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Our country is in mourning after a church shooting left two dead in White Settlement, Texas, this past holiday season. This came after two other horrendous domestic terror attacks in the state, with 22 killed in El Paso, and eight killed in Midland/Odessa.
Growing up in a post-9/11 America, the idea that terrorism could be performed at a domestic level was so appalling it was farfetched. Dystopian at best. For my generation, terrorist meant outsider. It meant people who did not look like us, or live like us, wanting to hurt the American people and our country. That’s why we went to war in the Middle East. That’s why we work so hard to keep non-Americans out.
But contrary to the teachings of a post-9/11 school system, terrorism is largely a domestic security issue.
9/11 will forever be regarded as a tragedy, in which almost 3,000 lives were lost. But there have been over 2,631 casualties and almost 10,000 injuries in the United States from mass shootings since the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012. To many Americans, the face of terrorism is solely the face of a non-American. Ironic, considering that the FBI is investigating 850 open domestic terrorism investigations; 40% of those cases being racially motivated.
From the Muslim Ban, the end of new Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, along with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) crackdowns, our government is working to barricade external threats from entering the country.
We are taught to vehemently fear Jihadists and border crossing caravans. We are taught to be wary of American citizens or inhabitants whose lineage may persuade their loyalties to lie elsewhere. These teachings are fear-mongering. They are over-exaggerated, xenophobic and tragically distracting. Our country’s largest national security threat is not lurking on the border. Our largest national security threat is here now.
Experts are now confirming that “the terrorist threat in the United States is almost entirely homegrown.” Domestic terrorism, coupled with our country’s relaxed gun regulations and growth in violent extremist ideology, is putting our citizens and residents at risk.
Over all, on the list of American’s top policy priorities, foreign terrorism is fourth, while reducing domestic crime is 11th. As a public, it is time to re-calibrate our priorities and ground ourselves in reality. Terrorism has changed substantially since 2001, but our understanding of terrorism has not.
Our country spends approximately $175 billion every fiscal year on counter terrorism. Though gun violence is a leading cause of death in America, our budget for research on gun violence and policy is about $63 for every life lost. This is astronomically low, even in comparison to our budget for other leading causes of death. (For example, HIV research gets ~$182,668 for every life lost.)
I know the idea of another major foreign terrorist attack is terrifying. The proposition to focus less on counterterrorism may even seem anti-American to some. Such audacity to suggest we walk around, afraid of an attack from a foreign enemy, like the country did for most of the 2000s.
To be clear, we should always fund counterterrorism efforts in some capacity. But there are plenty of Americans walking around who are afraid of other Americans, right now.
Hate crimes are on the rise by 35%. And while the possibility of dying at the hands of a foreign born terrorist is one in 45,785, the likelihood that you will die in a mass shooting is one in 11,125. Even worse, you have a one in 315 chance of dying from gun assault.
It is time to adjust our fear, and our actions accordingly to our nation’s largest threat: ourselves.
