Beyond Dallas and Orlando, a Global Arc of Violence

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Thursday, 14 July 2016 00:00 By Michelle Chen, Truthout | Op-Ed

photo above: Motorcycle officers in a motorcade escort for the coffin of Dallas police officer Lorne Ahrens, one of the five victims of the gunman-involved shooting that took place at an otherwise peaceful protest, after funeral services at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, July 13, 2016. (David Ryder / The New York Times)

an excerpt:

It’s not so much that terror has invaded the US, but that our culture of violence was exported, incubated and rebranded abroad before creeping back over our borders. Dallas held a mirror to a foreign-inflected version of the all-American alchemy of guns, dehumanizing racism, militarism and structural violence. Officials tell us, “The answer is never violence” — while legitimizing state violence under the guise of “security.”

As we reflect on these days of violence, we can mourn while understanding that, in part, the killings represent the domestic casualties of global warfare — and this is war in which our state is the aggressor. The lesson isn’t about karma, but solidarity. Black Lives Matter has always had a global orientation. The movement has confronted racism in tandem with imperialism and colonialism. Similarly, the aftermath of the Orlando shooting brought out migrant and Muslim voices carrying a countervailing message of peace.

The sense of globalized terror should not be felt as a call to arms, but an enraged cry for civil, social and racial justice. While disenfranchised communities are under siege, taking a global perspective elucidates the universal struggle for dignity: Those who survive and bear witness, on the streets at home and in conflict zones abroad, are all refugees of interlocking crises.

Please click on: Global Arc of Violence