The evidence is clear: America has a problem with white nationalist terrorism.
As @peterwsinger has pointed out, more Americans were killed in the last decade by white nationalist terrorism than Islamic terrorism.
Past time we took it seriously as a national security problem.
7/x
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Trump has directed national counterterrorism resources away from white nationalism and focused them entirely on jihadism. He has downplayed or ignored the former while playing up the latter. But both threaten Americans, and both deserve counterterrorism attention. 8/x
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The Austin bomber was a young white man and the two people he killed were both black, suggesting it may have been racially-motivated terrorism. Perhaps he was part of the white nationalist movement. But we do not have sufficient evidence yet to reach that conclusion. 9/x
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Just because other people misuse the word terrorist to fearmonger with the worst form of identity politics doesn't mean you should too. Even (especially) if the person misusing the word is the president of the United States. (END)
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Replying to @NGrossman81
A valid call for nuance & patience. With respect, I'd also suggest stepping back to reflect on why this label - "terrorism/t" has become imbued with such significance today, especially in the US.
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Replying to @Kianayema @NGrossman81
There is a history underlying that term, a pattern that suggests its use was always an act of power. Which is not to quibble over the definition, so much as to understand that omissions are an element of the meaning it conveys.
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Replying to @Kianayema @NGrossman81
Perhaps we need a new term - one specifically designed to describe & enable analysis, rather than emphasize some instances & dismiss others - to describe such acts of violence & their perpetrators?
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Replying to @Kianayema
Agreed that many deploy the words terrorism/ist subjectively to assert power. Could say that about a lot of language That's a part of my motivation in writing about it. Inventing a new term strikes me as more difficult than advancing an objective understanding of the term we have
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Replying to @NGrossman81
I'm about as skeptical of efforts to "return" to an analytically precise definition / use of this term as I am (or you are) of efforts to make a new, more precise term gain currency.
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Replying to @Kianayema @NGrossman81
Still: you are that rare commentator who uses the term to convey a precise meaning, while fully acknowledging the baggage / politics baked into it. That's already an example worth emulating. I'm very much with you in spirit, if not in letter!
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Thank you. And I appreciate your comments. I understand where you're coming from, though I lean the other way. But we agree both would be difficult.
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