SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – President Joe Biden has called on the U.S. to "reject white supremacy" after a white gunman killed 10 Black people in a racist massacre at a Buffalo, New York grocery store last weekend.
For more, stream KCBS Radio now.
Biden spoke in the city on Tuesday, mourning the lives lost in Saturday's shooting.
"The American experiment in democracy is in danger like it hasn't been in my lifetime,” Biden said. "It's in danger this hour. Hate and fear are being given too much oxygen by those who pretend to love America, but who don't understand America."
Payton Gendron, the alleged shooter, was arrested on Saturday and pleaded not guilty in an arraignment hearing hours later. Gendron, 18, allegedly livestreamed the shooting on Twitch before platform officials said it was removed within minutes.
Authorities said Gendron released a 180-page racist diatribe two days before the shooting, and The Washington Post reviewed nearly 700 pages of Discord messages, dating as far back back as November, showing he planned to murder dozens of African American people and broadcast the killings online.
Ronnie Dunn, Director of the Diversity Leadership and Change Management Program at Cleveland State University, told KCBS Radio during an interview on Tuesday afternoon that domestic terrorism, particularly recently emboldened white supremacist extremism, is "the greatest threat to our nation and our democracy."
Even though politicians and lawmakers made speeches denouncing the crimes, Dunn said these heinous acts continue to be committed.
"While our public officials speak out at incidents like this and call for something that will not be tolerated, we do in fact actually allow this to persist particularly when you consider this current moment where we have legislators banning the discussion of issues of race and gender and difference across our nation in our classroom," Dunn, an associate professor of urban studies, told KCBS Radio’s Melissa Culross on Thursday. "If we don't learn and know this history, it results in the types of actions perpetrated by this young 18-year-old in Buffalo."
"Our government clearly needs to do more," he added. "We need to have a more robust surveillance of this content that is being put up on the internet through the FBI, homeland security."
Gendron also made a "generalized threat" last June while attending high school in New York, but he was still able to legally buy an assault rifle, despite a state law designed to keep guns away from people who could harm themselves or others.
Dunn said the systems in place allowed this massacre to happen. Authorities always seem to find red flags after the fact, he argued, but it doesn’t lead to a grappling with the country's history of racist violence.
"We need to hold these tech companies accountable, these political pundits that perpetuate this environment of hate," Dunn continued. "In this election cycle, how many do we hear adhering to the Trumpism that we've all been exposed to since 2016? We all have to act more urgently on all these matters at all levels."
Gendron is slated to appear in court again on Thursday.
DOWNLOAD the Audacy App
SIGN UP and follow KCBS Radio
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Related
