taking our country back

• “I have to do it. You rape our women and you're taking over our country.  And you have to go.” — Dylann Roof. June 17, 2015.
• “...It is far from being too late for America or Europe. I believe that even if we made up only 30 percent of the population we could take it back completely. But by no means should we wait any longer to take drastic action. ...” — Dylann Roof
• “...it is time to stand up, protect our freedom and take back this country.” — George Pataki, introductory campaign video. May 28, 2015.
• “We’ve come to take our country back.” — Rand Paul.  April 7, 2015.
• “There's a certain level of vehemence, it seems to me, that's directed at me [and] directed at the president. You know, people talking about taking their country back. … There's a certain racial component to this for some people.” — Eric Holder. July 13, 2014.
• “... so we can take back this country...” — Mitt Romney. October 06, 2012.
• “It's time to take our country back.” — Sarah Palin. Sept. 17, 2010. 

                                               
Popular vote     Barack Obama (D) 69,498,516     John McCain 59,948,323
Electoral vote                                       365                                       173 
 — November 4, 2008

Popular vote    George W. Bush  50,456,002    Al Gore 50,999,89 (D) (counting halted)
Electoral vote                                disputed                       disputed
—November 7, 2000

Roof was acting out the rhetoric and slogans in the environment about him. On June 17th 2015, on Calhoun Street in Charleston South Carolina (practically the epicenter of the Confederacy) a hateful, young, white man came to kill black people at a prayer meeting. It was an assassination of the pastor (Clementa Pinckney, who was an elected state legislator) and eight of his fellow Christians. The church, Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal, was home to the oldest congregation [1791] of its denomination in the South. Its church had been burned down in 1822 [it has been common for black churches to be burned down by white supremacists, it is a heritage that continues], because a member [Denmark Vesey, hanged on July 2nd; thirty-four others were eventually hanged] was leader of a planned black uprising against slavery. South Carolina outlawed black churches in 1834, and the congregation met in secret until 1865. Roof was taking the country back.
[an essay to follow on Charleston]