It's Not About the Guns

It was never about the guns. Before guns, there were crossbows and swords and spears and clubs and the force of the human body. Every one of them has the capacity to do the same thing: kill. It never mattered what weapon was used. Obviously some were more expedient and effective than others in completing the desired task, but the task would be completed regardless of the method. As the saying goes, guns don't kill people--people kill people.

The gun that shot Michael Brown is not responsible for his murder. The person whose wretched fingers curled around the trigger and pulled--he is responsible, and he alone. Well, if he didn't have a gun in the first place... Yes, this is true. If Darren Wilson was not in possession of firearms at the time (he was also carrying mace, but found an unarmed teenager too much of an imminent threat to his precious life to use something as harmless as mace), perhaps Michael would not have died by Wilson's gun shot that day. But if not then, it would have been a different time, place, and scenario. The next Darren Wilson wouldn't even use a gun. Just his own two arms. He would employ an illegal chokehold. The murderous hands would belong to Daniel Pantaleo, closing in around the neck of Eric Garner.

It was never about the weapon.

It should have at least been about the evidence. It should have at least been about the laws that are so often lauded by our government, praised as the pillars of our free country. It should have been about a fair trial. And an unbiased jury. It should have been about the truth. But it was not.

Even when the murder of Eric Garner was filmed, which is the closest we can get to witnessing something firsthand, it meant nothing. Not even when the chokehold used was illegal in its own right, independent of the fact that its use resulted in death. Not even an indictment. What happened to the law about when you kill a person, you have to face the consequences? Oh, right, I forgot. When they wrote "person," it was understood that it was open to interpretation. The definition of "person" was deemed to be at the discretion of the perpetrator. When Darren Wilson shot Michael's surrendered, unarmed body, he did not see a person. He saw a "demon." Well, there you have it. These laws very clearly refer to HUMANS ONLY. Demonic law is a whole other system. You'll have to consult the Grand Jury of the Underworld.

It was never about the guns or the body cameras or the laws. It is about the inability of some to recognize others as fellow human beings, comrades in the slug race to the abyss. This inability is a disease of the mind, a very serious, very dangerous, often lethal flaw. Racism is not an opinion. Opinions are only valid when there is more than one side of an issue. Black people are people. That is a fact. Any "belief" insinuating otherwise is not an opinion--it is a direct act of violence. To say that Black lives do not matter is not only a direct act of violence, it is an act of genocide. The words themselves do not literally kill Black people, the same way guns do not literally kill people. But the words are a result of a deeply, dangerously, horrifyingly, blatantly racist society. This world breeds racist people, who then perpetuate the "idea" that Black people are somehow less than, that they are not people, that their lives have no value or worth, that they are disposable. It does not matter if you never raise a hand or a gun to a Black person--if you think their lives do not matter as much as yours, you are committing genocide. You are contributing to the erasure and execution of a targeted group of people.

I am not going to argue why racism is wrong (to say the least), or say "we all bleed red" to try to justify the worth of Black peoples' lives. Not only would it be degrading, but they have told you themselves, a million times. They are alive every day, fighting back, proving their worth again and again, more than anyone should ever have to.

Do not blame the guns or the laws. Do not jump for joy when three hundred million dollars are going to be spent on body cameras that will film police brutality that has already been caught on camera and deemed useless evidence. Blame the people. Blame the society. And then go out there, and fucking change it.