Depending upon which side of the fence that you sit, the South has either an admirable or a disgraceful gun culture. Yes, it is a fact that Southerners cherish their Second Amendment freedoms. Sadly, it is also true that the South gave birth to American gun control as a means of depriving newly emancipated citizens of their rights.
Heroic and courageous non-violent
resistors such as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King are the face of the civil
rights movement in U.S. textbooks.
However, Jim Crow might still be the law of the land if not for the
efforts of gun toting Black men. These “crazy negroes” rode shotgun for the civil rights front men and stood toe to
toe with the Klan and hostile sheriffs alike.
In his new book, This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get You
Killed,
Professor Charles E. Cobb of Brown University tells How Guns Made the Civil Rights Movement Possible which happens to
be the book’s subtitle. Cobb’s premise
is that civil rights movement would never have succeeded without the help of
some badass armed Blacks who were willing to shed White blood to protect their
rights.
According to Cobb even the patron
saint of non-violence, MLK, filled his home with firearms to protect himself
and his family. Friends described King’s
house as “an arsenal”.
A quick
search on Amazon will reveal that Cobb’s book is not the first of its
kind. Titles such as We Will Shoot Back: Armed Resistance
in the Mississippi Freedom Movement, Negroes and the Gun: The Black
Tradition of Arms, Negroes with
Guns and The Deacons
for Defense: Armed Resistance and the Civil Rights Movement.
Free societies are founded upon the principle that
it is immoral and unacceptable to initiate physical force against one’s neighbor in
order attain control over his person or property. The corollary to this is that a person is
perfectly within his or her rights to defend themselves against such aggression. Thus there is no inherent contradiction in
being a peace loving, law abiding citizen and a gun owner who is prepared to
defend himself.
Now the nonaggression principle may be great but as
e.e. cummings says, ““Not for philosophy
does this rose give a damn.” High
minded philosophers and well intentioned activists will fall prey to thugs
unless they are they have a bit of steel under the velvet glove.
Therefore it should be alarming that the political
party that purports to advance the interests of African Americans seeks to
disarm them. Does this party really
improve the condition of anyone when its core message is don’t worry, be happy,
we will:
·
Feed you
·
Shelter you
·
Educate you
·
Heal you
·
Protect and defend you
…and all you need do is to keep voting for us. Are a kept people a free people? Is this what the fighters for Black
empowerment fought for, a nation of Black Sheeple, disarmed and dependent on
their keepers?
We know that public housing has failed the African
American community and destroyed communities.
We know that the welfare system has failed them and destroyed
families. We know that public education
has failed them. And we know that urban
police and the courts are inadequate to protect them.
Poor, inner city minorities find themselves disarmed,
docile and dependent on Democrat demagogues. A vivid example of this was when
then Presidential candidate
Bill Clinton publicly dissed rapper Sister Souljah and humiliated Jesse Jackson. Clinton cleverly calculated that he could
dump on some high profile Blacks in order to shore up his White Union a Soccer
Mom support. He could do so because he
believed Blacks would not withdraw their support from Democrats no matter how
poorly they were treated. History proved
him correct.
Therefore, it is imperative that the African
American community reclaim its proud heritage as an armed people who will stand
up against thuggery in the streets, in the squad car, in city hall and in the
state house. It is through asserting
their God given right to defend their homes and their neighborhoods that they
can bring the peace and safety back into their communities. It is only in peace and freedom that
prosperity can take root and a people move forward.
“Blessed are the
peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” (Mt 5: 9) It is time to admit that peace requires good
men and women to be armed and willing to defend what is rightfully theirs.
Related
Posts:
God,
Guns and Misplaced Faith
Who
You Gonna Call?
Subscribe to the 2 Percenter blog by going to http://feedage.com and entering 2percentpov into the Search box on top -choose your favorite reader.
Connect through:
OnFire Radio Show
"Half the people are stoned and the other half are waiting for the next election.
Half the people are drowned and the other half are swimming in the wrong direction."
- Paul Simon
Half the people are drowned and the other half are swimming in the wrong direction."
- Paul Simon
No comments:
Post a Comment