In this Los Angeles Times article, the Times Editorial Board explains the idea of extremism and how it is not subject to one identity, as many people may think. In the article, they explain the terror attack that occurred this past week, which killed 49 people and injured dozens more during 2 Mosque attacks in Christchurch, New Zealand. The attacker, Brenton Tarrant, who described himself as a “ethno-nationalist” has been apprehended and is currently in custody. The “madman” uploaded an anti-immigrant manifesto online hours before the attack, where he explained his plan to “kill non-whites”. This terrorist has been described as a white supremacist and extremist. The article goes on to explain his manifesto, as well as comparing him to other past terrorists who attacked people for their race, religion, etc.
The Times Editorial Board’s purpose in writing this article is to explain that extremism and terrorism has no race or religion and to also explain the irony behind the killer’s past, as he was a New Zealand Immigrant himself. They achieve their purpose of explaining the acts of an extremist by using allusions. Throughout the article the Editorial Board compares Tarrant to other attackers, by explaining his “reason” for the attack. Many past terrorists have committed attacks towards a certain, race or religion, such as Dylann Roof who killed 9 African Americans, as well as Robert Bowers who killed 11 worshippers in a synagogue. With this, they explain that this isn’t a new occurrence, and that all of these acts are committed because of racism or religious intolerance.
I do agree with the argument made in this passage because the stereotypes made by racist societies have made certain races and religions seem to blame for these alleged attacks. People need to realize that these are not carried out by regular people, but by extremists. I personally have seen muslim people discriminated against, because of these stereotypes, which are completely untrue and need to be removed. These are all acts of extremism and as the article says “Muslim extremists perpetrate horrible crimes. Christian extremists perpetrate horrible crimes. So do extremist Hindus and Buddhists.” Society needs to realize that extremism has no racial or religious identity, and that these are all crimes committed by terrible people.
AP Lang Blog 