19 Must-Read Articles About the Charleston Massacre

(WOMENSENEWS)–In counterpoints to the front-page coverage of forgiveness flowing out of funerals in Charleston, S.C., in response to the June 17 shooting at the Emanuel African-Methodist Episcopal Church, we recommend "Why I Can’t Forgive Dylann Roof" by Roxane Gay and "5 Tweets Reveal the Hypocrisy of How America Expects Black People to React to Tragedy" by Darnell L. Moore.

Two pieces touch on a public mental health concern that needs more national attention: "The Real Survivors: How Focusing on the Shooter’s Mental Health Ignores Black Trauma" by Michelle Charles and "The Condition of Black Life Is One of Mourning," by Claudia Rankine.

Mia McKenzie gives a testimonial of her own negative mental state after news of the massacre in "For Black Folks Who Feel Numb: On Charleston, Racism, and Not Knowing What There Is Left To Say."

For reactions to the "protecting white women" notion expressed by the killer, we recommend a batch of pieces: "The Charleston shooter killed mostly black women. This wasn’t about ‘rape’" by Rebecca Carroll; "The Last Thing White Women Need Is a Dylann Roof" by Sarah Jaffe; "I Don’t Want to Be an Excuse for Racist" by Chloe Angyal; "On Using White Womanhood to Justify Racism and White Terrorism" by Stephanie Gilmore; and "Sexism, Racism and Terrorism: Roof’s Misuse of Women to justify Lynching" by Lisa Wade.

The African American Intellectual History Society discusses how black academics have reacted to the shooting in "#CharlestonSyllabus and the Work of African American History." Conor Friedersdorf provides another historical reflection in "Thugs and Terrorists Have Attacked Black Churches for Generations."

On reflections on how this latest national tragedy adjusts the post-Sept. 11 understanding of the forms of terrorism confronting the United States: "Terrorism in Charleston demands the government act like black lives matter" by Rev. Broderick Greer; "White Supremacy Without Borders" by Morris Dees and Richard Cohen of the Southern Poverty Law Center; and "Homegrown Extremists Tied to Deadlier Toll Than Jihadists in U.S. Since 9/11," by Scott Shane.

Two articles focus on the organization that fostered Roof’s form of terror: "Group That Fueled Dylann Roof’s Hate Is Subsidized by U.S. Taxpayers" by David Heath and Carrie Levine; and "The White-Supremacist Group That Inspired a Racist Manifesto," by David A. Graham.

Karen Attiah writes about how Roof’s atrocity disrupts the idea that younger Americans are leading the nation away from racism in "Charleston, Dylann Roof and the racism of millennials."

Finally, from our own Staff Reporter Hajer Naili, don’t miss "Roof’s Mentor Supports Anti-Choice Republicans."