Apparently there is nothing worse in America than the act of shooting
white people. Ever since the latest attack at a Florida high school
there has been talk of little else. The school shooting enveloped every
other issue and was used to vilify Russia, the FBI, Bernie Sanders and
the National Rifle Association all at once. One cannot watch a Youtube
video without being subjected to the NRA’s public relations juggernaut
meant to quiet a population which had forgotten about shootings for a
while.
America has a unique history with firearms. The settler colonial
state enshrined gun ownership into the constitution because of a
determination to maintain chattel slavery and the violent enforcement which had to go with it.
More than two hundred years later that imperative remains. All the
sound and fury about gun control is useless because this society demands
that the slave patrol never disband. There are even arguments made to
expand it. Not only must we live with armed police officers but there
are new proposals to arm teachers in the classroom. These same teachers
target black students for punishments and “zero tolerance” policies made
necessary by the deeds of violent white people. Everyone from the
buffoonish president to members of Congress weigh in with ridiculous
proposals because the obvious solution will not be permitted in this
country.
-- Margaret Kimberley, "Freedom Rider: Why the Shooting Will Continue" (BLACK AGENDA REPORT).