surprised to learn that, during the summer of a year when police killed about of 102 unarmed black men out of "fear for their lives," Dylann Roof, an admitted mass murderer, was peaceably apprehended after a 16-hour run and then treated to a meal at Burger King before being taken in. Still, ultimately, in the case of The United States vs. Dylann Storm Roof, justice was served…or was it?
Roof never denied culpability in his crimes. In a two-hour taped FBI interview less than 24 hours after the shooting, he said, "I am guilty. We all know I'm guilty." By his account, Dylann Roof's goal was to start a race war, and by this measure, the effectiveness of his penalty is not predicated entirely on whether he is convicted, but by whether or not he was successful in accomplishing that goal. At no point has he ever seemed phased by the probability of spending his life in jail or receiving the death penalty. His statements, beliefs and racist manifestos make it clear that he is a man who prizes his ideology above his life. Roof's goal is to spread hate, and as a result of his horrific crimes, the sick, racist rantings of the then 21-year-old white supremacist were given a national platform.
In the weeks following his heinous crime, a wave of black church burnings ensued across the South and bigots came out of the closet with renewed vigor. If his goal was to awaken white supremacists and everyday citizens who share his racist ideologies — if his actions were an indication to them that it's on, that the time is now to exploit mounting racial tensions, to capitalize on the bubbling frustrations from a two-term Obama presidency and arouse citizens who had been primed for years with daily, hate-filled propaganda — I believe his actions were successful in contributing to the deeper, more toxic racial polarization of America.
The prospect of death doesn't intimidate Dylann Roof. He sees himself as a martyr. The once unknown, overlooked social hermit is now a household name, his philosophies shared globally. Through the lens of his twisted perspective, his life has more purpose now than ever before. Roof has requested to represent himself at his sentencing. Why is that? He has made his goal clear from day one. He wants to use his trial as another opportunity to spout hateful ideologies to further ignite those who share his beliefs. Allowing him this platform is dangerous. If we've learned nothing else from this political campaign season it's that what some of us see as the rantings of a crazed, delusional supremacist, others take as a serious call-to-action.
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