THIS COUNTRY DEMANDS MORE, EXPECTS MORE

Article originally published in the East Tennessean Monday, February 19, 2018, edition.

I feel like Bill Murray in the movie “Ground Hog’s Day.” Murray is a journalist reporting on small-town America and keeps waking up stuck in the same day. Except instead of a rodent looking for his shadow on a superstitious holiday in February, there is another mass shooting in America at a school for adolescence. There are reported dead, injured and a young shooter with mental health issues.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, now joins Sandy Hook, Columbine, Virginia Tech and many others on a growing list of infamous schools.

Republicans are sending up thoughts and prayers; Democrats are calling for stricter gun control; and once again, social media feeds reflect the ignorant divide of the nation’s political parties.

President Donald J. Trump addresses the nation following the recent mass shooting in Florida.
(Photograph by Joyce N. Boghosian / the White House)

This shooting occurred weeks after a gunman terrorized a Kentucky school. Two students were killed in Kentucky and 14 injured. In Florida the tragedy is worse, 17 students and faculty have been slain and another 14 wounded.

Many across the nation are trying to figure out why. Why is this a continuing problem in the U.S.? Others are reeling in shock and debating on even attending school. Parents are confused about sending their young to receive an education or protect them by means of isolation.

A large social movement is gaining strength. Advocates want stricter access to firearms in order to prevent the next Parkland, Florida, which seems inevitable in the constant stream of news footage showcasing one school shooting after another. We as a culture are accepting this as a normalcy rather than setting differences aside to solve the real issues behind these events. It is clear through tone and statements from both sides that even media coverage seems to forget the victims and their families to raise a flag in support of or opposition to gun control.

Florida law permits someone of 18-years or older to purchase AR-15s, a rifle styled after military type assault weapons. They are used for hunting, sport and collecting by gun enthusiasts. Nikolas Cruz, the 19-year-old shooter, used one to murder his peers.

Is gun control the solution? Would stricter gun laws curb shootings like this?

In my opinion, the short answer is no. Stricter gun laws would do nothing to stop a person like this from harming others. The problem is multifaceted, and therefore the solution must be too. However, an update for sensible gun law reform needs to happen; either pass federal law or regulate state law.

The shooter in Florida bragged about planning this online, shown multiple warning signs of mental health issues and police were called to his home over a dozen times. How was he able to legally purchase this rifle at 18-years-old with these extenuating circumstances?

I cannot justify any reason this kid was able to purchase this firearm legally without training or screening. More strenuous background checks could have prevented this. Raising the age limit to purchase a firearm could have. Mandating mental health checks and supervised training before approving the purchase of the rifle could.

Many things could have prevented this, not just more gun control. Better education could have prevented this. Interpersonal communication could have prevented this. Recognizing the signs of mental illness and the reaching out of a deranged adolescence for attention could have prevented this. We as a nation need to recognize the multiple causes for mass shootings and treat the problems as a whole. A Band-Aid on a hemorrhaging artery will not stop the bleeding. In my opinion, that is what more gun control would be like.

We need to have more interpersonal communication, as in face-to-face speaking with one another. We need to teach our young that every life is precious and stop focusing on emphasizing oneself over all others. We need a boatload of better education.

When every person hunted for food, we as a culture had a deeper understanding and respect for firearms. We knew they could take life. We knew what the consequence for taking life was. We knew that all life was precious and there was an urge to protect thy neighbor as thy brother. We did not glorify cultures of violence and were taught there were other ways to solve problems. Children did not sit for hours playing video games that give rewards for killing the most people. Our movies were not inundated with celebrations of “heroes” that indiscriminately kill mass amounts of people in third-world countries.

There are many things that need to be done in the U.S. to curb our mass shooting pandemic. Children across the nation are scared to go to school. A place that should be a vestige of security has turned into the adolescent terrorist playground.

We must stop pointing the finger at guns and each other. We need to take a deep introspective look at our culture and recognize the causes as a whole. Until we do, we will continue to wake up to the same tragedy playing again and again.

What Happened to Respect in the U.S.?

This morning’s thoughts turn to respect. People are raised differently throughout the U.S. This is something that is clear from one individual to the next. One can argue that individuals influence those around them and in turn are influenced by others. Researchers have done many studies on this subject.

