Rihanna has been a political artist for years. I feel like the very beginning of her career, she was content to be a simple pop artist, then she phased in more sexual politics, and then came just straight up POLITICS. I feel like people don’t get AS worked up about Rihanna’s politics because she’s Barbadian, and even though she spends a lot of time in America, works in America and owns a home in America, people are still like “eh, she can go back to Barbados, we don’t have to listen to her.” But you should be listening to her, because Rihanna is awesome, and it’s gotten so bad in America that, in the wake of two more massacres this weekend, some of the most substantive statements have come from celebrities, not politicians. Rihanna posted an Instagram screencap of one of Donald Trump’s tweets, and she wrote this:
Um… Donald, you spelt “terrorism” wrong! Your country had 2 terrorist attacks back to back hours apart leaving almost 30 innocent people dead. This, just days after yet another terrorist attack in California, where a terrorist was able to LEGALLY purchase an assault rifle (AK-47) in Vegas, then drive hours to a food festival in Cali leaving 6 more people dead including a young infant baby boy!
Imagine a world where it’s easier to get an AK-47 than a VISA!
Imagine a world where they build a wall to keep terrorists IN AMERICA!!! My prayers and deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of all the victims from Texas, California, and Ohio! I’m so sorry for your loss! Nobody deserves to die like this! NOBODY!
Yep. Only a handful of Republicans are using the word “terrorism” – in fact, there’s already a conversation about video games being the cause, because sure. Why not just BELIEVE the mass murderers when they’ve clearly left messages and information about who and what has inspired them. And Rihanna is right about everything else too.
A few more celebrity reactions:
We have enough information already!Both of the shooters are white supremacist terrorist with intentions to kill minority’s .Law enforcement took rapid action but what are YOU going to do to control some of your RACIST SUPPORTERS? https://t.co/P4iYAJa34L
— iamcardib (@iamcardib) August 4, 2019
When I went to bed last night hundreds of @MomsDemand volunteers were marching in DC following the horrific shooting in #elpaso. When I woke up, there had been another tragic shooting in #Dayton. My outrage is exhausted, replaced by resolve to #EndGunViolence. @Everytown 🧡💔 https://t.co/o8kjrEEnra
— Julianne Moore (@_juliannemoore) August 4, 2019
Just got off the phone w/ fam in Dayton… it was a close call for them but that’s not the case for 9 other families
between this & the terrorist attack in El Paso & recent other shootings I feel completely helpless.. make noise & bring awareness.. vote.. don’t normalize this
— |L I Z Z O| (@lizzo) August 4, 2019
votevotevote vote vote vote vote votevotevote vote vote vote vote vote votevote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote https://t.co/pFFiE3mR2Z
— Don Cheadle (@DonCheadle) August 4, 2019
Went to bed feeling sick for El Paso and woke up feeling sick for Dayton. To every person affected personally by these two acts of hate, I am just so, so sorry. But sorry isn’t good enough. We have to do better. Now.
— Kelsea Ballerini (@KelseaBallerini) August 4, 2019
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
My heart and head hurt over the state of my country. It’s only the guns but mental illness. One can’t be “normal” and want to murder as many people as possible. If Trump us re-elected I truly fear what will happen in America.
Please don’t drag mental illness into this. These people are domestic terrorists.
Yes, they are domestic terrorists but some are just mentally ill. The kid who shot up Sandy Hook was mentally ill. It is part of the problem.
The sandy hook killer had access to weapons of war. Every country has mental illness.
The severely mentally ill do not the cognitive abilities to plan and execute attacks of this nature. This takes rational ability to develop motivation and then purchase and utilize weapons. Millions of people in this country have mental illness and don’t harm others. Stop demonizing the ill to justify terrorism. You don’t need to be crazy to be a goddamn Nazi. That’s just a lie people tell themselves to pretend this could never happen to them.
I agree. Mental illness should not be confused with this evil. Mental illness is ONLY brought up as an excuse when the shooter is white.
