Dylann Roof

            Dylann Roof is a name getting a lot of attention in the news recently.  If you are not familiar with that name yet, he is the man charged with murdering nine people at Charleston, South Carolina's Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church.  News headlines and other organizations (such as the NAACP) are labeling his actions as a hate crime and even domestic terrorism. 

            A friend of Roof's, Joey Meek, stated that Roof, “wanted something to spark up the race war again.”  He reported that Roof believed segregation should be reinstated and that "blacks in general as a race was bringing down the white race" (Keneally, 2015).  A website was recently found where Roof allegedly posted a sort of manifesto.  He supposedly used this website to outline some of his beliefs and on it stated, "...someone has to have the bravery to take it to the real world, and I guess that has to be me" (Walsh, Goodwin, & Sickles, 2015). 

            Although I believe that Dylann was a mentally disturbed individual, let me be clear that that term is only used to state that any person who would commit such a crime is mentally disturbed.  It is not intended to be used as an excuse for his actions.  He planned to commit this crime and he executed it against innocent people who did nothing other than to be born with a skin color he did not like.  The values and beliefs that Roof has developed throughout his life do not hold up to scrutiny.  Rosenstand (2013) identifies that, "Ethicists point out that having a system of values isn’t enough for a person to be morally mature - one must also engage in thinking about those values and critically examine them from time to time."  It is obvious that Roof failed at this task.  As stated in Mill's Harm Principle, the only acceptable time to infringe on another's liberty is for "self-protection" or to "prevent harm to others" (Rosenstand, 2013, p. 255).  Even though Mill was speaking about government and tyranny, the theory holds true at the smaller level.

            Our country was founded on the principle as outlined in (The Declaration of Independence: A Transcription, n.d.) that, "... all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."  No man has the right to infringe upon the rights of another.  We may not always agree with another's view, values, or beliefs, but there is a level of respect required and an understanding that it is their right to have those beliefs.  Although the families of those who were murdered have forgiven his actions, may the justice system exercise the full weight of its authority against him to right this wrong.

References:

Keneally, M. (2015, June 18). Friend of Accused SC Shooter Claims He 'Wanted to Start a Race War'. Retrieved June 24, 2015, from Yahoo: https://gma.yahoo.com/friend-accused-sc-shooter-claims-wanted-start-race-020159770--abc-news-topstories.html#

Rosenstand, N. (2013). The Moral of the Story: An Introduction to Ethics (7th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.

The Declaration of Independence: A Transcription. (n.d.). Retrieved June 25, 2015, from National Archives and Records Administration: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html

Walsh, M., Goodwin, L., & Sickles, J. (2015, June 20). Charleston suspect Dylann Roof's alleged manifesto discovered online. Retrieved June 24, 2015, from Yahoo News: https://www.yahoo.com/news/suspected-killer-dylann-roof-s-racist-manifesto-surfaces-154324556.html