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Dylann Roof is not an extremist

The Charleston murders are consistent with the violence and racism that has characterized America since its creation.

Published:
 Dylann Roof burning an American flag.
Dylann Roof burning an American flag.

Ironic: Charleston murderer Dylann Roof burning an American flag.

I am the daughter of two Zimbabwean immigrants. My parents were born in what was then Rhodesia, an apartheid state ruled by a white minority government.

My parents have not told me much about life in Rhodesia outside of my mother's time spent in an internment camp and my father's brush with political activism in his youth. They are now both naturalized American citizens, and I am sure they would prefer to not resurrect memories of growing up under apartheid.