Mindy Ferencz. Douglas Miguel Rodriguez. Moshe Deutsch. These are the names of some of the victims of the anti-Semitic terrorist attack that occurred at a Jewish grocery store in New Jersey. And yet, most of the country has no clue. But here’s what everyone knows: the perpetrators were a black man and a black woman who were affiliated with the Black Hebrew Israelites at some point in time. 

And that’s the only fact people seem to care about. 

When a gunman carried out a white supremacist terrorist attack against Hispanics at a Walmart in El Paso, TX, the same thing happened. Media reports largely ignored the victims, and instead fixated on the race of the terrorist. 

It happens almost every time there is a mass shooting. 

If a white shooter commits a racially-motivated terrorist attack, the leftist corporate media immediately attempts to paint all white conservatives as bigots while trying to figure out how to blame President Donald Trump. The right responds by trying to distract from the racial element of the story by bringing up black-on-black crime and gang violence in the inner cities. Then, they complain that if the shooter were a minority, progressives would ignore it. 

But if the shooter happens to be a Muslim, right-wing media springs into action, pointing out the problems with Islam, Sharia law, and the dangers they pose to the west. Conservative pundits excoriate the left-wing media for not giving the incident sufficient coverage. There is nary a mention of black-on-black crime or fatherless black children when these incidents take place. 

On the other hand, the progressive media establishment attempts to distract from the Islamic extremist element of the story by bringing up white supremacist terrorism and how mean President Trump is. They spend the rest of the time throwing accusations of Islamophobia at anyone who expresses concerns about radical Islamic extremism. 

Wash, rinse, repeat.

And the media on both sides pays very little attention to the victims. Neither right-leaning or left-leaning news outlets focus on solutions to the issues that spawn these murderous acts. Then, the story fades into the ether, periodically re-emerging when one side needs to score some quick political points against the scoundrels on the opposite side of the political divide. We’ve probably all been guilty of this at one point or another. 

But here’s what doesn’t happen. 

The focus isn’t placed primarily on the murderer. After the terrorist attack in Pensacola, Twitter suspended the accounts of various right-wing pundits who attempted to publish the terrorists’ manifesto. The left is refusing to examine the beliefs of the perpetrators further while the right is preoccupied with pointing out the race of the murderers and how the progressives are not doing their part to get to the bottom of the issue. 

Secondly, the media establishment on both sides does not talk seriously about finding solutions. Sure, there might be a mention of what should be done. But nobody holds the government accountable when acts such as these might have been prevented. No leaders on either side call on the American public to pressure the state to implement viable solutions to decrease the occurrences of these attacks. 

And so it goes. We move on, destined to do this all again once someone else decides to commit a murderous rampage in one of our cities. Both sides are guilty of this behavior, and I’m not convinced that one side does it more than the other; I’ve watched these situations very carefully as a political commentator. 

The reality is that there is absolutely nothing wrong with expressing concerns with radical Islamic extremism when someone pulls off a terrorist attack like the one in Pensacola. These are discussions that we should have, and the left is acting stupidly when they attempt to downplay it. 

Likewise, it shouldn’t be a problem for people to take a closer look at white supremacist terrorism when an individual like the El Paso shooter targets Hispanics. These are also conversations that need to be had, and the right is also acting stupidly when they try to distract from the issue to protect their narrative. 

In this instance, it is necessary to examine the ideology of a group like the Black Hebrew Israelites. Unfortunately, some on the left are already trying to politicize it, and they were doing it even before we knew the identity of the attackers. In a recently-deleted tweet, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MN) wrote: “This is heartbreaking. White supremacy kills.” Conversely, conservatives are still too focused on the race of the attackers to truly examine the problem. 

Are the Black Hebrew Israelites a threat? If both sides continue playing political games, we’ll never know. Perhaps it is better to get to the actual root of the issue and leave the one-upmanship behind.

Let me know what you think in the comments below!

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