Another mass shooting, this time in Charleston, South Carolina, seizes the agenda in the United States
The Confederate flag flying in South Carolina
This week’s shocking massacre in Charleston, when 21-year-old Dylann Storm Roof killed nine black churchgoers in a brutal attack, has once again raised the twin temperature-raising issues of gun control and race in the United States.
These incidences, these mass shootings are too common in the US. Every few months we seem to be reporting on such acts of violence. But this one is particularly troubling: a young man carried out a racially orientated crime, specifically targeting an iconic African-American church with a history associated with the civil rights struggle.
Reports of Roof’s interrogation and comments show he wanted his reasoning to be known — he even left some alive so they could tell others why he carried out the massacre. The legacy of racism and slavery — as we have seen this year in other high-profile incidents — continues to resonate across the US in so many ways.
In some places, it’s not even subtle. In South Carolina, where Wednesday’s attack took place, a Confederate flag still flies over the grounds of the Capitol’s grounds in Colombia. Some say it flies for heritage, not hate. But how must black people who were born and live in that state feel?
The topic of gun control has also come back to the fore. Hillary Clinton hinted at a new debate on Wednesday, but when Barack Obama addressed the nation, he sounded weary, resigned to the fact that nothing will change.
“At some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries,” he said. “It doesn’t happen in other places with this kind of frequency..”
Some say the flag flies for heritage, not hate. But how must black people who were born and live in that state feel?
Many on the right however criticized the president, arguing in the immediate aftermath of the attack that it was not the time to talk politics. Republican presidential candidates lined up to express their condolences and said it was time to mourn. Two minutes later they were attacking Obama and Clinton for even bringing up gun control, seemingly unaware they were now talking politics. Inevitably, the NRA popped up too, with one official online practically blaming the victims while defending the constitutional right to bear arms and suggesting more guns were, in fact, the answer.
All in all, a depressing state of affairs. A Democratic candidate positioning herself ahead of the election, a president resigned and a few Republicans who refuse to even contemplate having the discussion.
In truth, it is exactly the time to talk about this issue. The 24-hours news stations in the US are going to cover the issue incessantly enough anyway. Here are some facts that should inform the conversation:
In 2009, there were estimated to be 310 million guns in the United States for a population that today stands at around 319 million. A poll by the Small Arms Survey in the late 2000s concluded that “with less than five percent of the world’s population, the United States is home to roughly 35-50 per cent of the world’s civilian-owned guns.” And finally, three in every 100,000 people in the US die in a firearms homicide each year. Among wealthy nations, the next highest score on that list is Switzerland, with 0.75 people in every 100,000.
@urlgoeshere
An edited version of this column was published in the Buenos Aires Herald, on Sunday, June 21, 2015 as part of the ‘Perceptions’ series.
Link: http://buenosairesherald.com/article/192131/flag-of-hate-still-flies.