much of which is not necessarily
his fault, which puts the nail in his
psychological coffin.
I don’t like guns. I do not even like
seeing them on police officers in
holsters, or, as of recently during
a train ride home from school, in
their hands, looking far grander
and far more lethal than is likely
necessary for the situation. The
comfort of these ordinary officers
with these guns – assault rifles the
likes of which I have only seen in
terrible movies and in violent video
games – is the disturbing nature
of our society. The police must
now arm themselves to be at an
advantage to the society, which
is now heavily armed, too. Our
preoccupation with armament has
led to the necessity of a hyperarmed paramilitary corps you can
reach, if you dare, by dialing 911.
Depending on where you live,
that force will be at your home in
minutes, ready to shoot.
Unlike so many millions, I do not
like the idea of needing a gun
to protect myself. The notion of
“judged by 12 over carried by six”
prioritizes the murder of others
over the murder of the self, instead
of addressing the issue of murder
as a social phenomenon. Standyour-ground laws propose violence
as a response to violence and allow
individuals to put justice in their
own hands. Yet, above all, standyour-ground laws assume that
human beings exist without biases,
that our culture is not ruled by a
set list of types and molds through
which Americans see the world at a
great and alienating distance. They
assume that average Americans
are capable of thinking rationally
about the world around them while
allowing a media culture which
perpetuates the dehumanization
of those so often caught in the
racist crosshairs. Michael Dunn was
convicted for the murder of Jordan
Davis by a jury of his peers. He will
enjoy the rest of his days on Earth
in the confinement of a cell for the
premeditated murder of a young
Black man who he perceived to
be a threat to his own life, a life
he believed, implicitly, to matter
more than that of Jordan Davis.
And although this case resulted in
a sense of triumphant justice, the
jury’s verdict will not revive Jordan,
nor will it make the wounds which
his death has left in parents’ hearts
sting any less.w
Photo by Jasmine Rashid ‘18
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