I agree the well-adjusted don’t go around committing mass murder. But I’ve never once heard mental illness mentioned with regard to Al Qaeda, ISIS, MS-13, and so until we are extending that privilege to everyone, I think it’s dangerous to talk about it. We have a white male terrorism problem in this country. Full stop.
It is not about mental illness. Every country has mental illness! And women have mental health issues at a higher rate than men in this country, yet 99.999% of mass shooters are white men. It’s angry white men, and their easy access to guns.
I didn’t say it was solely mental illness. I didn’t lay the blame on mental in these instances. The shooters at Sandy Hook and Columbine were sick teenagers.
@lucy I understand why you said mental illness, because this is a GOP talking point that the media has parroted without fact checking. But the truth is that people with mental illness commit less than 5% of violent crimes, and are more likely to be the victims of a violent crime than the perpetrator. So addressing mental health is important, but it wouldn’t help lower violent crime like these shootings.
Exactly.
There is something seriously wrong with the 60,000,000+ who voted for and support Don the Con, however it might be defined.
Yes, exactly! This is a radicalization issue not a mental illness. I’m a therapist and there’s no diagnosis in the DSM for racism, white supremacy, or incels. All of us have the ability to become radicalized by something under the right conditions (isolation, cultural attitudes and beliefs, etc) and don’t have to be mentally ill for that to happen. Hell, most people who have been radicalized by something don’t even realize it or believe it’s a good thing (side eye evangelical Christianity, mlms, nationalism, etc)
> 99.999% of mass shooters are white men. It’s angry white men, and their easy access to guns.
As far as race, it’s actually only 61% of mass shooters that are white. So pretty much proportional to the general population. They are overwhelmingly male though, of course.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/476456/mass-shootings-in-the-us-by-shooter-s-race/
A lot of people with mental illness, myself and friends, family, coworkers included, have never once wanted to pick up a gun and kill people because of it. The fact is mass shootings have become an outlet for white terrorists to “express their views” the same views that have been solidified and backed up time and time again as okay by the president and his administration. The shooters had manifestos, drawn out plans, and coherent political views. They are not mentally ill, they are terrorists.
Being turned by radical propaganda is a failure of education and civil norms. This is the disease of racism, not neurotransmitters.
I’m a psychiatrist. It is literally my job to assist people to manage their psychiatric disorders/illnesses. In my 25 years of practice, I have not had a single patient pick up a gun and massacre people. Being angry at women, children, minorities, etc is not mental illness. It’s anger and hatred (usually misplaced, irrational, and out of control). Are there people with psychiatric disorders that commit mass murders? Yes, I’m sure there are. But let’s not kid ourselves that it is the primary impetus for these crimes. Besides, I don’t see any of these politicians doing anything to help the mentally ill other than blaming the actions of angry white males on mental illness and not on the easy availability of assault and assault style weapons.
Why is it that people only talk about mental illness when the terrorists are white?
YES! I was hoping that you’d be in the replies, paranormalgirl.
THANK YOU.
PS Always great to hear from you, even if the topic is depressing AF.
Mental illness does not change your values… A racist person will express their racist values even in illness, but the primary cause is not in the illness itself.
Thank you! People who suffer from mental illnesses are far more likely to be the target of violence than the perpetrator. If they’re going to harm anyone, it’ll likely be themselves and blaming mental illnesses for gun violence doesn’t help at all.
The gun violence problem in the US is due to the number of guns and how accessible they are, not mental illness, which is present in every country. As long as video games, mental illness, lack of prayers and all these BS things will be blamed instead of targeting guns, there will be more mass shootings in the US than anywhere else
Lucy, you need to sit down somewhere. There are people with mental illness across all ethnic groups in America. Only white boys and men are regularly shooting up what should be peaceful spaces (including churches, synagogues, stores, movie theaters and other places filled with people enjoying their lives and minding their business.)
Is there a special kind of mental illness only white folks get?
If it is, it’s surely called white supremacist terrorism and it seems the burden of said illness lands disproportionately on the people who happen to be around them.
