Trying to cool off the quick race trigger pull by the both of us, what exactly separates the Wiscosin mass shooting (with no deaths other than gunman) from the shooting last week downtown Rockford with 4 injured? One is called a mass shooting, the other just a regular shooting and 0 media attention
Is it that 1 happens during the daylight? Is it that the gunman didnt get away before cops showed up to take him out? Legit question looking for dialogue
As someone who is actually educated and well-researched in relative fields of study to this matter, I will do my best to explain this to you in a manner suitable for our current method of correspondence. That said, I would encourage you to take time to intellectually delve into this matter and read the findings of CREDIBLE and RESPECTABLE academics and researchers.
It is true that the FBI reports a higher number of gun-related homicides in areas highly populated by people of color.
For the sake of time I will set aside the important argument regarding the bias in the ways these numbers are calculated and quantified. I encourage you to research that matter on your own. So taking these numbers at face-value, it would seem that people of color are more likely to commit gun-related murders. Digging a bit deeper, it is not difficult to unearth the multitude of factors that contribute to these numbers.
Above all, people of color living within the United States are severely disadvantaged, disenfranchised, and victims of systemic racism. They are kept poor and uneducated. They are set against one another by the white man. However, strides were made by President Obama, and we saw progress. Things are getting better (in spite of Trump) and people of color as well as other minorities are rising in this country.
It is important to rememeber the amount of desperation that these people face every day. Unless you are a person of color from that environment, you have absolutely no authority to judge or point fingers. Your circumstances and your privilege disallow it. These instances of violence within the community of color also do nothing but reinforce negative racist stereotypes perpetrated by the white, patriarchal establishment.
The layman such as yourself has probably not considered the factors that I have presented thusfar (and there are MANY more). The media, as well as academia, understand these factors and that is why it is not reported on in the same manner that real mass shootings are. They understand that there is necessity to bring about changes in this country. These changes cannot be made at the expense of furthering right-wing nuttery and racism. It is possible to advance the gun-control narrative whilst also understanding and respecting the circumstances of people of color.
That is why they are separate issues. Maniacal white men gunning people down on a near-daily basis is an enormous problem in this country. We can solve this by removing the one common denominator, guns. The white establishment creating and reinforcing the dystopian reality that many people of color face is an equally large problem. We can solve this by eliminating racism. Implementing the first solution speeds up the implementation of the second.
