Time to Focus on Fighting Cynicism
by Angela E. Oh

For the past five months, the nation has witnessed remarkable acts of violence that have delivered a powerful message of desperation and indifference. If you stop to think about it, we have had a significant tragedy every month since. In April, gunfire erupted at Columbine High School in Colorado. In May, copycat shootings took place in Georgia; then in June, it was Benjamin Smith’s rampage in Illinois and Indiana. In July, Mark Barton killed 12 people, his wife, and his two children in Atlanta; and now, in August, Buford Furrow has surrendered himself after confessing to shooting a U.S. postal worker and assaulting five children at a child care center in Granada Hills, Calif.

My initial reaction to the August incident was outrage and confusion. Then I realized that what I was feeling must be very close to what Furrow must have felt when he carried out his attacks.

I asked myself, “Could I, in a state of deep outrage and confusion, do the same thing in pursuit of what I believe to be righteous and just?” A frightening realization followed: we are all capable of such violence when rage and confusion come together. Context is vital.

It is time to focus on context. This is a moment in which we are called upon to examine more closely what the Furrow incident, along with all the others, really represents. The fury of Buford Furrow was not an isolated incident that is the product of one crazy man’s delusions about Jews and Filipinos. Anyone he perceived to be part of his torment could have been shot and killed. His way of expressing rage is the product of our indifference in the face of circumstances that have gone beyond what is reasonable, humane and compassionate in this society. None of the myriad “experts” can really explain what has gone haywire. The truth that is hard to accept is that our common humanity has been buried by indifference.

Psychologists, police, sociologists, religious leaders, politicians, parents and arm-chair news junkies will all offer an opinion. No doubt, each will have a program or policy for us to adopt or consider, some more serious than others. Few will talk about what an individual can do to meet their responsibility to deter carnage in the future. In essence, all will agree that each of us bears some responsibility for what has been occurring as well as what may occur in the days ahead. But there will be no discussion about what this responsibility means because it is such a difficult subject.

A deep sense of desperation and indifference was present in each and every one of the incidents that has been reported in the last five months. Where there were witnesses to the shootings, it was chilling to learn that the killers were described as “calm,” “seemingly not angry” and in some instances even “cheerful” as they encountered their would-be victims and engaged bystanders in brief conversation. Imagine a rage so deep that it cannot be seen until it is too late. The violent acts themselves revealed the desperation. The assailants’ descriptions captured the attitude of complete indifference toward the taking of a human life. The randomness in the selection of victims showed confusion, as did the reactions to the assault, after the fact.

Predictably, concerns about racial and religious intolerance are being voiced. This time Jews and Filipinos are leading the outcry against the violence associated with such attacks.

Next time, it may be Muslims and South Asians. Following that, another group who feels the threat of violence. No doubt, there will be “experts” to tell us about the psychological profile of killers like Furrow. There will be information that cannot possibly help us to avoid another incident. There will be a parade of politicians vowing to do all they can to stem the tide of gratuitous violence. A call for tighter gun control will go out again. (Of course, short of banning guns altogether, people like Buford Furrow, Mark Orrin Barton and Benjamin Smith will continue to have access to the firearms needed to deliver their bloody messages.)

There will be demands to improve security at schools and child care centers by building higher walls, or perhaps installing metal detectors and hiring armed security guards. Soon, we won’t be able to tell the difference between juvenile detention centers or jails and schools that should inspire students to learn.

Police departments will likely seek an infusion of funds to hire more hate crime investigators and court liaisons. But given a choice, isn’t it obvious that most people would prefer not to be in police stations and courthouses to report and help prosecute such crimes to begin with?

Finally, we will probably hear more discussion about increasing penalties for committing hate crimes but that conversation will not deter another Furrow incident -- shooters rarely, if ever, think about the sentencing consequences of their actions. The only thing that can stop the violence is to make the long-term commitment required to stop it.

The challenge we now face runs much deeper than simple hatred against Filipinos, Jews, or any other group. Blaming our problems on poor school security, bad economic conditions, the breakup of families, media images, access to guns or bigotry misses the mark. The fact that these issues may play some role in the current chaos was uncovered