No I will not go sit down some place. I have suffered with depression and PTSD mist of my adult life. There needs to be more civility in this country and less people screaming so loud they can’t hear what the other is saying. So no, I will not sit down someplace.
And I will not be bullied.
@Lucy your argument is nonsensical. You are not being bullied, and furthermore, your ability to navel-gaze speaks to your access to privilege. Poor you, forced to listen to people ‘screaming’ loudly on the internet, while the rest of us must watch people die.
Suffering from depression and PTSD doesn’t excuse you from others arguing with you or, more accurately, challenging your unsupported and, frankly, weak argument that it’s mental illness that causes mass shootings. there is mental illness literally EVERYWHERE in the world, and yet mass shootings only seem to take place in ONE country. One that has a gun fetish and lax gun laws. challenging your assertion and shredding your argument isn’t “bullying”.
My heart aches for the families who have lost a loved one this week due to these acts of evil. And it is evil. We have so much we need to fix within the the United States and yet politicians keep giving the same rhetoric. Unfortunately, there is no easy answer and no easy fix.
Assault weapons ban, universal background checks, and re-funding the federal units that investigate domestic terrorism. Three simple ways to start.
Indeed, this should be an easy fix. I mean, it works pretty well everywhere else in the world, it’s not like there aren’t examples of what can and needs to be done literally everywhere!!!
This morning, he’s saying his immigration laws will fix this and he’s blaming the media. Slam him. And Nagini, the Slum Queen of Baltimore, for her disgraceful attempt to clean up her image.
She has zero self-awareness, that Nagini.
Imagine a world where it’s easier to get an AK-47 than a VISA!
This is a mood. It’s so hard to get a visitor’s visa to the US especially if you’re coming from a Caribbean country, and yet…
Thank you for this article. Once again Kaiser gives us the best information for the worst tragedy.
Right? Fearless, direct, and all out of Fs.
It’s sickening. THIS is our national crisis. Where was the mental illness excuse when Trump was talking about Chicago? It’s only used as an excuse for white shooters. I’m sick of it. The Texas shooter drove 600 miles so he could shoot illegal immigrants. It was a hate crime! No normal person shoots someone but only the white ones are said to be suffering from mental illness. Non white killers are thugs, animals, etc. I’m sick of it.
From the outside, the U.S. looks like a nation under siege.
Well, it feels that way here to me. On Friday evening my mother and I took my 3 yo niece, and my 5 yo nephew to Target for a little shopping spree. My mom, who is 75, told me yesterday she isn’t going to do that anymore. She doesn’t feel she can move fast enough to do anything if it happens. This is how we live now.
-How can I get out when the shooting begins?
-How many exits are there?
-Can I survive?
-I have a child with me, my survival is now off the table; can I survive long enough to ensure they make it out?
This is America.
Checking for the quickest exit out of any building I’m in or event I’m attending has become my new normal. Domestic terrorism is a real and present danger.
Yes to all of this. I’m even afraid to sit in a movie theater.
I won’t step foot in a mall anymore. I went to a street fair last night and I felt like I was on high alert the whole time.
A week ago, before these recent shootings, I took my 3 y.o to The Lion King, I had to talk myself into it, and make sure I sat us nearest the exit opposite the door as I wanted an escape route if there was, God forbid, a shooter. Now with this weekend, honestly, I’m terrified to go anywhere with the kids.
I am a college instructor. Our building has multiple, unsecured, open entry/exit points. My students and I talk about a strategy “just in case”. Sometimes I feel like it’s just a matter of time but then I think I’m overreacting; until the next mass shooting occurs.
What is wrong with humanity.
The question is not “what is wrong with humanity?”
The question is what is wrong with WHITE MEN?
WHITE MEN are killing us. Not “humanity.” White men.
It is literally white supremacist terrorism, as many are rightly calling it. And it is about time for it to be called that. Widely and in the media.
Rhianna is absolutely right about it all.
