Friday, January 22, 2016

NRA - White Privlige - Mass Shootings


I feel that the statement: “Because white people will someday be the minority in the United States, we can expect white privileges to decline, increased gun control laws, and powerful groups like the NRA to lose their influence in the political theatre”  is very true. As of right now white people are the majority in the United States. However, studies show that in the next few decades that is supposed to change. The minorities will soon become the majority, and we may live to see it. Numbers for groups like African Americans, Hispanics, and American Muslims are on the rise. With whites becoming the minority we can also expect their privileges to diminish as well. As far as gun control laws, they are inevitable. Minorities are the biggest supporters of increased gun control laws, so it’s only common sense to assume with their growing populations that stricter gun laws will be set in place. In fact, some minority groups feel that gun control is more important than gun rights. It is safe to assume that the NRA will go down with white privileges. The most common supporters of the NRA are white, older, males. The younger generation of white males is already leaning toward gun control. So when white people become the minority and the majority of their supporters pass away from old age, the NRA will have very few supporters and drastically lose their influence in the political world.

    What exactly is white privilege, and what does it mean? White privileges are considered a set of advantages that benefit only white people. They are given to people simply for being born white, they do not have to be earned. Having white privileges means: that when you are stopped by a police officer, you can have assurance that it isn’t just because of your race, it means that you can move into a new neighborhood with peace of mind that your neighbors will treat you neutral or warmly, it means that when you apply to college, for a bank loan, a new job, or a new apartment you know if you get turned down it wasn’t because of the color of your skin. You can walk around in public alone without the fear of being followed or harassed. As a white person all of these things seem so normal to me and I would never consider worrying about them, and that is the problem. Most people with white privileges don’t even realize they have them. They take advantage of them every day not realizing they are causing a disadvantage to other racial groups.

            Who are mass shooters likely to be and why? Mass shooters are most often white males. If 97 percent if school shooters are male and 79 percent white, then why do black men make up the majority of our prison population? The white men who commit these shooting are not often who you would think. They are not the less educated, out casted, poor or unfortunate men of society who feel they have been cheated or mistreated. They are more often than not, privileged beyond being white. The problem starts at the very beginning. White males are raised to believe that they are powerful and entitled. They believe they should be welcomed wherever they go because everywhere belongs to them. They believe that their pride triumphs all and should never be caught acting like “sissys.” Men of wealthy families have the strongest sense of being pompous.  They believe that they were born with the world in their hands. They think that their voices should triumph all others and be heard by people of most importance. It is their arrogance that is essentially their source of anger. They feel that their problems are the worlds’ problems. That is why when they feel hurt they want to inflict it upon everyone else. When they feel disrespected or that their importance is being ignored they get angry and react with rage and violence. When angry middle-class whites gather together in political groups such as the NRA they claim their purpose is to “take back our country.” What they actually mean by that is they want to take back their privileges that they feel are bestowed upon them just for being born in this country because they can sense they’re slowly losing them.

            What is the NRA all about? Well, the NRA stands for the National Rifle Association, and by definition the NRA is an American social welfare program that promotes gun rights. It argues against all forms of gun control and believes that more guns make the country safer. Their beliefs and purpose rely solely on the 2nd Amendment. The NRA spends about $250 million per year, about $3 million of which goes to influence lawmakers on gun policy. The NRA openly grades members of Congress on a scale from A to F based on where they stand on gun rights. Those ratings can have a significant impact on poll numbers and occasionally even cost pro-gun control candidates their seats. Their membership ranges from 3-5 million people. Over the course of its existence the NRA has had some prestigious members giving it excellent publicity and political influence. Some of the members include: President George HW Bush, Charlton Heston, Ted Nugent, Sarah Palin, Chuck Norris, Miranda Lambert, Whoopi Goldberg, and Michael Moore. Famous members such as these people are essential to the existence and spread of popularity of the NRA.
           The death of the NRA and the rise of minorities go hand in hand, in the hand of politicians that is. Politician’s methods evolve around pleasing the people. The more people they please, the more votes they get. With minorities on the rise and their support for increased gun control, politicians have no choice but to conform if they want to win. I do not believe the NRA will go down without a fight of course, but ultimately the cards are not in their favor for much longer. The NRA will go down with white privileges.

No comments:

Post a Comment