Charleston church holds emotional reopening

What a contrast of forgiveness by the community that was attacked by the white terrorist Roof and the hatred and anger of the white racist groups in South Carolina, 19 of them, that are still fighting the lost Civil War from 150 years ago. And they are still using the American swastika Dixie flag.

Forgiving somebody doesn't mean you are good with what happened. They are choosing not to dwell in the pool of hate that this bastard lives in.

It's their faith that allows them to forgive. I think many of us need to learn something here. I don't believe in God and I don't expect others to believe in my beliefs. Most Christians are good, honest, and altruistic people. I'd be stupid to insult their faith.

US is becoming more segregated, not less. and less democratic, not more.

Roof was a coward plain and simple. If he really wanted to start a race war, why didn't he go to Baltimore or Ferguson and shoot up people? Probably because he knew that they would fight back. He thought he was going to trigger some type of "Helter Skelter" and he was sadly mistaken.

My choice of punishment for him, send him into general population in prison, and let the local "Black Guerrilla Family (BGF)" or the Black prison gangs take care of him.

My choice of punishment for him would be to drop him by parachute over Boko Haram-held territory in Nigeria.

US is becoming more segregated, not less. and less democratic, not more.

I disagree. I lived in the south during the 40s, 50s and 60s and experienced segregation up close and personal, I am currently living in Texas and, from my perspective, I don't believe the US is becoming more segregated andor less democratic.

Racism from both blacks and whites has always been present. Tensions have in the last few years increased. Irresponsible media and the fallout from that is a major contributing factor.

So now we're back to the "it's not racism that's the problem, it's acknowledging its existence that's the problem".

US is becoming more segregated, not less. and less democratic, not more.

True about schools which are almost as separated by race and income as during the late '60's thanks to lax court enforcement and monitoring of efforts to desegregate but I don't think the same for the rest of society, at least not yet.

The white racism group that taught Roof that white women were being raped by black men is a heavy donor to the republican party and its current candidates for President. This is why while the victims of this crime have shown courage in the face of tragedy but the republican party that uses racism to gather funds and get votes is weak on this matter and still not clear about the dixie flag and the terrorist label for Roof. They are complicit in supporting the far right racist groups and those groups respond with donations to help them win elections. Obama is not getting funds from these groups, that is for sure.

The leader of a white supremacist group that has been linked to Dylann Roof, the suspect in the murder of nine African-Americans in a Charleston, S.C., church last week, has donated tens of thousands of dollars to Republican campaigns, including those of 2016 presidential contenders such as Ted Cruz, Rick Santorum and Rand Paul, records show.

Mr. Holt, who identified himself in some donation records as a Texas “slumlord,” has also given money to a number of other current and former Republican members of Congress, including Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona, Senator Rob Portman of Ohio, former Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, Representative Steve King of Iowa, and former Representative Todd Akin of Missouri.