Last week, a young man's fancy turns to guns and death.
There is no excuse for the rain of bullets and terror unleashed in Aurora,
Colorado, early Friday morning by a man the media has already named "The
Batman Psycho" — aka James Holmes. The families of those who
died and the survivors of the attack will take years to recover. Gun control
advocates and gun rights stalwarts have another brutal Colorado attack to argue
over for years to come.
However, there are several conversations that will likely
not occur. It is unlikely that the aftermath of the Colorado shooting rampage
will be a moment when we as a country reflect upon the relationship between
masculinity and violence. There most certainly will not be a "beer summit"
about how accused shooter James
Holmes is one more entry in a long list of mass killers who are white,
male, and young.
When viewed through the
white racial frame, there is nothing in his deeds on last Friday night that
reflects upon the behavior of white people, generally, or white men in
particular. From this perspective, his dressing up as The Joker, and killing
more than a dozen people, and wounding many more, are the actions of one sick
person.
As folks have worked through many times before in the common
"what if?" game of race in America, if
James Holmes were black or brown this would be one more signal to the
existence of a "pathological culture" among said group. If
James Holmes were Muslim American the Colorado shooting
would be a clear act of "terrorism," and an example of the
Islamic bogeyman next door who has occupied the dreams and nightmares of the
"heartland" since September 11th. In one devastating burst of
fire, he has ruined movie going for an entire generation. He has
associated one of the most popular superheroes with the darkest side of human
nature.
In America, folks often ask, "what the hell is wrong
with black people?" In the aftermath of the Colorado Movie Massacre,
Columbine, and many other incidents, we need to ask, "what the hell is
wrong with young white men?
Sadly, that question will not be asked on a national stage.
White privilege is blinding. In the case of James Holmes, it also mutes a much
needed national conversation about the ties between (white) masculinity and
violence.
