A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep
and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Yes, the title of this essay is meant in a figurative and literal sense. The case of Marissa Alexander – an African woman - who was sentenced to 20 years in prison in Jacksonville, Florida, proves the figurative argument. Alexander was sentenced in the spring of 2012 for shooting a gun at the ceiling to deter an abusive former partner from attacking her. This sentencing occurred just two short months after George Zimmerman killed Trayvon Martin. Surely you recall how white people all over the U.S. – from klan members living in tents to Florida police and legislators –rallied around Zimmerman claiming Florida’s “Stand your Ground” law as Zimmerman’s justification for stalking young Martin and killing him in cold blood. A grade school child could easily line up the circumstances surrounding Alexander’s case with Zimmerman’s and determine that Alexander was the innocent party defending herself against attack while Zimmerman completely provoked the
scenario where he killed Martin. Yet Alexander goes to prison and Zimmerman remains free. To Africans and Native peoples this result is no surprise at all. You see, this is usually how the U.S. injustice system works. It’s why Richard Pryor correctly stated that “if you go to the courthouse looking for justice –that’s just what you’ll find – just us!” It’s also why the Second Amendment isn’t worth the paper it’s written on as it applies to African people. This is in a figurative sense so now let’s discuss the literal sense.
For true students of history it’s suggested you study the Second Amendment as it’s written (displayed at the beginning of this
article). This document was a national document. Everyone knows that, but there’s a good reason why this amendment says “state” instead of “country” when it reads “a well regulated militia being necessary for the security of a free state.” The
reason was to preserve the slave patrols in the Southern states. These patrols were necessary to preserve the institution of slavery, and later the sharecropper system, which was the life blood of the South. Without those patrols, the threat of
slave revolts was imminent and any politician who expected to be elected or re-elected in the South, had to have a strong pro-slave patrol platform. Researchers can easily determine that James Madison’s original version of this amendment did include the word “country,”but this was objected to by Patrick Henry and others who knew it would be necessary to protect state rights to preserve the rights of the slave patrols to be armed. This struggle over “state”and “country” helps explain why “state rights” is still code word today for racist, segregationist policy, particularly in the Southern states. Some white people may not know this or be confused about it, but African people know this all to well.
So the truth is that just like everything else, the Second Amendment never had anything to do with protecting citizen’s rights against “government tyranny” and there is absolutely no proof to substantiate that despite the continued perpetuation of that lie by the white supremacist National Rifle Association (NRA) and other white supremacist organizations (and if you
are so confused that you don’t understand how an organization like the NRA can have token African members and be white supremacist, there’s probably no reason for you to read any further).
No one has never attempted to take guns out of white people’s hands, but those same so-called guns rights advocates take a much different perspective on gun rights when the discussion turns to supporting the rights of Black and brown people to arm and defend themselves. The record is clear that the NRA stood firmly in favor of the Mulford Act in the California Legislature in 1967. This law – introduced by Republican Assemblyman Don Mulford – forbade the carrying of loaded firearms in the state of California and Mulford himself was very clear that this law was aimed specifically at the Black Panther Party which
was engaged in active armed police patrols at that time.
So in a figurative and literal sense the Second Amendment is nothing more than the preservation of white supremacy.
White people in the U.S. cling to their guns because they have been taught that they must be prepared for the eventual ultimate slave revolt that is 500+ years in the making. This fear is so pervasive and ingrained in the cultural fabric of this society – not just the South - that these so-called gun advocates will practically tolerate any type of gun atrocities to insure they can assess their guns. The solid irony in this is that the slave revolt is most certainly coming, but hopefully it will be much more than a simple insurrection. Hopefully, it will be a well-planned aspect of the revolutionary process that will involve millions of all shapes, sizes, and colors. I say aspect because those in the know already understand that the most critical part of the revolutionary process is already happening right now. The struggle over the hearts and minds is waging right now and as more and more people wake up, all the guns in the world won’t stop the righteous from inheriting the Earth.