When I was in elementary school we had civil defense drills; children sitting under our desks covering our heads in case Russia dropped the bomb. Now they have active shooter drills from elementary to high school.
I agree, this was the sickness of white supremacy, no doubt. Didn’t mean to imply anything less.
My comment reflected on the general uptick of abuse imparted to all that is vulnerable; abuse of minorities, the poor, disabled, innocent animals, the planet……..etc. So, yes, personally I worry about the direction of humanity.
I hope our votes will be enough to start to pull us out of this nosedive.
A terrorism expert insisting it is imperative that you find 3 ways out of every room or building you are in. Make it the first thing you do, better to do it before you go in.
My anxiety level has skyrocketed. A read a tweet by a comedian I follow yesterday who, at 9 months pregnant, mused that she was lucky she didn’t get gunned down at Panera the day before … she’s not wrong. My sweet little town in a RED part of Virginia just had its annual end-of-summer street fair with 1000s of kids, revelers, musical acts, choked streets, and I worried until it was over without incident. No longer will I take safety for granted. It CAN happen here.
For many of us, it feels that way.
I am sorry my comment has been completely misunderstood. I did not blame all mass murders on mental illness.
Bombs can kill and hurt a lot of people. Boston Marathon and Oklahoma.
Oh be quiet already. How many bomb attacks have there been compared to white supremacists systematically attacking people of colorin stores, churches, schools, the streets, etc. with guns–legally purchased assault weapons?
That is rude. Lucy may be phrasing it wrong, and mental illness isn’t the main reason for US gun violence, it’s access to all of those guns. In fact, those with a mental illness are more likely to be victims than perpetrators of a crime. White supremacy is the reason for at least one of the weekend shootings. Full stop. it IS terrorism. There is insufficient screening for gun ownership in the US. Cowardly politicians are fully to blame. Or enabling politicians who actually seem to welcome the white supremacist vote. YES, YES, YES.
BUT, some shootings are in part driven by mental illness. The Columbine shooters were described as suicidal and homicidal respectively. Neither should have ever had access to a gun. That said, it is not the main reason for all of this terrible killing.
I’m not American and I simply don’t understand how it is possible that you do not have better laws to help keep you safe. From a non American perspective it is mind boggling. Why is it possible for people to get access to automatic weapons? The cumulative amount of death from gun violence must surely wake people up?
But, to demonize Lucy who appears to be making an innocent comment by essentially telling her to shut up doesn’t appear helpful to advancing better understanding of how to improve matters. I’m not even sure Lucy disagrees with you. But if she does, how does it help to persuade her to tell her to shut up?
Lucy has already been upthread “explaining” her mental health comments, so to create a new comment now talking about bombs, as opposed to putting the blame squarely where it belongs (on white terrorists) is patently offensive. She’s parroting Fox News talking points and got the response that comment deserved.
Why should I be quiet. I haven’t made any egregious comment.
I guess you forgot about that photo of a firefighter carrying a dead baby in his arms after Oklahoma.
And none of those involved in those two incidents were mentally ill. Pretty sure Tim McVeigh, Terry Nicholls, and Michael Fortier were/are probably white supremacists.
They were definitely white supremacists. McVeigh was a big fan of the Turner Diaries, a white supremacist book. He never belonged to a specific group, but he palled around with WS at gun shows and he was into the “patriot” movement.
I think that what I struggle with is that no person in their right mind would commit these acts, right? I don’t mean to be insensitive at all just trying to understand better.
That was my point. I cannot comprehend a normal person wanting to commit mass murder.
Ohio was the 250th mass shooting SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR!!!!
Yes, bombs can kill, but there aren’t hundreds of bomb annually and you can’t buy bombs at Walmart and there isn’t a bomb lobby that funds politicians and rate them according to how bomb-friendly they are. This is a gun problem. And a racism problem too. It needs to be addressed as is
Really?
This is only Day 217. We’ve been busy. 🙁
On the upside, there are only 149 days left in the year!
Yes, and we don’t go to the local bomb store to pick one out for personal safety.
