This weekend’s tragic events unfairly cut 6 UCSB students’ lives short and left 13 others injured. One shooter’s senseless, evil rampage tried to leave our Isla Vista community in utter darkness. But, with unity and strength we have banded together to prove that light shines on in the darkness, and the darkness will never put it out. We will live for those who no longer can, each day loving harder, laughing louder, and hugging tighter. For those whom we’ve lost, we will never forget, for their marks on UCSB are eternal—just like our love for them.
With the endless news trucks, continuous articles, and never-ending questions, I have realized that it is inherent to who we are as human beings to attempt to make sense of the world, categorizing people and events, and labeling everything around us. We are motivated by the dual threats of fear and the unknown to create constructs in order to make the world more easily understandable and predictable. We oftentimes utilize the futile principle of “blame,” scapegoating those involved in order to comprehend such unimaginable acts. Nevertheless, the blame cannot be placed on a single cop, parent, or psychiatrist, for this act was the sole responsibility of a single shooter. Though even spending our time blaming him for these atrocities is worthless. This was a senseless act, and the question of “Why?” will never be answered. Instead, we should be asking, “How?”—as in, “How can we honor those lost? And, how can we prevent future heinous acts?”
The media needs to develop a journalistic policy in which the shooter’s name is never revealed, his story is never told, and his infamous acts are never remembered. I no longer want to turn on the news, open the newspaper, or even log into my email account and see the shooter’s face, learn of his sociopathic story, see his illogical, misogynistic YouTube videos, or hear of his 147-page manifesto. I want to instead hear about the beautiful lives of the heroes we’ve lost, the status of those hospitalized, and the soft, gentle words from families and friends of the victims. I hope that everyone remembers the names, backgrounds, and faces of these victims, and knows nothing of this villain. For the villain seeks this type of infamy, attention, and inspiration to other heartless and gutless like him. We need to stop this attention, and redirect it towards the lives of the victims and the positive community outreach that has transpired in the past few days.
In addition to a new journalistic outlook, we need to look towards the larger issue of policy change. How many must die at the expense of a bullet and gun before we change the gun policy in this nation, and the rest of the globe? The answer is, in the words of Richard Martinez, “Not one more.” Each one of us has been touched by tragedy from gun violence, and now each one of us must honor those lost by taking a step to spread the word, build political momentum, and change the gun policy to prevent this act from ever repeating itself again. Not one more. Not one more will ever be the victim of a gunshot again. Not one more family member or friend will ever have to receive a phone call about their loved one being victimized by gun violence. Not one more tear will be shed about loved ones lost due to gun violence.
Friday, May 23rd marked a day in history for UCSB that will never be forgotten, as this was the day that 6 beautiful Gauchos were unfairly taken from us, and 13 others were left wounded. Yet, this day always marks the day that we chose to be courageous, unify, and rise against the hate, and decide that not one more will be taken from us—not one more will fall victim to such senseless acts. We chose to fight back with love, honor, and our voices that not one more life will ever be cut short. In mourning, in solidarity, we are Gauchos.