The way one speaks, and speaks to those around them, is one way that we influence others. Today I ask, what happened to speaking with respect to and about one another?

When I was young my father made sure that I spoke to him with respect. It wasn’t hard for the lessons to set in. Most, if not all, youth at the time were taught to “respect their elders.” This wasn’t long ago. I am a Millennial, albeit, just barely. I make the cut by 5 years. It did not matter who the adult was: a teacher, preacher or otherwise. I was taught to respect my elders and speak to any human being with respect, if only for the reason of them being human.

What has happened to this philosophy in the U.S.?

I have seen, on Social Media, a university professor whose comments were humorously and condescendingly contextualized toward a student, attending the school he works at, over a claim of oppression. He condemned her story and said that she was “ignorant” for her claim.

She is a Caucasian Conservative Republican claiming that she had recently began to be attacked for her political beliefs and the color of her skin. The professor is a Caucasian, assumingly, of a different political party. I am not condemning this professor’s actions or his claim that the student’s story is erroneous. I will, however, argue that his point could have been made with more respect for the woman.

Why is the norm becoming to reply with shouts when one disagrees with another?

Our leadership is one place that change could be initiated. President Trump is one individual that we see on the new-media shouting rhetoric contextualized with anger. Why not change the tone? I am reminded of an environmental slogan, “Think global, Act local.” The same applies to behavior; societal behavior change begins with the individual’s behavior.

The solution I propose is a simple one. I propose a call to action to all my readers and followers. I challenge you to wake up with a congenial disposition daily. One must challenge internally their will to not let the world change that disposition.

It is easy to blame others for your decisions and the consequences of those decisions. The world encourages in doing so. It is also challenging to accept failure and blame for most people.

One must face adversity with a smile and welcome the challenge. One must realize that the day-to-day makes you stronger, every day, even when the world tries to tear you down.

We as a society, as a nation, must stop shouting and challenging one another. We must sit down and realize that we are all human. We are all different and that those differences make us stronger. That to move forward, together, we must discuss hard issues with empathy toward one another and acceptance of each other’s faults, but with respect.

Featured Image Sourced from YouTube: Actor Jeff Daniels during opening scenes of HBO’s series, Newsroom.

 

 

 

Government and Civil Rights

The American Civil War is one of the most horrific times in U.S. history. Many people seem to not grasp what the war was over or why it started.

Many feel that upholding slavery was the primary reason why southern people of the U.S. wanted to succeed from the Union. They ignore the fact that the Southern States were not equally represented in government. They also ignore the fact that at the time of succession abolition of slavery was not on the government agenda.

Many Southern State Governments wanted to succeed because they felt they could better represent the people and the agricultural economy coming out of the region. Slavery was an issue that came about later within the presidential administration of Abraham Lincoln.

After the war ended the 14th Amendment was ratified by congress to truly free all the slaves in the U.S. Many new beginnings and new problems arose in the nation.

Freedmen now had opportunities they had not enjoyed before but the former slave owners did not want this. They felt that the white race was superior and that the freedmen would be a detriment to the nation.

Out of this dilemma came many possible resolutions but most seem to fall short. The Freedmen’ s Bureau and other organizations fought for civil rights. Almost from the beginning of Reconstruction.

Freedmen now had the tasking of starting a life. There were many different attempts that were unsuccessful as well.  Freedmen saw themselves as equal to their former owners. The former owners did not agree with this sentiment.

They key things to point out I am pointing out is that slavery was the first time that the government took upon the responsibility of a social issue. Many social issues were prevalent prior to the Civil War i.e. woman suffrage, slavery, immigration, and laborer rights to name a few.

Most of these issues got put aside when the war broke out so as not to divide the nation even more. Slavery however took center stage in 1863 when President Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation. Then pushed for the 14^th Amendment during reconstruction.

Although, this great atrocity was something that needed to be destroyed. No other time in American history had a President made a social issue the matter of the government. This led to repercussions that have reverberated throughout the history of the US.

From labor issues to woman suffrage the Federal Government has taken up arms on many issues and continue to do so today. State government laws are being stamped out by the U.S. Federal Government.

One cannot argue against the belief that slavery was an atrocity and needed to be ended. This issue needed to be shouldered.  Where, however, is the line in the sand for people to take personal responsibility today? The State Governments need to stand up and start making sensible laws as well.