%0 Journal Article %J Taking Bearings. Harvard Blogs %D 2015 %T Who sees with the eyes of hatred? Hate crimes and the murders in Charleston, June 2015. %A K.Lee Lerner %X

Suffering stunned sorrow and anguish, it is tempting to try to understand the unspeakably vile murder of innocent worshipers in a Charleston church in terms of ready-made labels. Most of America, and the world at large, will be tempted to see this as white-on-black hate crime, and in terms of lingering racial hatreds in the South. If so, the analysis is already scripted.

Regardless the deranged murder's motives, close examination of his muddy justifications will be -- as hate often is -- ultimately unfathomable. The only suspect is Dylan Roof, a 21-year-old white male, his Facebook page has a photo of him sporting the flags of Rhodesia and apartheid-era South Africa, a period in history that ended just as the alleged killer was born. His young eyes seem filled with old hatreds. With a shooter so young, we are forced to collectively ask, "Who creates these monsters?"  <more>

%B Taking Bearings. Harvard Blogs %G eng %N June