It's No Excuse

Last Tuesday, Omar Thornton walked into an employee disciplinary hearing for him, and began shooting. In the end, he killed eight and then himself.

After the rampage, and before he killed himself, he left a 9-1-1 call describing how he and other black workers for the beer distributor company had been racially harassed. This apparently was his "excuse".

After reflecting on this tragedy, it occurs to me that as actual acts of racism in this country becomes less and less problematic, versus say, a century ago, it is being used more and more as an excuse for other acts of social sickness. Actually in two ways: First, for those who are truly racist in their minds, a person's race becomes the predominant or sometimes only reason not to like someone. Or worse, to actually abuse or hurt someone. But that is the textbook definition of it after all and in that aspect, is nothing new or different about the human condition that has existed forever.

But the second way it is used is in more as a convenience. Convenient because it is now more and more fabricated. Even when it is present in a human relationship of some kind, it is often exploited. Even the president of the United States has done it, in his famous, uninformed and malicious comments about the Cambridge, MA police and their dealings with his Harvard professor pal. It was convenient to quickly accuse the officers of racism, when in fact, none occurred. A "teachable moment" it definitely was.

In the story of Omar Thornton, I believe that racism was a convenient excuse. At the very least a gross exploitation.

Thornton had a very good job. He made excellent union wages to drive a beer truck. I have personal knowledge of what these people make, and it's one of those typically outrageous salaries where unions have succeeded to a point beyond what is in their own long-term, best interests.

But, even with that, Thornton decided to break workplace rules and the law, and steal, then resell some of the beer he hauled. Stupid. He was guilty, knew he'd been caught, and showed up at his hearing to hear of his fate. Yet he wasn't going down at all. He was going to take the others down, and indeed he did.

I've only felt the sting of racism a few times in my life. They occurred as a kid, when I attended a mostly black and Hispanic inner-city school. As a white kid, I was in the small minority and so it was inevitable I guess. But even so, I don't claim to understand what many blacks live through in the workplace and in other settings.

But I know this; no matter what the degree of intimidation was, it is not enough to justify killing eight co-workers. Nor is it enough to kill yourself over...and leave a grieving family of your own. And why did Thornton express his issue only after getting caught stealing? These days, a company lives in abject fear of lawsuits driven by inappropriate behavior by it's management. One who has a legitimate claim about being a victim of discrimination, as Thornton so claimed, has only to hire a decent lawyer, and stands a very good chance of being compensated for his maltreatment.

Don't buy into Thorton's sad excuse. Ignore the inevitable speeches from the Sharpton's and Jackson's. This guy was sick. Really sick. His personal issues went way deeper than being verbally harassed.

No more racism excuses for thugs, crooks, malcontents, and the mentally ill. It's false accusation only helps breed the real thing.