Letter | Dylann Roof, alleged Charleston shooter, was taught to hate

Dylann Roof was taught to hate

Tolerating racism at the levels of racist jokes; job discrimination; low expectations and lower educational opportunity for minority students; widening economic disparity; disproportionate incarceration rates; voter suppression and voting district gerrymandering; flying the Confederate flag in front of the State Capitol much more visibly than when it flew, insidiously, above the State House dome; fully expecting exoneration for repeatedly shooting a fleeing black man in the back; doing all in one's power to withhold healthcare from the disadvantaged; dedicating a massive American television network to serve as the greatest misinformation propaganda machine in U.S. history; turning one's back on an immediate family member that has adopted a black child and referring to that family member's child by the n-word; and so much more ... all of which flourishes in plain sight every day.

All of it tells Dylann Roof - a racist, immature drug addict whose enabling father gave him a gun - that black people really do need to go, that it has to be done.

Legions of powerful and less powerful people say so, on one level or another, every day.

This story was originally published June 25, 2015 at 2:32 PM with the headline "Letter | Dylann Roof, alleged Charleston shooter, was taught to hate."