A racist hate crime: Call it what it is

Not everything is about race in this country. But when it is about race, then it just is. So when a guy who has been depicted wearing apartheid-era flags of "Rhodesia" (now Zimbabwe) and South Africa on his jacket walks into one of the most historic black churches in America and guns down nine African-American worshipers at a Bible study meeting, common sense might lead one to believe his motivations are based in racial animosity. When the sole adult survivor of the ordeal reports that the killer shouted before opening fire, "I have to do it. You rape our women and you're taking over our country. And you have to go" – well that sounds to me a lot like racial hatred. Of course, "raping our women" would appear to be somewhat of a pretext, as the criminal then proceeded to viciously murder six innocent women.

Let's just call this what it is, so we can get on the same page and address a major sickness that is hurting our country. What if this were a medical disease and all the so-called doctors knew the symptoms but failed to make the right diagnosis for fear of offending the patient? That would be absolute madness. But here we some people who are saying that they can lead this country, that they can heal the wounds that divide us, and yet who dare not call this tragedy a racially motivated hate crime for fear of offending a particular segment of the electorate.

I understand the sensitivities. For some people, calling the events in Charleston a "hate crime" creates a stigma from which many have fought hard to rid themselves. But refusing to call it what it is, is a far, far more dangerous proposition. It kind of reminds me of the early response to Ebola. Even though American health officials were on alert that there was a widespread epidemic in West Africa. When a patient who had recently visited one of the most affected regions in Africa showed up at a hospital with all of the symptoms, the doctors were unable to accurately diagnose his condition. This not only led to the eventual death of the patient due to inadequate care, but exposed dozens of others to the virus. Racism is more deadly than Ebola, and potentially just as virulent.

So now that we know what's at stake here, why don't we cut through all of the interpretive dance around the subject and just diagnose this thing? Was it a depraved act of violence? Of course. Was it an act of unspeakable evil? You'll get no arguments from me about that. Was it an attack on innocent Christians? Manifestly so. Is this a sick, sick individual? In my professional opinion, yes, he is. What is his sickness? His sickness appears to be a sickness that was once an epidemic in America and which, through struggle, sacrifice, soul-searching and meaningful social and legal evolution, has been largely eradicated. And here I'm referring to the spiritual sickness of racism. It is a spiritual sickness because it distorts the mind and heart of the person holding racist views – it gives him a false sense of superiority or inferiority, affects his ability to judge his fellow man objectively and causes all kinds of irrational and baseless fear and loathing. And I'm not just talking about sickness among some white Americans. Racism is a sickness that has infected Americans of all colors. It creates an inferiority complex in some people that is used as an excuse for failure to take responsibility for their own destiny. It leads to all kinds of problems in relating to people on the basic human level.

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Let's not delude ourselves here. The stakes are too high. If we do not do something as a people to directly address these divisions, to teach the youth a better way forward, we risk losing all of the ground we have made as a country over the past 50 years. And certainly the youth will take cues from their leaders. They are not stupid. If through our example we teach our youth it is OK to deny racism exists even when it's plainly staring them in the face, then we will have birthed a new generation of sick people. And what would be the absurd and ghastly outcomes of such a mass hallucination? We don't need to look too far into our nation's past so see what that looks like.

Let us instead draw inspiration from the heroic and selfless actions of Debbie Dills, the woman who risked her life to tail the shooting suspect's car for over 30 miles and helped law enforcement capture the perpetrator without further incident. Here is an example of an American who saw what needed to be done and stepped up despite the risks. She would have been totally within her rights just to call it in to the police and step away safely. But she felt a higher obligation to her fellow citizens. She, too, felt the pain and heartbreak of the people of Charleston and wanted to do her part. She was a willing instrument God's justice. This is the type of courage that typifies Americans.

When an event of this magnitude occurs in the middle of an election cycle, politicians (including some who are no longer running for office) are often quick to try and score political points. That's politics at its lowest common denominator at a time when we need true leadership more than anything else. Let's abandon political expediency and hopefully gain some perspective out of this tragedy. This is an opportunity for us as a people to show what we are really made of. We are a people who have risen to the test time and time again. We are a people whose courageousness has consistently triumphed over fear. We are a people who come together in times of crisis, who grow stronger in the face of challenge. Now is one of those times. We can get through this thing and come out stronger on the other end. I know we can. But we have to face the facts first.

See Dr. Carson's interview on Fox News about the Charleston massacre: