Isabel Fajardo
Week O5
AO3
I thought one of this week’s
readings was really interesting. The beginning of the “Empire of Death and the
Plague of Civic Violence” starts off with quoting two Mansons, which caught my
eye. I am surprised that this author used Marilyn Manson – of all people – as
someone to quote from, since his name is literally taken from the serial
killer. I am not sure how that was not taken into consideration when choosing
quotes, but I digress.
I really liked how this chapter
compared serial killers to the killing of indigenous people. I have never
thought abaout it before in that light, but many European countries in this
case would be serial killers, like Great Britain or the United States. The most
interesting point for me was about slavery; it really was a genocide, but it
might not seem that way to people since it spanned over a couple of years.
Besides the time-frame, by all means, it was a genocide of people. It honestly
makes me sick to think of all the horrible things America has done to
marginalized people.
I also think it is an undeniable
fact that most serial killers and mass murders are Caucasian and male. I find
no fault when a POC or marginalized person says they are afraid of them, simply
based on race. Time and time again, we see white people try and silence our
voices or treat us in a less than humane matter, so I think our fear is
justified. Not to act very flippant about it, but the amount of privilege white
people have – whether known or not – is frightening. I think another interesting
view that I got from this reading is that serial killers view their victims as
people, but not to the same level that they are on. They recognize their
humanity to the point where it is something that they can take away from them.
My question is: why is it so easy for serial killers to dehumanize their
victims?
References:
Broad Motives of Killers [Chart].
(n.d.). In Radford University/FGCU Serial Killer Database.
Retrieved October 22, 2017, from
http://strategyandanalytics.com/9-facts-serial-killers-wish-never-knew/
Hamamoto, Y. Darrell. “Empire of
Death and the Plague of Civic Violence.” Masters of War: Militarism and
Blowback in the Era of American Empire, by Carl Boggs, Routledge, 2003, pp.
277-292.
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