There are 3 things that are known to be true in America today;
1. White men have committed more mass shootings than any other racial group.
2. There has been 17 school shootings where someone was harmed or killed in 2018 so far.
3. Black activists fighting for the same change and gun control have not received the same support as white students protesting on behalf of recent school shootings.
School shooting survivors like Emma Gonzalez, David Hogg, Jaclyn Corin, Cameron Kasky, and Alex Wind have been provided a platform to express their anger with the lack of gun control in schools. They have even been given verified social media accounts and named leaders of the Never Again movement. Meanwhile, protesters of the Black Lives Matter movement continue to be disregarded. Gun control activism has taken over the country following several school shootings alone this year. But where is the all-inclusive outrage as black people are disproportionately being killed by guns across the country? While we fight for better legislation and protection, we cannot exclude the community who is most affected by gun violence.
According to The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report published in the journal Pediatrics, African American children have the highest rates of firearm mortality overall with 4.1 per 10,000, which is 10 times higher than the rate for white children at 0.4 per 100,000.
In 2018, there has been 40 shooting victims between 0 and 16 years of age in Chicago, 4 resulted in homicide. In 2017, there were 246 shooting victims between the ages 0 and 16, and 38 resulted in homicides.
With a population of just over 600,000, Baltimore had a total of 343 homicides in 2017, or about 56 for every 100,000 people, setting the per capita record for homicides. And other cities like Memphis, Detroit, St. Louis, New Orleans, and more face similar rates of violence.
Black communities fighting violence deserve the same support as students that led gun control movements. Because the fear of being harmed or killed by gun violence is constant in several black communities as well. The March For Our Lives rally this past Saturday had an amazing turnout. Protesters of all races and ages were able to come together to express their anger with gun violence in America. I’m happy the protesters in Washington were not met with rubber bullets and tear gas like the people of Ferguson were during a peaceful protest for the death of Mike Brown. I’m happy the rally included black children who could now represent the voices of black communities that went unheard. Maybe now black people committed to social justice can stop being used as pawns to achieve change that ultimately benefits white people. And now that white students are enraged, maybe now America can pay attention to gun violence everywhere. Maybe now the same protesters from the March For Our Lives rally, with their hands in the air and the words written on their hands “Don’t Shoot” and “Never Again”, can come together with Black Lives Matter protesters that have been conveying the same message since the death of Trayvon Martin 6 years ago. Maybe now that America is coming together to take the Never Again activists seriously, America can also come together to take Black Lives Matter activists, who are fighting for change as well, seriously.
And maybe now it can be #NeverAgain for black communities with alarming proportions of deaths due to gun violence.
#NeverAgain for black men who are 3 times more likely to be killed by police than white men.
#NeverAgain for black women killed by guns and black children killed in crossfires due to senseless violence in their communities.
Black people have been on the frontline continuously fighting for social justice and change, to end gun violence perpetrated within their communities as well as gun violence executed by police harming their communities. If all lives matter, will it finally be #NeverAgain for them too? I hope the leaders of the March For Our Lives movement, with platforms big enough to bring America together and gain the sympathy and support of millions, continue to sincerely include black voices. I hope all communities can find a resolution together. And if we finally do see gun control in legislation, I hope that black communities are not forgotten in their fight for justice.