No matter what you blame for these boys intention, news guys: video games, mental illness, hateful rhetoric, extremism, being bullied, etc. A person who performs an act of terror with a mass shooting would not be able to act on impulse without the means. If it becomes more difficult for these boys to get their hands on these guns of war they won’t be able to use them.
These are fully grown adult men and terrorists. Say the word. They have No excuses. The way guns are glorified and the way whiteness and maleness is lauded and the way this joke of an orange clown ratchets up the xenophobia it’s a perfect storm. A perfect storm of violence and hatred against POC. And we are right in the middle of that storm. End it. Vote them out. Get gun legislation back. And while we’re at it fix this euro centric education system that lies about history. This country was built on the backs black slaves, immigrant labor. POC need to be recognized as a major force in ALL the accomplishments of world history.
Cant believe that Clinton actually got an assault weapons ban. Cant believe the legislature let it lapse.
Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, Congress could get together and pass legislation that was for the good of the country and not just the good of that particular representative or their party.
I know, this was news to me. It happened once. IT CAN HAPPEN AGAIN.
Um, Rihanna spelled “spelled” incorrectly. Spelt is a type of grain.
I was afraid to make that comment.
It’s also in the Oxford dictionary as a past participle of spell. Not so commonly used in America, but absolutely a legitimate spelling.
Um, no. Google is your friend. It’s a correct past tense of spell (can be spelled or spelt).
Um, yeah. I grew up with “spelt” being the past tense of “spelled.” Didn’t spell it as “spelled” until I came to the US.
She’s not American. In the English that she learned, “spelt” is correct.
way to focus on the important part of her tweet.
a – as you’ve been told, the word she used is grammatically correct.
b – IT WOULDN’T F*CKING MATTER IF SHE HAD USED THE WRONG WORD. SHE’S RIGHT.
Thank you, @WHATWHAT.
Word.
@WhatWHAT – Rihanna is coming from the British Carribean. As a result, her English is based on British English and spellings, which are different from American spellings. We say words like ‘lernt'(past tense of learn) versus American’s saying ‘ learned’.
and why are you telling me? I’m not the one who said she spelled it wrong.
She’s 100% right and even if she didn’t work or live in America that wouldn’t make what she said any less accurate. I honestly would not mind at all if someone who didn’t live or work here made accurate observations about serious problems in this country.
The Democrats need the take the Senate.
No Senate, no gun control legislation. Absolutely nothing will be done with McConnell in charge.
Amen, Canber. A vote for any republican is a vote to continue our current nightmare. And until the Dems get control of both house and the White House that’s not going to happen. There are many reaping a not to vote for the GOP right now but this is one of the biggest. This isn’t about mental illness or video games or any other lame excuse – this is about the GOP encouraging white supremacists and then giving them easy access to weapons of war.
Lot of Rs retiring in Texas before 2020. Almost like they expect to lose the state. Texas would be a big gain in the senate.
Another TX GOP rep just announced retirement this morning. Traditionally ruby red district in the Dallas suburbs – but he barely won reelection by 3 points.
YES. Taking back the Senate is crucial.
There’s a link on Elizabeth Warren’s twitter that will take you to an ActBlue fund that is to support all Democrat Senate races, so they all get funds.
When I was at university, there was a random school shooting on campus – 1 student died, and 1 was injured, before a heroic student disarmed the shooter.
This happened during the assault rifle ban.
Had these war weapons been legal at the time, I have no doubt it would have been far, far worse. There were hundreds of students in that location, and the guy who stopped it wouldn’t have stood a chance.
They don’t even have to wait for that. If GOPers have any guts they would overthrow him and appt another Majority Leader. But nope they are all chicken shit. So we’re stuck with #moscowmitch #murderermitch < those were trending on twitter and old turtle head is but hurt.
