Mae Arant: Flying hatred

The day after the mass shooting, you take a shower, go to work, make dinner, brush your teeth, go to bed. But there are these little moments in between when you think about the horror. The horror of words of hate, put into action. The words that are heard in too many churches, mosques and family tables: fag, degenerate, sick, abomination.

So when the bullets tore through the bodies of 92 people, they reverberated and screamed the life out of 49. One person did this. But thousands of our leaders in our communities and in political power told him to. With their words of hate, they urged each bullet to end a life of a son, a daughter, a brother, a sister, a friend.

Dylann Roof heard the voices to end the lives of African-Americans. Robert Dear heard the voices to end the lives of people who worked at Planned Parenthood.

There have been 998 mass shootings since Sandy Hook. In four years. 998 mass shootings. So as we go along our days as we must, take a moment and think what group are you identified by. Because words are bullets now.

This story was originally published June 14, 2016 at 5:26 PM with the headline "Mae Arant: Flying hatred."