Seasons of Grace
Dylann Storm Roof, the white man who allegedly opened fire on worshippers in a historically African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina on Wednesday, had published his “manifesto” before committing the crime.
Roof’s racist, hate-filled screed was uncovered Saturday morning by Emma Quangel and Henry Krinkle, two Twitter users who discovered the hate-filled webpage called “The Last Rhodesian.” According to Yahoo News, the online activists used the Reverse Whois search on domaintools.com to find the site registered under Roof’s name.
Writing on Facebook shortly after the shooting, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley said, “We’ll never understand what motivates anyone to enter one of our places of worship and take the life of another.”
But perhaps now we know. The website The Last Rhodesian (Warning: Disturbing images) contains many photos of the stone-faced Roof posing with the Confederate flag. According to Yahoo News:
In one image, the suspected gunman is posed on the beach wearing the same clothes he is seen wearing on surveillance footage as he entered the church on Wednesday. It is unclear if this image was taken the same day as the shooting, but if so, it would show that Roof took time to visit the beach, inscribe the racist symbol 1488 in the sand and photograph himself before allegedly traveling to Charleston.
The number “1488” is a common symbol used by white supremacists. The number “88” refers to the letter “H”, the eighth letter of the alphabet, and to the supremacist movement’s hero Adolph Hitler. The number “14” echoes the Nazi Party mantra: “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.”
Also on the site was the four-page manifesto explaining Roof’s hatred for blacks and others. He writes, perhaps describing himself more than the African-Americans he despises,
“N*****s are stupid and violent. At the same time they have the capacity to be very slick. Black people view everything through a racial lense [sic]. That’s what racial awareness is, it’s viewing everything that happens through a racial lense. They are always thinking about the fact that they are black.”
His hate-filled rant continues until he comes to this:
“Anyone who thinks that White and black people look as different as we do on the outside, but are somehow magically the same on the inside, is delusional. How could our faces, skin, hair, and body structure all be different, but our brains be exactly the same? This is the nonsense we are led to believe.
Negroes have lower IQs, lower impulse control, and higher testosterone levels in general. These three things are a recipe for violent behavior…”
Roof directs his hatred also toward Jews, Hispanics and East Asians. He goes on to offer an “explanation”:
“I believe I have no choice. I am not in he position to, alone, go into the ghetto and fight. I chose Charleston because it is most historic city in my state, and at one time had the highest ratio of blacks to Whites in the country. We have no skinheads, no real KKK, no one doing anything but talking on the internet. Well someone has to have the bravery to take it to the real world, and I guess that has to be me.”
There’s more, but I have to warn you that the images and the convoluted thinking are deeply disturbing.
Together let us pray:
- For the deceased, that God will reward them for their faith and welcome them to His Kingdom;
- For the family, friends and fellow Christians at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, that they will find comfort in knowing that their loved ones rest in the arms of the Lord
- For Dylann Storm Roof, that he will repent and will come to recognize that all men, regardless of nationality or race, are made in the image of God.
Image: National Photo Company Collection (Library of Congress) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
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