Despite the ways that gun violence disproportionately affects communities that bear the scars of structural inequality, gun rights activists would have you believe that gun control of any kind represents the “real racism.”
To accept that the same crowd that opposes such things as Critical Race Theory, voting rights, and athletes kneeling on sidelines is genuinely concerned about protecting the liberties of Black Americans requires a level of mental gymnastics that would humble Simone Biles. The suggestion that underserved communities somehow benefit from a proliferation of firearms that feeds cycles of retaliatory violence is naïve at best. At worst, it is an act of gaslighting that purposely seeks to imperil Black lives.
This is not to say that as Black Americans we should not enjoy all the same guarantees that are afforded our white counterparts under the Second Amendment — we should hold America to all the lofty promises found in her Constitution.
At some point, though, we must come to terms with the fact that the firearm has done little to guarantee our freedoms and even less to protect our lives. At some point, we must acknowledge that the prevention of gun violence is one of the most pressing civil rights issues of our time. With so many lives in the balance, I would argue that point is now.
— Scott Charles in Black People Need to Break Up With the Second Amendment