That video game comment my made blood boil. Every time there’s a shooting these people go out of their way to find the most ridiculous explanations, but easy access to guns and bigotry are always out of the question. They literally write manifestos making their intentions clear and yet people still have the nerve to tell me “it’s more complex than that” and act like I’m being delusional for thinking there’s hateful bigots in this country who want to kill people and have all the means to do so. You know, these people are so passionate about guns, sometimes I feel like even if we did a gun reform, they’d go out of their way and start mass stabbings just to prove their point.
I swear to God if I hear one more person talk about video games or mental illness or mass stabbings or whatever dumb excuse they make up to say mass shootings have nothing to do with guns I’ll jump off a cliff.
Video games are played all around the world, why aren’t other countries getting shot up?
Not to mention females also play video games and when’s the last time you heard of a female mass shooter?
The video games comment drives me crazy! Like playing video games ONLY happens here in the US. I’ve played video games since Atari, and I’ve been online playing shooters (I’m in my early 50s), but I don’t even own a gun. My husband plays too — never had an inkling to become a mass murdered. Literally tens of millions of people of all ages around the world have never picked up a gun to commit some atrocity — even after hours long game play or years of playing.
Just another BS excuse not to do anything but put their hand out for another check from the NRA.
Remember when “heavy metal” used to be the excuse for all the ills that plagued our society? And before that “rock music”?
Lazy, lazy, greedy ass people not wanting to do their jobs and just want to point their finger at anyone else so they don’t have to do the hard work. . .of turning down an NRA check. We know.
I’m Brown and I have PTSD with the usual comorbidities. I know those with mental illness are more likely to be victims than perpetrators of violent crimes. I also think the rhetoric around violent crime by PoC and White Terrorists is messed up.
That said, I think most people can’t comprehend how someone could be radicalized because they can’t fathom wanting to hurt others, let alone strangers. Many average people blame mental illness not out of hate or racism, but out of a sincere, innocent inability to wrap their minds around that kind of hate.
Blaming mental illness is factually VERY incorrect. But non-politicians get my benefit of the doubt and patience because they often don’t know the stats on mental illness and haven’t thought about the different ways PoC and White Terrorists perps are portrayed. I try not to take it personally and to stay calm and remember they’re just terrified and trying to justify the violence.
The politicians know better and are just complete manipulative slime, though.
@catherine, I get you. I have c-Ptsd and I’m never going to perpetrate a mass shooting. Best wishes to you ❤️💕😊😉🖖🏽🖖🏽
But they never blame it on “mental illness” when it’s a poc oddly enough ! When it’s a poc they can easily comprehend how someone could be radicalized and murder many. They just can’t imagine a White guy doing it.
I love her. I love that, as noted, she’s been in this business since she was very young and has gradually stepped up to use her voice to do good. I love that she used a makeup brand, or all things, to empower people. Be the change!
The American Psychological Association has released a statement saying that these racist shootings are not caused by mental illness. https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2019/08/statement-shootings
The podcast “The Daily” from the NYT did a great episode about the shootings. It’s heartbreaking but should be heard.
I did not say all mass shooters are mentally ill. I did not blame these last two shootings on mental illness. I do think that the kids that shoot up schools are mentally ill. Do not misconstrue or twist my words. I may have worded my comment better and I have clarified my statement. There is no need to be rude. The world has enough of that.
What there is room for is civil discourse, something sorely lacking in society today
Oklahoma City was done by a white supremacist.
I get that it is difficult to understand the difference between hatred and mental illness. I’m glad that you haven’t experienced hatred against you. Some of us are not so fortunate.
Hatred and mental illness are not the same thing. Hatred is irrational, yes. But it is not the same as having an illness. These people are leaving screeds explaining exactly what they are doing.
And beyond incivility, there are those who are actively fomenting hatred against PoC and women, every single day. One of them presently occupies the White House. This is messed up and it is encouraging more violence and more death.
Fine, the Columbine kids weren’t white supremacists. OK. But damn near all of the other murderers HAVE been. As they have made clear in their own words.
It is domestic terrorism. They are doing it on purpose.
Here’s a statement from the APA regarding hatred vs mental illness:
https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2019/08/statement-shootings