You're right, Spaw...

I'm playing a bit of devil's advocate here. The viewpoint of a poorly educated, prejudiced young man - God, it's hard not to type "ignorant, racist punk", but this is an exercise in trying to understand the world from the point of view of someone who is capable of performing the horrific acts described by Larry in his song. Let me start again with a quote from a column by Molly Ivins in her latest collection, You Got to Dance With Them That Brung You:

"Most of the racism you see is misdirected anger, from your basic Ku Klux Kluckers (who think black folks are somehow responsible for the way the world is run) to the folks who decide that illegal immigrants are responsible for the decline of civilization (not to mention the American economy) to those Einsteins who have analyzed our problems and determined that teenaged welfare mothers are behind the collapse of "values". The trouble with blaming powerless people is that although it's not nearly as scary as blaming the powerful, it does miss the point....
The reason we like to blame the victim is because if it's not the victim's fault, why, then, it could happen to anybody. It could even happen to you. And that is scary."

Molly Ivins, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, May 6, 1997

Most genocidal crimes, from the mass murders in Bosnia and Rwanda, to the murders of Rom or Jews or blacks or homosexuals by individuals, have, at their root, some common factors:

1. They are usually perpetrated by young men with little education and poor job prospects, (if any), who look at the world around them and wonder why they're not sharing in the grotesque wealth that is visible but completely unattainable.

2. These young men are angry at their place in life, and looking for reasons why they're stuck where they are.

3. Manipulative individuals looking for personal power (from Radovan Karajich to Rush Limbaugh) tell these hopeless people that "Psst - it's the fault of those (fill in the blank with your favorite scapegoat - blacks, immigrants, Rom, homosexuals, etc.). They are taking your jobs away. They are getting "Special treatment" under the law. They are lusting after your women. They engage in horrible religious practices and eat babies. Follow me and get rid of Them, and everything will be better!"

The manipulators can tell any lies about another culture or race or people that they want, because their listeners don't have the intelligence or education or ability to find other sources of information. They're poor and un/underemployed, and It Must Be Somebody's Fault.

I'm not trying to excuse racist murder, but more evil than the murderers are the politicians and personalities that profit from spreading a message of hate onto fertile ground, ground that is fertile for hate because of the incredible disparities between the haves and the have-nots in today's world. As Molly Ivins says, it is easier to blame/hate the powerless, because to try to fight those with real power is often futile and scary.