Professor Ben Davis – Whose National Security?

The news recently reported "Race War Plot Leads to Five Arrests on Federal and State Charges." This kind of domestic terrorism has an old pedigree in this country that forms part of the national security concerns of America. Yet, these types of cases are not highlighted in the national security space unless someone like me brings it up. This point is part of the general question of "whose national security" are we concerned. I raised this point at the meeting of the ABA Standing Committee on Law and National Security November 7, 2015. 

 

It is not simply enough to publish press releases on Muslims being convicted to cover national security. I am far more worried about the risk of some crazy young white man – as we have seen so many times over these years – killing me in some racist rage or as part of some crazy idea to start a race war. (Update: my concern is well founded –  http://www.rawstory.com/2015/11/emails-reveal-racists-plotted-confrontation-with-black-lives-matters-activists-days-before-shooting/). That meme was what Charles Manson was trying to do and has a very old pedigree back through the KKK.

 

I await the confronting of Senators Cornyn and Tillis and other elected officials and law enforcement people with ties to the KKK. Those of you who will quickly turn away from this essay form part of the narrow view of national security that contains in it a complete indifference to these kinds of virulent domestic terrorism that are a clear and present danger to many Americans.  Just keep in mind those people in Charleston praying in church and gunned down by that young white man for his ideological reasons that have nothing to do with Islam and everything to do with the long painful history of racial oppression in this country.

 

Take a moment to think about it before reflexively dismissing these concerns. To do that is to countenance collateral damage with a coldness that borders on sadism.

 

In another recent case, Donal Trump supporters threw a Black Lives Matter protester to the ground and kicked him during a rally.  Why do I have to read about these things first in the foreign press? This man showed courage in going to that meeting and raising that issue of black lives matter. The attack on him instigated by Donald Trump is an example of the kind of domestic terrorist violence that the national security establishment is hesitant to address. This reality confirms the need for my question "whose national security?" that I raise to raise your consciences.

 

I have been that lone black man under attack – in 2012 at a "True the Vote" meeting in Worthington, Ohio where I duly paid my entrance fee and – in the Q and A – was threatened with the police and removal for asking my questions that were relevant and to the point. I was called a coon and a faggot within earshot of my son.

 

The sense of entitlement to commit violence of these people on this black man reflects the undervaluing of black agency that is endemic in this country.

 

So before you reflexively turn away from this essay, do not say that you did not know about this problem. Those who turn away merely choose to disregard this kind of collateral damage which is a consequence of their narrow vision of national security.

 

We need a national security that assures a safe space for all Americans.