Article: Why African Americans May Own Guns

[Speedo66]

This is an opinion piece by a female African-American Harvard professor re: black ownership of firearms. She looks at the subject in a historical perspective, i.e., how many civil rights figures did and it seems to change her personal ideas on the subject. She also touches on the possible need for firearms in a societal breakdown.

In the article she mentions a few gun organizations I wasn't aware of such as the National African-American Gun Asso. and Black Guns Matter.

I think you'll find the piece an interesting read by an educated person working in an ultra liberal environment who allows for another viewpoint.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/09/...l?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage

 

[edwardware]

Saw that this morning. . . I have to say I'm disappointed that a self-proclaimed historian could be ignorant of the racial history of American gun control. That's a rather embarrassing bit of ignorance.

BTW: If you can't see the article, use a clean browser to see through the paywall.

 

[rust collector]

It was a thought-provoking article and well worth reading. The light begins to glimmer. Gun banning goes hand in hand with oppression and subjugation. The more folks stop the overheated rhetoric long enough to put those concepts together, the better.

 

[Speedo66]

The comments after the article are also worth reading. While a few of them are the usual Times parrots who think anyone who wants a gun is a criminal, there are many well informed pro gun responses, unusual in this paper.

 

[harrygunner]

The article has the feel of typical academic thinking.

The unspoken requirement is to present defensible positions, to get the "right" answer. Incorporating the realities of human low level, unthinking violence; unconsidered biases; human psychoses makes that hard.

I taught physics at a couple of upper world level universities. From that, I attended wine parties, or was involved in discussions where the world's problems were easily resolved. The common element was visceral avoidance of issues that complicate those "solutions".

After writing of clear needs for self-defense against well armed racists, she retreated to the impossible "solution", ridding the world of guns.

--

The positive, the article tells of minorities owning guns. The same media that neither owns guns nor knows gun owners write of minorities being against gun ownership, while neither being a minority nor knowing minorities.

 

[Walkalong]

The light begins to glimmer. Gun banning goes hand in hand with oppression and subjugation. The more folks stop the overheated rhetoric long enough to put those concepts together, the better.

Bingo.

 

[Deanimator]

The history of gun control in North America is the history of violent White supremacism and the efforts of its proponents to create for themselves a "safe working environment".

Regardless of your race, the police have no legal duty to protect you as an individual, and if not assigned as bodyguards, rarely the physical ability.

Historically, police "protection" of Black people has been problematic at best. During the 1919 Chicago race riot, the Chicago Police Department refused to protect the Black community from White rioters and arsonists like future Democrat Mayor, Richard J. Daley.. Had not returned Black doughboys like my great uncles taken up arms and defended their own community, I probably wouldn't be here.

If you want to subjugate someone, the first thing you do is disarm them.

 

[Walkalong]

If you want to subjugate someone, the first thing you do is disarm them.

Needs to be said over and over.

 

[GEM]

There's a pretty strong literature on the use of firearms in the Civil Rights movement. Later, I might come up with a reading list. Have things to do now.

The BBC has a good clip on such minority gun types: https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-47502573/are-these-america-s-least-likely-gun-owners

Having the Times have any positive things to say about guns and breaking the stereotypical demographic (pay attention NRA) is a good thing. So the article isn't perfect. Perfect is the enemy of the good.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

Don B. Kates, "Restricting Handguns: the Liberal Skeptics Speak Out", 1979, may be a bit dated, but includes accounts by civil rights activists on the use of gun control to repress self-defense by law-abiding minorities (and the useless of gun control in affecting criminal violence).

 

[roscoe]

There's a pretty strong literature on the use of firearms in the Civil Rights movement. Later, I might come up with a reading list. Have things to do now.

The BBC has a good clip on such minority gun types: https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-47502573/are-these-america-s-least-likely-gun-owners

Having the Times have any positive things to say about guns and breaking the stereotypical demographic (pay attention NRA) is a good thing. So the article isn't perfect. Perfect is the enemy of the good.

If only the NRA were a bit more proactive when opportunities arise on this point. Alas . . .

 

[paulsj]

Needs to be said over and over.

Couple of fine examples are the USSR under Bolsheviks and Germany under Adolf Hitler. Josef Stalin was one of the worst and an expert on how to use different ethnicities against one another. He was also very good about using his enemies to eliminate other opposition. For example after liberation of Ukraine men of fighting age were sent againt German lines with only brick in their hand.

 

[paulsj]

If only the NRA were a bit more proactive when opportunities arise on this point. Alas . . .

Many see the NRA as extreme right or at least it is presented as such, therefore, recruiting minorites for them is probably very difficult. Certain alt right groups or movements can serve as wonderful tool to help arm minorities.
Good example were clashes in Charlottesville Va where one person was killed and nember were injured. While not all that participated were bad or had bad intentions there were certainly bad actors in that mix.
The problem for law abiding stand up gun owner is that certain groups are more afraid of armed extremists than the government and that is why anti-tyranical government pro Second Amendment argument does not work.

 

[Waveski]

I recently saw a "Black Guns Matter" bumper sticker in traffic ; I jumped to the incorrect conclusion that it was a flippant spin on "Black Lives Matter" ... I am glad that I am now better informed.

 

[Sistema1927]

I wish that she, as a historian, had done more research on the racist nature of gun control in America and incorporated it into that article.