In piece for BlackAmericaWeb, Jeff Johnson questions why America creates a "national pause" for certain types of tragic loss but not for others.
This weekend the country was once again forced to deal with the kind of violence normally reserved for the screens of a motion picture tragedy. James E. Holmes walked into a movie theater, wounding 58 and killing 12 and shocking a nation. The response has to this tragedy has been filled with the human empathy that should be extended to loved ones and a community that has suffered not only an attack on its people, but on its sense of safety and security. From Columbine to the shooting of Congresswoman Gabby Giffords to this latest shooting, the cries of those hit by the bullets of crazed gunmen move our nation to want to make communities feel safe. And we should do all we can to make communities safe.
My problem is that we create a national pause for certain types of tragic loss of life but ignore others. I know that a few weeks ago I talked about us standing for Chicago, but this is not just about Chicago. This is about how we value our own lives; the lives of urban children, women and men, who many a night are trying to enjoy their communities; not at a theatre, but on their porches, playing in the streets or simply coming home from work. Why is there not national pause for them? Why not media attention on the families of those who fall daily? I don't blame the media for lifting the names of the fallen men, women, and children who were savagely taken by Holmes violent attack. I don't even blame the politicians and commentators for finding space to lift gun policy back into the front row for discussion. I just keep wondering; who will cry for us, go hard for us, defend us.
Read Jeff Johnson's entire piece at BlackAmericaWeb.
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