Shipping Your Hate: Austin’s Package Bombings Were Really A Hate Crime
people still left with questions about the Austin package bombings but we all can conclude one thing that it was…
Last night, Austin package bomber Mark Anthony Conditt killed himself after a standoff with police officers. Just before Conditt took his own life, he made a video admitting that he was responsible for the bombs. However, he failed to state what his intentions were behind the attacks, leaving both police officers and the victims’ families with their questions unanswered. The first explosion occurred March 2 killing 39-year-old Anthony Stephan right outside of his home. The second and third occurring on March 12 killing 17-year-old Draylen Mason and injuring a 75-year-old Hispanic woman. Causing the citizens of Austin, Texas to be in a state of panic for nearly three weeks.
Though Conditt’s motives are unclear, one thing that stands out is where the bombings took place. Raising the question if Conditt’s actions were coming from a place of hate or a place of terror. Three of the bombings took place in the area of East Austin which has a high population of African-Americans living there. Making African-Americans that live in the area feel as though they are being targeted and that nothing will be done to resolve the issue.
However, this is not the first time that people of color in the state of Texas has experienced some form of a hate crime. In fact, there is multiple instances where people have committed hate crimes, from having racist propaganda on college campuses to leaving package bombs on a person’s front door.
On February 13, 2017 students at the University of Texas- Austin woke up to fliers telling people to imagine what life would be like *living* in a Muslim free America. What makes this even more disturbing is the image of the twin towers and the American flag in the background. Insinuating that the September 11 attacks would not have happened if people who identifies as Muslim lived in America. Though the flyer did not call a specific person, one can still feel a sense of hatred from reading the flyer.
On the evening of Valentine’s Day in 2015 John Gaspari was walking home from a night out until he was left unconscious from three people jumping him and shooting him two times. In an interview with Houston public media Gaspari, an openly gay man reflects on his horrific night.
“Once the car hit the fence, three guys jumped out of the car, yelled, ‘Get the fag,’ and came running after me.” Gaspari was simply minding his business until a group a people decided that they wanted ‘handle’ him.
On June 7, 1998 49-year-old James Byrd was kidnapped and murdered by three white men who were a part of a white supremacist group. Byrd was tied to the back of a pickup truck and was dragged down a country road before he was decapitated. It is clear what the motive was for killing Byrd. A group of individuals wanting to show their ‘dominance’ by kidnapping and murdering someone they viewed as less than. Neither Byrd or the three men involved had any prior connection to one another.
Byrd’s murder was noted as the most the most ‘vicious’ hate crime committed in United States history. The crime was so controversial that in 2009 congress passed a bill under his name making hate crimes based on race punishable.
One may be asking themselves what’s the connection between these examples and the Mark Conditt? What connects them all is the fact that these actions are coming from a place of hatred towards a minority group of people. The oppressors feel as though they have to have to show the oppressed who’s ‘boss’. Causing the victims of the hate crimes to fear being themselves because of their race, gender, or sexual orientation.
However, If the United States prides themselves as being the ‘melting pot’, why do we have people committing such acts of terror to the people we are supposed to see as equals? I guess domestic terrorism isn’t something on peoples radar.
Isaiah D. Johnson is a student a Morehouse college studying political science with a minor in journalism
