The recent rise of gun-related and racial violence in the United States has made the country a point of renewed contention abroad. From a European perspective, it appears to be a violent outbreak that could cause the U.S. to lapse into segregation, an unwelcome paradox for the "melting pot" of the world.
As foreigners are well aware, race-related outbursts of violence aren't new to the United States. In 1992, Rodney King's brutal treatment at the hands of police officers led to mass rioting in Los Angeles and resulted in $1 billion worth of property damage to the area. King's final statement on the issue was the simple plea: "Can we all get along here?"
The early 1990s coincided with the end of the "Reagan Boom", when the U.S. economy found itself deeply in debt, as savings and loan associations came crashing down while oil prices skyrocketed. The country's output slowed, leaving thousands unemployed in its wake. The King riots took place two years into the recession, sparking a series of race riots that hadn't been seen since the 1960s.
Interestingly, all of this caused the race discussion to move away from a narrow understanding of the divide between whites and blacks, with a larger focus on the widespread effects of rioting and violence as it affected cultural groups across the country. Fast-forward more than 20 years to 2014, when Michael Brown was shot by officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri. The public outcry following this event led to mass rioting, which was exacerbated when police abuse of power was made public through social media. The following year, citizens of Baltimore protested the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old man who died of spinal cord injuries he suffered while in police custody. Protests over Gray's death once again led to massive property damage and looting.
But are the root causes of America's outbreaks of racial violence only skin deep? Or is there another, more insidious cause behind it? Upon closer examination, another pattern begins to emerge: that of economic inequality.
How a Broken Economy Fuels Broken Racial Ties
By 2014, the economy was six years into a worldwide recession, which struck a severe blow to the income of U.S. households, regardless of race. Then, in 2015, plummeting oil prices drove the country's economy into another recession, which once again put a damper on output and left thousands of workers out of a job.
Race-related tensions have always coincided with economic recessions. All across Europe, the rise of far-right, nationalist parties with isolationist tendencies serves to further drive the point home. Since the beginning of the financial crisis in 2008, the Old Continent has become a hotbed of discrimination, violence against refugees and minorities, and, so far, the trend shows no signs of stopping.
The rise of the Golden Dawn party in Greece – which transformed from an embarrassing political footnote in the nation's history into a leading party – even caused the EU's Agency for Fundamental Rights to declare the situation is a direct result of the economic crisis. But this tension is further compounded by other outright divisions: namely, the economic racial separation that drives different cultures apart.
According to research by the World Bank, income inequality is directly tied to violent crime, as the impoverished population of any given area – regardless of creed, color or nationality – find themselves unable to seek better employment or economic opportunities. As a result, any attempts to gentrify an afflicted area in an attempt to revitalize it will only relocate those individuals rather than resolve their problems.
Meanwhile, lack of employment opportunities, fiscal uncertainty and tax hikes serve to poison the waters and bring forward a fear of the "other," as citizens look for a tangible cause of their troubles. Anti-racism activist Jane Elliot, who was behind the famous Brown Eyes/Blue Eyes Exercise, focused instead on the impact that education has on perpetuating divisive tendencies, saying: "Racism isn't a part of the human condition. Racism is a learned response. If you can learn it, you can unlearn it."
So far, no one seems willing to face the root cause of these issues. Europe is content to bicker over the impact of immigration issues – a topic that has steered public attention away from the unwillingness to effectively tackle the economic mire – while the U.S. has chosen to maintain a superficial outlook on its outbreaks of violence, while simultaneously providing citizens with even wider access to firearms. Earlier this month, Texas passed a "campus carry" law that allows students to carry concealed firearms on to college campuses.
With all this in mind, one is left no choice but to wonder: Are we already facing a crisis point of open-ended, pointless violence, or is this simply a preamble to a truly nightmarish century?
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Reed replied on
Guns, U. S., Violence
….In regard to gun ownership, the primary purpose was intended for the citizens to combat tyranny. That proposition presupposes community. If there ever was community in the United States, it is doesn't exist now.
….Nonetheless, violence is an expression born of hopelessness. Poorly funded inner cities foment criminal gangs. (In England, the use of “medieval” weapons for acts of violence is significant.) And, the human squalor of alienated people living in poverty spawns altercations that would not normally end in violence, but that do.
….When there is economic stability enough to raise a family with cultural enrichment, and when such populations live in town’s that can afford functional, civic services. Then, gun ownership notwithstanding, the rate of violence is greatly diminished. That is as obvious as the nose on your face.
DH Fabian replied on
It's complicated.
While we aren't supposed to talk about it, consider the dominating public themes of recent years. We all Stand in Solidarity with middle class workers (and to hell with the poor). Black lives matter (and the lives of white people in poverty don't).
We're divided, subdivided, pitted against each other -- and the stakes are so high today! What matters the most at the proverbial end of the day is whether we have the means to keep our families together, housed and fed. In real life, not everyone can work, and there aren't jobs for all, and we have no mercy on those who are left out.
Of course, in defining overall gun violence, the greatest violence obviously occurs where there is the greatest population density. Urban people are more likely to target others while rural people tend to lean toward suicide.
Carl Fredley replied on
Guns and people
The major problem of the Guns and Violence is that EDUCATION and EQUAL OPPORTUNITY are missing. The fear the Upper Elite White Caucasian and their EGO's and fear of losing status, or a different colored skin are a threat to their Whiteness (YES I am Caucasian and my race is HUMAN) I see nothing different with a persons color as we are all 1 race and that is the HUMAN race. These Elites are psychopaths like Donald trump and the Republican monstrosity of making tribalism and tribal warfare their goal of attaining power. These issues are not of a normal thinker, They need all divided and will man made the situations by lack of education, harsh drug laws towards minorities and ignored against any White elite. They make life desperate for the ones of minority and also the ones that are Caucasian but at the low end of the totem pole and are the easiest to use their abnormal psychology on to turn them against their HUMAN brothers and sisters in the same predicament of low education and economic catastrophes as its the dark skins person fault they are blighted by the KKK of white psychopaths. Then they feed them guns, The CIA make crack and other nasty shit to fund their overtake of regimes in countries that are not friendly to them. Its a great big MESS and only education and opportunities to advance their life. We need to end the Cowboys and Indian war mentality that has laid grounds for underming what we realy are suppose to be. Guns are the tools of the rich to cause the fears that they lie and tell continuously to their followers and weak of mind that are desperate and can not think of how to get better except by killing the weak and poor. Its not about race its about what side of the tracks we are on, how much money we have and will we be able to join their country clubs that stokes our negative lives and attitudes. People we need to TEACH OUR CHILDREN RIGHT and think of all as your brothers and sisters and lets start a real Revolution to end this tyranny without the use of Weapons of any destruction, from words to the Militarized 1984 type thinking. We are not in North Korea or China or Russia where the blatant killing and prison sentences that are a death sentence in most cases of these Totalitarian nations. We need to win here and then take this to them. The struggle is very difficult and we can win as a people.
Richard Wilber replied on
The Second Amendment
It is commonly believed that the 2nd Amendment was included in the Bill of Rights to give the people the means to resist government over reach, but in the South at that time it was law in many colonies/states that males of a certain age had to donate time to service in the local "militia" and they were to furnish their own arms. The business of those militias was not to repel invaders or discipline government, but they were called out as needed for SLAVE CATCHING DUTY! The 2nd Amendment was therefor included to facilitate catching (and disciplining) runaway slaves!
It is time to REPEAL THE SECOND AMENDMENT!!!!