In America, Ja is Under the Gun
In our Nation, gun violence is the number one killer of children, ages 1-19. Since guns are considered to be for our protection, how does the (supposed) cure become the number one cause for the curse that is killing our youth? America is the only advanced nation where our children are more likely to be shot before they can legally become drunk drivers.
Black communities are devastated by the constant barrage of stray bullets that stroll up and down our inner-city streets. No one could argue that Brother Ja Morant’s behavior does anything to help us solve that problem.
At the same time though, rural suburban schools are shot into pieces every two weeks, and we have congressmen, all across our nation, sending out postcards holding assault rifles. Governor Brian Kemp was awarded the election in Georgia after he pointed a gun at a teenager in his television advertisement.
This reckless bravado of gun brandishing elected officials has done nothing to help stop our schools from being terrorized by mass shooters either.
As a gun owner myself, I think that culturally we have gotten away from the protective purposes of responsible gun ownership. We have allowed ourselves to become a society of residents who have romanticized our rifles until they have loved us to death.
As little boys, we were taught to never play with guns unless you were in a situation where you had to use them. Our father kept a shot gun in hooks over the door in our home and sometimes in hooks attached to the back window of our truck. We knew not to touch those weapons unless we were in danger or instructed to move them safely to another location.
Now we have these want to be gangsters in the halls of Congress and in the NBA hoisting up guns with no logical justifications. With firearms being the number one cause of death of our youth in America, we all have to become more accountable.
Although let me be clear, there is an obvious racial component and a double standard here as it pertains to who society really feels has the right to bear arms in America.
Ja Morant (a young black male) foolishly displayed a gun on an Instagram post and was punitively punished and suspended. While Brian Kemp (an older white man) foolishly pointed a shotgun at a kid in a commercial and was promoted to Governor.
We are a society that worships guns so much that we could care less that bullets are the number one killer of our children. When car accidents were the top killers of our kids, we implemented seat belt legislations because Mothers Against Drunk Driving got MADD!
However now, we just sit here waiting on the next school shooting (with our empty thoughts and inactive prayers). In truth, simply wondering who's going to save our bleeding children (instead of asking Jah what we can do to help) is not acting like “One Nation under God”. In contrast, America truly operates as if she is “One Nation under the Gun.”
In the next election cycle, we must vote like it is literally the “Ballot or the Bullet”. Happy birthday Brother Malcolm X!
Barnard Sims
5/19/2023
Photo of Ja Morant By Justin Ford/Getty Images
