As if our lives needed yet another reminder of the dark, cruel interplay of racism and inner demons, an ordinary-looking man simply jumped up and decided to take a grocery store hostage on Sunday in Buffalo, New York. However, a closer peek would substantiate how this was not doing of a mentally deranged and had all the connotations of “domestic terrorism, pure and simple.” Attacking a heavily Black neighbourhood, over 200 miles from his home town, while wearing military-style armour and announcing the gory marvels to the world via a minute-by-minute Livestream, 18-year-old Payton Gendron admitted to being heavily inspired by the grisly shooting at a New Zealand mosque, three years earlier. While some may draw parallels between another blood-curdling racially-targeted attack on Hispanics in El Paso (2019) or members of a Black church in South Carolina (2015), the discussion can obviously not end here. Clearly, the gunman wishes for the stream to trickle down further as he has published a horrifying manifesto online. It is not just a likely pat on the back for others to follow the lead. By pointing fingers at the likes of London Mayor Sadiq Khan as a “Muslim invador,” he has also directed the traffic towards yet another bull’s eye. The racist demagogue appears to be spreading like wildfire and the political leadership of one of the biggest self-proclaimed champions of human rights remains captivated by heated buzzwords. Whether to uphold the Second Amendment or do something about the obstinate genie is a question that tends to get muffled amid the divisively deafening uproar on more critical issues like the legality of abortion. So what if the accused was known to the law enforcement agencies as a “very troubled” man who had repeatedly espoused extremist jargon (even indicating plans to shoot his fellow students at their graduation ceremony)? Isn’t it pure irony that the American courts wish to leave an extremely private issue to the whims of individual states while rushing to the other end of the table on the firearms debacle–all in the same breath? Democrats, Republicans and Independents; all need to come together to acknowledge that the dizzying white supremacy is no longer a banter of the uncivilised. They appeared to have crawled back into the hole of obscurity considering the historic wins of the civil rights movement but the current wave is stronger than ever before. Ergo, America needs a crackdown against whatsoever institution, whatsoever legislation is helping them achieve their sinister agenda. Background checks, tightening the nation’s gun laws or increased vigilance, do all that’s required to make your home the land of the free again. *