News and views from the award-winning author of the novels The Skinny Years, America Libre, House Divided and Pancho Land

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

An indictment on the violent nature of white Christians?

Spotted at church and once again behind bars in Arizona, escaped murderer Stacy Province is tied to last week’s slaying of an elderly couple at a campground in Santa Rosa, New Mexico. Were Mr. Province a minority or a Muslim, this story would be about race or religion. But "white" is the default setting for U.S. culture. So we just assume he is simply a dangerous criminal, not an example of the violent nature of white Christians.


Convicted killer Tracy Province told authorities he was relieved the manhunt was over when he was arrested.
Full New York Times story

There is a universal human tendency to generalize about people different from ourselves. We deny the individuality of "others" yet freely acknowledge the variability of character within our own group.

The anti-immigrant ethnic finger-pointing over the tragic deaths of Arizona rancher Robert Krentz and Sister Denise Mosier of Virgina demonstrate how this human frailty is being abused by a growing number of opportunistic politicians and pundits.

Raul Ramos y Sanchez