I don't care what the act is called. I want to know who taught him to hate.

[cherokeeprogressive]

And, I want those people exposed to the harsh reality of what they incited. For the rest of their miserable lives, I want them associated with the sorrow they unleashed by inciting violence motivated by their inhumanity.

Would that we lived in a society where incitement to violence by teaching hatred was an offense they could be prosecuted for.

[Romulox]

1. My guess is that his parents are hatemongers, too.

My dad was a lot of bad things, but he wouldn't have allowed me to park a car with a "Confederate States of America" license plate at his home.

[LeftinOH]

2. He hasn't lived long enough to have had experiences

that could potentially "explain" his actions... He is undoubtedly the product of some seriously screwy upbringing.

[Zorra]

3. It was probably mom, dad, and things like

[ck4829]

4. Family, friends, his whole local culture. I think it all started with his 'jokes'

According to a classmate, he would make all sorts of racist 'jokes'. In high school, he was the top, he was cool because he was white. He leaves high school, gets spaced out on pain pills. These pills from what I have heard quickly become tolerated by the body, with one boyfriend of a friend of a friend of my sister needing a dozen pills just to get high. It's an expensive habit so when he couldn't afford it anymore, he probably woke up from his stupor one day and found out that all his friends were happy and leading rich social lives, and the black classmates he joked about and thought were 'lesser' than him were proving him wrong. He googles 'white people rule' and finds the flags for Rhodesia and the Apartheid regime, but that wasn't enough for very long, the reality of his position sets in again, and someone had to die so he could feel at the top again.

The idea that he was white so that automatically means he should have a better lot in life than black people, I think this is the real root of the matter.

[BrotherIvan]

5. Just thinking about this very thing

How do we break the cycle of raising new racists?

I believe in the 1st Amendment very strongly. But I do not believe in perpetuating hatred. These people are exposed at a very early age to racism in their family their churches, their schools, their television. They are in fact steeped in it like tea--with the tea bag name never being more appropriate.

It has been shown in studies that the more isolated a child is, the more susceptible they are to the messages they are being fed. One positive experience with a person of color before the age of 18 can change their entire worldview. So the key here is to find a way to educate these children before they grow up to be full blown terrorists like this kid.

American History X was a great movie because it showed this very progression. This terrorist's statement shows he has been fed nothing but lies and propaganda, in the hope of activating someone just like him.