American comedian Amy Schumer has been blamed for inspiring suspected murderer Dylann Roof for killing nine people in an historic black church in Charleston last month.
In an opinion piece for the Washington Post, the 34-year-old's "racist" humour has been slammed for influencing "monsters like Dylann Roof to craft a manifesto with deadly consequences".
Amy Schumer
On June 17, nine people were gunned down during bible study at a church in South Carolina in what police are investigating as a "hate crime".
Roof, 21, was hunted down and arrested the next day. He has been charged with all nine murders.
In Monday's article, Stacey Patton, a history professor, and David Leonard, a professor in gender and race studies, argued that Schumer shared striking similarities with Donald Trump - who has recently come under fire for his controversial comments about Mexicans.
Patton and Leonard write that both the comedian and the billionaire "draw on shared cultural stereotypes and use dehumanizing language that gives life to an ecosystem of racial fear and violence".
Murder suspect Dylann Roof
The piece continues: "This rhetoric isn’t just ugly. It contributes to a worldview that justifies a broken immigration system, mass incarceration, divestment from inner city communities, that rationalizes inequality and buttresses persistent segregation and violence.
"Yet nobody wants to take responsibility for spewing rhetoric that breeds the fear that results in soaring gun purchases, that 'inspires' monsters like Dylann Roof to craft a manifesto with deadly consequences."
This is not the first time that Schumer has been called out for her "racist" jokes.
Just last month, The Guardian wrote that Schumer "has a shockingly large blind spot around race", adding that her stand-up show "repeatedly delves into racial territory tactlessly and with no apparent larger point".
But many people are not buying the accusation that Schumer's jokes can be blamed for atrocities such as the Charleston shooting.
SEE ALSO:
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