Domestic terrorism is recurring, with white supremacy causing harm to many groups of people. Most of America’s terrorists are white – and it’s a problem.

Research from The Nation Institute’s Investigative Fund shows that, in the United States, from 2008 to the end of 2016, there were nearly double the terrorist incidents by right wing extremists than by Islamist ones.

Terrorism is the use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims and looking at both plots and executed attacks, far more were traced back to right wing extremists. They found that overall there were 201 domestic terrorist incidents in those eight years and only 63 of those cases were due to Islamists, however, 115 of the cases were under right wing extremists.

White superiority inflicts harm on many groups of people including people of color and other minority groups. Hate groups target minorities with threats and violence and according to David Neiwert, the lead reporter, most of the culprits are white males.

On June 17, 2015, NBC News reported that nine people were shot and killed during a Bible study session at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. The gunman – Dylann Roof, a white male.

After the tragic incident, AP News reported Roofs confession of his cruel and actions to the FBI. After explaining that he chose the AME Church due to its lack of white attendants, Roof said, “I knew that would be a place to get a small amount of black people in one area…They’re in church. They weren’t criminals or anything.”

The felony that landed Roof the death penalty was purely the purpose of targeting an innocent group of people because of their skin. Roof’s white superiority resulted in nine deaths.

More recently, on August 12, Charlottesville, Virginia experienced one of the largest white supremacist events in decades according to the Washington Post. White nationalists, neo-nazis, and Ku Klux Klan members rallied to “take America back.”

Most of the participants were white males and their prejudice beliefs ended in violence with one dead and several injured.

The issue of white supremacy and domestic terrorism is not being addressed properly and few things are being done to stop hate groups.

Peyton Cobbin, a senior who is well informed on and keeps up with social issues in our society, agrees and said, “The problem is being addressed but i don’t think it is being addressed properly to the point where things are starting to change. I don’t think white supremacy should be an issue within the united states, or anywhere, but unfortunately it is.”

It is illogical and unreasonable that certain people believe they are superior to others because their skin is white. Bigotry is unacceptable and harming innocent people to show superiority is appalling.

“I think that someone as important as our president should be addressing something as hard hitting and deep cutting as white supremacy is because it’s not just affecting one race, it’s affecting everyone around them,” Cobbin said.

Michael Bokovitz, a digital media teacher who keeps up with current events and promotes knowledge of today’s issues, said, “I think it’s a big problem because i think a lot of people don’t see it as a problem. You think of ISIS and Al Qaeda and those are those big buzz words but with white supremacy, I think Charlottesville brought the problem back into light of what’s going on.”

While people are worried about Islamist terrorists targeting their nation, their fellow citizens are being targeted by right end extremists who believe their race is superior to others. Their sense of white supremacy is unjust and harmful, not to mention causing more problems than it is solving. Their goal is for each race to live in separation which is unreasonable since the United States is composed of people of all cultures, nationalities, and races and that will never change.

“Stereotypes are basically the root of any racial issue that you have anywhere,” Cobbin said. “I think it’s absolutely ridiculous. Its issues like these that shouldn’t be happening and aren’t getting addressed enough.”

Rather than posing a threat to the people around them, U.S. citizens should be working together to promote harmony and security throughout the country they live in.