One problem I have with the “War on Terror” is that it doesn’t deal with terror across the board. Basically, the face of terror has to be brown in order to be granted any media attention.

However, what happens when the face of terror is white and non-Muslim? As black people, our history is replete with stories of white terrorist groups (like the KKK) carrying out bombings, assassinations, lynchings, rapes, etc. with impunity. But, for some reason, people don’t consider this “real” terrorism.

Okay, even if that is not “real” terrorism to you, how would you define this?

Last Tuesday, Demetrius “Van” Crocker of McKenzie, Tennessee was sentenced to 30 years in prison. His crime: he was plotting to explode a briefcase bomb in the Congress while it was in session.

The 40-year-old farmhand and father of two was convicted of accepting what he thought were ingredients to make Sarin nerve gas and a block of C-4 explosive from undercover agents in October 2004.

The maximum penalty Crocker could have faced for the convictions would have been a life sentence. Todd did order lifetime supervised release for Crocker once he gets out of prison.In all, Crocker was convicted on five charges: one count of attempted possession of a chemical weapon, one count of inducing another person to acquire a chemical weapon, one count of possession of stolen explosives, one count of possession of explosive material with intent to harm an individual or damage or destroy a building, and one count of possession of an unregistered destructive device.

During the trial, prosecutors introduced video- and audio-taped conversations that Crocker had with undercover agents, laced with profanity, racial slurs and Crocker’s open hatred of all things to do with the government.

Now, anybody want to tell me why this is not terrorism, too?

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