Now hear this: Walmart has never sold assault weapons. Walmart has voluntarily stopped selling the semi-automatic Bushwhacker gun, the type that has been used in several recent mass killings.
Also, the site of a massacre using a semi-automatic gun, the movie theater in Aurora, Colo. will reopen soon. Hearts are torn, but folks must move on with their lives, especially business enterprises.
Also, parents in Sandy Hook are still in deep mourning. There is no end in sight to their and the nation’s grief.
And Vice President Joe Biden’s task force recommendation on guns in America was about to be issued as this was being written. I’ll bet it contains a uniform nationalized system for background checks, mental health screening of applicants for gun permits, more stringent prosecution of criminal gun-traffickers, etc.
It’s enough to push the National Rifle Association into a full-blown episode of paranoia: def.; 1. a (mental)disorder characterized by systemized delusions ascribing hostile intentions to others; often linked with a sense of mission. 2. Baseless or excessive distrust of others.
Here is what the NRA has to consider: Documentation through history, and methodical, near-scientific proof that black folk are just naturally superior to all the other races of people (evidenced by their survival of the chattel slave system’s unique brutality that was designed to dehumanize them by whipping, castration, rape, denial of their tribal language and culture and all remnants of their African heritage; forced destruction of family units, etc.), and further evidenced by their continued survival and actual thriving under Western apartheid.
More evidence? Here it is: the poetry of Phillis Wheatley; the oratorical genius of Frederick Douglass, the bravery of Sojourner Truth, the political finesse of W.E.B. Du Bois; the power and grace of Jesse Owens currently being channeled by Gabby Douglas; the chutzpa of Tiger Woods; the entire collection of NBA players; the analytical brilliance of Malcolm Gladwell and Derrick Bell; the honed spirituality of Maya Angelou and the spirit-guided inspirations of Toni Morrison; the fierce predictions of James Baldwin and the subtle warnings of August Wilson; the creative images of W.O. Tanner, Romare Bearden and Kehinde Wiley; and the scientific inquiries of Charles Drew.
Those are just a few who refused to be annihilated despite all the methods that have been devised to do just that.
It must be true then that the descendants of slaves have been waiting patiently for 300 years to pass by in order to rise up and simply take over the U.S.A. and get theirs! And just what is it that they’re going to get?
The recently released film Django Unchained has got people talking about the comeuppance of black folk by use of excessive (gun) violence against the white oppressor and has created a buzz around the country — the world — about the facts and figures of the American experiment with enslaving black folk that belies the general peacefulness of blacks for so long.
How scary is that for the NRA? The Native Americans might even join them. Oh, no, the Mexicans too?
This paranoia is additionally supported by the fact that these black/colored folk just won’t die or go away — back to Africa, back across the border or even stay on the reservations.
What better proof of that coalition than the last presidential election?
The NRA has doubled down and is pushing for more guns — in the schools, in the hands of “responsible gun owners” — and is urging that the Second Amendment grow even longer teeth with wider support from across the country of fearful citizens.
And just who are these citizens?
While the NRA officially states that it does not maintain a demographic analysis of its members’ race, ethnicity or gender, there are many anecdotal comments from its members and published observations from people who have attended their various conventions to support the impression of a lack of diversity in the organization. One of the current leading criticisms — weaknesses — of the NRA is that it does nothing to promote its agenda to, or recruit, “minorities,” including women.
We know how perceptions usually always play larger than reality, so it is a pretty safe bet to say that the makeup of the NRA is that of an old white men’s club.
That being said, the NRA’s reason to be more fearful and distrustful gains more support against the brazen depiction of what could/should happen once the freed black (man) gets a horse, some guns and a notion that he has a right to his woman/wife! In 1858. In 2013. Ever!
OMG!
It is no wonder that there is a renewed call for more guns in the hands of the good guys of the NRA and their ilk.
Think of it.
Django has been unchained!
Antonia Williams-Gary may be reached at toniwg@bellsouth.net
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