John W. Whitehead, president of the Rutherford Institute and author of the book Battlefield American: The War on the American People, has written an important and very timely article at The Greenville Post. It is entitled “Enough is Enough: Police Violence Plagues America.”
The ghastly stories about unarmed black citizens, such as Stephon Clark,
being gunned down by police officers have become an almost daily occurrence.
It is unconscionable. It has to change.
Below are the article’s closing paragraphs. I encourage you to read the entire piece:
“You want to save lives?
“Start by doing something to save the lives of your fellow citizens who are being gunned down every day by police who are trained to shoot first and ask questions later.
“You want to cry about the lives lost during mass shootings?
“Cry about the lives lost as a result of the violence being perpetrated by the U.S. government here at home and abroad.
“If gun control activists really want the country to reconsider its relationship with guns and violence, then it needs to start with a serious discussion about the role our government has played and continues to play in contributing to the culture of violence.”
The gun control movement needs to confront this looming shadow of an increasingly militarized police force that all too frequently (and needlessly) resorts to deadly force, especially when confronting people of color.
Thankfully, African-American students at Parkland High School are beginning to gain some attention as they describe their fears as black citizens living in an increasingly militarized America (here, here, and here, for only a few examples).
