2nd Amendment Archives - Institute of the Black World 21st Century
How Slave Owners Dictated the Language of the 2nd Amendment
By IBW21Commentaries/Opinions, Reparations
Southern aristocrats wanted armed militias mainly to control their slaves. So they wanted language in the new nation's constitution protecting that right. By Nicolaus Mills, Daily Beast — Mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, have highlighted once again the importance of the Supreme Court's 2008 landmark decision District of Columbia v. Heller declaring that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to possess a gun. Writing for the Court's…
The NRA Is a Symptom of the Racism That Drives Violence in the United States
By William Rivers Pitt, Truthout — In the immediate aftermath of the massacres in Gilroy, El Paso and Dayton, Donald Trump actually began to contemplate doing a tiny sliver of the right thing. In doing so, he ran straight into the teeth of the Second Amendment, without doubt, the most lethally misunderstood corner of the U.S. Constitution. On the Sunday after the attacks, Trump reached out to Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin and Republican Sen.…
The Murder of Markeis McGlockton — Staying Away from Florida to Stand Our Ground
By IBW21Vantage Point Articles
Vantage Point Vignettes Comments and Commentary by Dr. Ron Daniels — How many Black men and women must be murdered under Florida's infamous "stand your ground law" before Black people across the nation will "stand our ground" by agreeing to "stay away from Florida?" Markeis McGlockton is the most recent Black person to be murdered in the "sunshine state" by a White man, Michael Drejika. This arrogant gun toting White…
Black activist jailed for his Facebook posts speaks out about secret FBI surveillance
By IBW21News & Current Affairs
Exclusive: Rakem Balogun spoke out against police brutality. Now he is believed to be the first prosecuted under a secretive US effort to track so-called 'black identity extremists' By Sam Levin, The Guardian — Rakem Balogun thought he was dreaming when armed agents in tactical gear stormed his apartment. Startled awake by a large crash and officers screaming commands, he soon realized his nightmare was real, and he and his…
Is it time for black women in America to take up arms?
An interview with scholar-activist Kimberlé Crenshaw, who coined the term 'insersectionality,' on gender, race and armed militancy. By Nimmi Gowrinathan — For most American audiences, the female fighter exists in a land far, far away. To consider female militancy in this country, in our movements, requires a reckoning: the need to see police brutality against black women as state violence, checkpoints in school cafeterias as militarization, and the death rates…
Why Focusing on People of Color Will Help the Movement for Gun Control Succeed
By Sonali Kolhatkar — Any discussions of gun violence and the regulations needed to curb it are incomplete unless they include an analysis of how racism plays a role. Government data show that "black Americans are, on average, eight times more likely to be killed by firearms than those who are white." Gun violence by police against ordinary Americans also disproportionately affects people of color—a fact that the Black Lives Matter movement has…
What Happens When You Put Young People of Color at the Center of #NeverAgain
Gun control becomes only one part of the larger solution to violence in our communities. By Lori Bezahler — The students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School have catalyzed a social movement demanding an end to gun violence. While their leadership and moral authority have undoubtedly taken the movement to another level, youth-led activism against gun violence is not, in fact, new. In Florida in 2013, for example…
Naomi Wadler, 11: I Speak for Black Girls Victimized by Guns Whose Stories Don't Make the Front Page
She was the voice of the voiceless at the March for Our Lives. Hundreds of thousands rallied for gun control in Washington, D.C., today for the March for Our Lives. The march was organized by survivors of last month's school shooting in Parkland, Florida. Speakers included 11-year-old Naomi Wadler of Alexandria, Virginia. NAOMI WADLER: Hi. My name is Naomi, and I'm 11 years old. Me and my friend Carter led…
The Adults Have Failed, So Students Are Leading the Way
It was young people who made possible the largest gun-control rally in a generation. By George Zornick — Sydney Neal was already planning to attend the March for Our Lives in Washington when tragedy struck her community on Tuesday. A student opened fire at the nearby Great Mills High School, killing 16-year-old Jaelynn Willey and wounding another student. On Saturday morning, Neal, the president of the association of student councils…
The gun reform debate has largely ignored race. Black students made sure the school walkouts didn't.
Students of color highlighted police violence, poverty, and more during the National School Walkout. By P.R. Lockhart — In Atlanta, high school students took a knee in protest. In Baltimore and Chicago, teenagers called for programs to address poverty and mental health services. And in Brooklyn, students demanded that the police system be reformed. Across the country, many students of color who participated in the National School Walkout on Wednesday…