The United States is reeling from yet another mass shooting. No, not the one in Buffalo, where a hate-filled racist specifically drove to an African-American neighborhood to kill people. Not the church shooting in Laguna. Those were last week. This week’s mass shooting (yes, that’s a terrible thing to be able to say) was at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
This country clearly has problems, both with hatred and guns, and they primarily stem from our political system. We have politicians offering up “thoughts and prayers” every time who then refuse to consider legitimate gun control efforts or address the increasing issue of domestic terrorism.
Our churches, our schools, even our grocery stores are not safe. What can I do? What can you do?
First and foremost, vote. If you feel a need to be a single-issue voter, let it be a vote to let the living keep living. After all, our Declaration of Independence listed “life” as the first of our inalienable rights. That means remembering that our 2nd amendment includes the phrase “well regulated Militia,” and letting every person who wants a gun buy one does not constitute “well-regulated.”
I don’t think that’s enough. We can work to change our political system with our votes, but we also need to work against hatred. If you read Heather Cox Richardson’s daily letters (and you should), she recently explained the history of the extreme polarization that we’re seeing between our political parties. Essentially, starting in 1990, certain political leaders worked to deliberately vilify the opposition simply for being members of the opposing party, urging party members to label their opponents in deliberately negative terms – using hashtags before they were even invented. This has been exacerbated by radio and TV talk show hosts who have promoted hatred, not necessarily because they believe it, but because it improves their ratings.
Your Democratic or Republican neighbor is not evil simply because they have different political views than you do. Your neighbor who appears to be Middle Eastern (and saw a rise in racism against them after 9/11), Asian (with a rise in racism during the pandemic), or any other nationality has no more to do with their homeland government’s decisions – assuming they’re not US citizens – as you do with ours, and certainly nothing to do with a virus that has killed millions. The United States has been a country of immigrants since the first Europeans invaded and stole land from the Native Americans, and the portrayal of our country as a place where anybody can prosper (however accurate) will always draw new people.
Like revolutions, the United States as a country was built on hope and on the concept that all men people are created equal. Take the time to meet your neighbors, especially if they look or sound different from you. You can combat hatred by learning to appreciate the differences in people around you.