Maria Lloyd: Politicians Remain Silent On Gun Control As Black Children Continue To Die

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Seventeen Year Old Jalen C.J. Stogner Was Killed in Front of His Mother and Brother at a Chicago Laundromat On Friday

by Maria Lloyd

After reading the story of the 17-year-old kid who was shot and killed in front of his mother and his 4- and 11-year-old brothers at a laundromat in Chicago on Friday, I became angry. Not only am I angry with the killer, the rough neighborhood in which the victim was raised, and the continued black-on-black crime; I am angry with the entire black community for allowing politicians to remain silent on gun control as our children die in our communities.

In 2008 and 2009, black teens were only 15% of the child population, but were 45% of the total fatal gun deaths. If being labeled as an “angry black woman” or an “angry black man” is what we have to be to get politicians to care about our children, it is time that we embrace those titles with pride.

alain prather Reply

September 5, 2012 at 4:05 pm

Politicians remain silent on Gun Control mainly because of the NRA and the power they have. So powerful that an African American incumbent President does not want to anger off the gun lobby for fear of the votes he may lose. The other fact is we don’t vote at any high rate, have yet to form any anti-gun lobby to rival the NRA. Our emotional refrains are valid and touch the heart of even strongest pro gun voter. Emotions fade away and are pressed out of mainstream thought up against the constant pressure of the gun lobby (including the gun makers). Every one knows the favorite statement of the gun lobby “guns don’t kill people do”. What statement has the anti gun lobby created that is even close to being as well known as this cry from the pistol packers?

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