Peter V. Andrews: A call for action to eliminate racist terrorism

I admire the religious convictions of family members who say they have forgiven the man who shot and killed nine members of Emanuel African Methodist Church in Charleston, S.C., but I do not think that should be our response. Our response should be anger and a call to resolute action.

First, we must eliminate all public vestiges of our racist past including the Confederate flag and specialty license plates depicting it. North Carolina and South Carolina both offer such plates as do Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Tennessee and Virginia – mostly the “Deep South.”

Second, law enforcement must monitor white supremacist groups and other organizations whose purpose is to send out racially charged messages as “terrorist groups,” because that is what they are.

Third, we must have stricter measures of gun control. In his June 20 column “Remember Mother Emanuel,” Eugene Robinson wrote, “Maybe it was white rage that provoked a young man to kill nine innocent worshippers as they prayed. Maybe it was mental illness or some other twisted motivation. The one thing about which there can be no debate is that he had a gun.” Easy access to a gun. That is the common denominator in all these shootings.

This story was originally published June 27, 2015 at 2:00 PM with the headline "Peter V. Andrews: A call for action to eliminate racist terrorism."