Gun Violence in Our Communities -
When Will It Cease?
Alvin C. Romer
Communities all across America are in trouble, if not besieged with quite a bit of angst relative to violence attributing to rampant gun use. If you’re reading this, know that another child, young adult or someone in the wrong place is being victim, or has been victimized by a shooting. Just recently an off duty security guard magnified the horrific scenario in Orlando at a gay night club. Armed with a semi-automatic rifle and a high caliber Glock pistol, Omar Mateen killed forty-nine people on June 12th of this year (2016). Although I used the adjective ‘horrific’ it pales against the fact that more American civilians have died by gunfire in the past decade than all the Americans who were killed in combat in the Second World War. Unbelievable perhaps, but all too true. The sadistic killer’s action gory as it was in most respects, and quite commonplace in others because gun violence has produced the hundredth-and-thirtieth mass shootings so far this year. One single mass killing may prove to be class action in nature, but in communities there are sufferings with a singleness of mind, but with dire consequences. Whether pre-meditated or as a result of drive-by shootings it’s a serious epidemic permeating our comfort zones with no answers that people are willing to discuss for fear of retaliatory measures. As a parent, educator and concerned leader in my church and community, I’m no different from anybody else who may be disgusted about the young folk of this generation and their fascination with guns. Gone are the days when the ‘village’ was prominent in making sure that there were strength in numbers where it
took one to truly raise a child. Nowadays, I’m
scratching my head trying to find out what went wrong and what is needed to turn the tables and stem the tide. If you are like me, you too should be concerned and worried, and if you think that it has no bearing on you think again: whatever happens in any ethnic community ramifications and stigmas are often portrayed in a stereotypical fashion that tend to color the whole canvas with darker colors blacker and blue! If for no other reason than to band together and form coalitions, now is the time for us as a unified force to make a difference. How can you make a difference? By standing up, taking a stand and lending support to any grassroots effort to show that you care.
Recently, in South Florida, I as able to help implement a grass roots effort to make a difference. Entitled, ‘Enough is Enough,’ we took it to the streets by addressing gang members and anybody who felt as we did that guns should not be part of taking lives needlessly. Alas, there were quite a few that took our issue to heart. But my eyes were wide open and my mind was quite active. Let me share this with you: I am walking up the main drag in my neighborhood and a stone’s throw from my front door here in Miami. It is an overcast day with rain threatening the horizon. Is this an omen relative to the concerns I have contributing to the subject of this correspondence? I respond with a resounding YES! Just a few steps from my home, there are a few young boys no older than 17 manning the corner and appearing to be hawking something for sale. Street corner drug sales has been problematic for years and out of control.