We Have Become Numb to Violence...

We Have Become Numb: There is so Much Violence in America…

By Brother Tracy Gibson...

We have all become numb to death, murder, rape, violence--the frequency of blood letting in North America. We often have the TV on as we eat dinner. We listen to and watch the violence on local and national news reports at dinner time. As we chew our collard greens--pass the Turkey Pot Roast please oh, and the mashed yam potatoes--we are bound to hear of any number of murders, rapes and serious beatings in North America. We continue eating as if we were at MacDonald's. This numbness is dangerous. We should all be deeply concerned about the raising tide of violence in our inner cities such as that being perpetrated against Black youth (Especially male) in Chicago. And we should all be equally concerned about the proliferation of illegal hand guns throughout the country. It is the hand guns that are killing people in inner cities, yet there is only talk about stopping assault weapons. WE NEED ACTION ON HAND GUNS!!!

When four White police officers were shot dead in a suburban coffee shop a while back outside of Tacoma, Washington, I was shocked I wanted to write about the terrible event. According to TV reports, all four of the officers had children and were married. One was a woman and they were all under 42 years of age—In what should have been the prime of their lives. The slain officers were: Tina Griswold, 40; Ronald Owens, 37; Sgt. Mark Renninger, 39; and Greg Richards, 42—According to reports in the New York Times. (Reported in a story in the New York Times from November 30, 2009 by William Yardley).

Within a week the culprit had been cornered and shot dead in a shoot out with officers, while the officers were all White and the alleged perpetrator Black, this sad event did not quell into a full blown race riot or racial incident. This may have been the only silver lining surrounding the terrible event. I am an outspoken opponent of police brutality, the abuse and profiling of Black male youth and Police corruption, BUT I DO NOT CONDONE THE WILLY, NILLY KILLING  OF POLICE OFFICERS!!!

It was a case of four senseless, brutal and outrageous murders carried out by Maurice Clemmons, 37, according to NYT reports. Mr. Clemmons apparently had a history of raping and least one child and committing a host of other crimes, but was released by then Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who commuted his long prison sentence.

Reports said Clemmons was a career criminal.

This kind and character of news event is taken in almost every month as we consume our evening meal. We rarely blink an eye or seem to care about the victims; the devastating impact such crimes have on the families of the deceased. The children of those officers now will be raised by one parent and other family members just because someone decided to shoot and kill their mother or father.

What goes through the head of people who use guns to shoot, injure and kill other people for no good or Godly reason? Don’t they realize and understand that it took a million years of development--evolution  from Our Egyptian and Ethiopian Fathers and Mothers--to bring that person [that one person]—who they so senselessly and ruthlessly killed—onto this planet and into this reality as a thinking, functioning, contributing, working vital human being? I don’t care if the officers here were White or with green and white pokadotts, this is about humanity, decency and doing what Spike Lee called ``The Right Thing.’’ Cold blooded, out right murder is NOT the right thing, under any circumstances... Mr. Clemmons must have had a troubled; tumultuous childhood—but that doesn’t excuse his behavior. He should have never been released in the first place. Huckabee, a presidential candidate in 2008 reportedly said Mr. Clemmons was only 16 when he was sentenced and he (Huckabee) could not keep him in the prison system all his life after he had committed his early crimes at such a young age. When Huckabee commuted Clemmon’s sentence there were protests by Arkansas prosecutors. And rightly so. I for one, as a Black Gay man, feel totally guilty about a Black man having killed those officers.  Some might want to call me an Uncle Thomas or a fool for caring about police, but you can go right ahead and call me that.  I LOVe all people and I give us all a chance.  But that Brother, Mr. Clemmons, was dead wrong. Would He have been as dangerous is He had had a job... Would He have been as dangerous if He had had some economic opportunities... We may never know, but that is a good possibility.... He certainly needs mental treatment and I am against the death penalty, even for Mr. Clemmons... Nothing will bring back those officers and the guilt feelings I have as a Black Gay man because the Brother was a Brother will linger for years in the back of my mind.  We as Black people should NEVER be bellicose in our thinking about life--even White conservative life or the life of police officers of ANY colour.  

But the open proliferation of guns is also part of the problem of the rising violence. If you have a few extra dollars, guns are very easy to acquire in North America—with or without a gun license. Why do 2nd Amendment Rights protect people who want to buy as many as 20 guns a day? When is enough fire power enough? Since when does it take a sub machine gun or other new-tech automatic weaponry to go hunting for dear or buffalo?

Moreover, we also quickly forget about little Black children like Thomas Childs who was gunned down a few years ago in Philadelphia when he got caught in the cross fire between drug dealers. Thomas Childs’ life was just as worth while and vital as the lives of those officers. He didn’t even make it to 42 or even 20. Yet the media attention to the killings in Washington State received a lot more ink and attention...

Police officers came from hundreds of miles to say goodbye to the fallen officers—and rightly so. But one thing’s for sure I’m tired and I know you are tired of saying goodbye to anyone who was killed in senseless gun violence.

But we all have to be more alert about possible violence, speak out against it and read some of the information on Web Pages such as www.Bradycampaign.org (This is a web page and activism site dedicated to promoting reasonable gun laws for our country and detailing much needed information about the gun lobby, anti-gun legislation and so forth). WE MUST learn the latest about what we as U.S. Citizens can do to stem the tide of violence against other innocent U.S. Citizens due to senseless gun violence...