Arkansas Politician Tells The Truth About Racist US Gun Laws

Richard Mellor
Afcme Local 444, retired

I had to get out of bed at 1:00 am to put this on our blog here.This is a very powerful and righteous condemnation of Stand Your Ground laws in the US and the implications of that in the South. For followers of the blog abroad Stand Your Ground Laws exist in a number of states and they exist in states where open carry is the law. Open carry means you can wear your gun in public. Stand Your Ground is a defense that you felt your life may be threatened or are in danger and you have a right not just to  remove yourself from a situation but to engage.

This all sounds very democratic but it is giving the average citizen the same rights that the US racist state gives it police and security forces. You "feel" your life may be in danger you can kill anyone and get away with it, it happens day in day out here.

Many black males in particular, have been murdered using this excuse. For those living outside the US, you might argue that well, can't black folks carry openly and use the same law? Of course they can, but the law is not equal in its application. Not only does the law and justice system have a class bias as it is written and upheld by representatives and institutions of capitalism, it is racially biased as well.  I completely understand this woman's anger here, in fact, it's amazing she is as restrained as she is. As I say I got out of bed I was so moved by her here, it makes me want to meet her, a genuine working class woman too. I have friends from Arkansas.

Trayvon Martin who was guilty of eating a bag of skittles in neighborhood that had a predator named Zimmerman who was acting as some sort of sheriff never found the courts very useful. There are just too many black folks murdered by the police and armed racists that it is a real crisis here in the US. This woman is speaking as a concerned parent more so than trying to make a political point. Those that question black folks concerns over this issue and the institutional racism they face in society deserve our condemnation. And how is walking around with a gun strapped to your hip not threatening, not bullying and intimidation. I am not a pacifist or opposed to gun ownership.  Does open carry and the macho cowboy Stand Your Ground Law really contribute to the creation of a safe and secure environment where we can debate and disagree over issues? No it does not, it is antisocial and racist. It's backward and barbaric and a conscious introduction of vigilante behavior. What it does is that for all the media hype about individual rights in the US, it denies the individual, the right to protection by society and its institutions. And anyone that would be honest, knows that such vigilantism will negatively affect black folks most of all.