(ThyBlackMan.com) Have you noticed?
The exact minute that the shooting in Uvalde took place the “MEME-ers” came out in full force. Instagram, Twitter, Tik-Tok, Snapchat and even that platform for old people: Facebook had feeds that became chock full of graphic images with in your face “facts” that “settled” the issue of guns in America. Of course they all used the horrific and tragic death of the Uvalde children and they exploited the pain of their surviving families to make their “points.”
Interesting note about these people they had said almost nothing about the two shootings also contained within the previous two week period. Yes to many Buffalo and Laguna never got mentioned because for many of them it would be inconvenient to talk about a few dozen laws that were already on the books and broken in those shootings.
Nope to MEME-ers there’s nothing as exploitable as school shootings.
Some MEME-ers are lazy and just rely on celebrity outrage when trying to make their points. This is why Anyone still knows who Chrissy Teigen even is. Since ending her modeling days and becoming an active mom she more or less stays relevant to the public by launching her missives onto social media from the comfort of her sofa behind her locked gate. So naturally she had hypocritical things to say about guns especially when her husband’s concerts are nearly universally protected by men with guns. Nonetheless the false assumptions, fake statistics, and inaccurate witticisms fly from her screenshots to her pages trying to proof-text her way to a point.
Golden State Warrior’s head coach Steve Kerr is another celebrity that went viral fast. Banging his hand on the table at his press conference and going ballistic while muttering something about “the gun lobby.” He was angry, emotional, and intent on making a point about passing another law.
*President Biden questioned the permanence of the Second Amendment, President Obama invoked George Floyd (who was suffocated,) and Michael Moore just flat out asserted that all guns should be confiscated.
Never mind how accurate they were celebrities got reposted, retweeted, and re-meme-d everywhere.
But the average person got sucked up in this too.
Sadly it all usually came down political ideological lines. My friend Kim for instance suddenly flooded her feed with meme after meme trying to point to a few vague academic facts (not celebrity reposts) but sadly (or gladly) none of them pointed to a legislative idea that would bring about the gun-free utopia that all of us would love to be able to embrace.
Here’s just a few of those major themes.
Guns have passed Autos in their threat to human life. In 2021 there were roughly 42k lives lost in automobile incidents. Less than half that number lost their lives to homicide by firearm. (Including any and all “mass shootings” involved in the calendar year.)
Guns are the leading cause of death for children. Actually this is false. In 2021 there approximately 20k non-suicide firearm related deaths in America. People under 19 years of age made up about 4300 of them. The overwhelming number of those deaths were young black men killing other young black men over turf, drug, and payback issues related to “community violence.” (You and I would call them gang members.) When such actual “teen” homicides were removed, the actual number of children that perished in gun incidents was roughly 2800. And while every child’s death is tragic this number paces above child cancer deaths at 1600 but well below that number of children killed in automobiles at 3900. And ALL of these categories get dwarfed by the average number of abortions 630k plus that intentionally kill children for the convenience of the consumer, and to the profit of the abortionist.
Guns are easier to buy than baby formula. Even with supply chain issues being abundant this is blatantly untrue.
Ironically the celebrities and the every day persons see the Uvalde shooting as so entirely exploitable that they fail to mention rather embarrassing facts about the incident.
A teacher propping the door open. The school resource officer not even being present. The Uvalde police force cowering in fear. The prevention of the tactical unit from being permitted to immediately enter. The outrage of the parents as the killing continued while armed men stood outside. Even the fact that a mom was able to get in the building and retrieve her two children while those in charge still were trying to decipher if the shooter had finished shooting.
Or in Steve Kerr’s specific case — embarrassing things about his own activism — when he advocated against arming school security officers.
My friend Kim did post one meme that I strongly agree with: “Gun Violence is a Pro Life Issue.” Of course we agree on it because we differ in our worldview. My view being that gun violence must be stopped early in the process, and to be hardened and prepared to stop it. Hers (I am admittedly making an assumption here) is to in some way ban guns so that the shooter never has access to one to begin with. She even posted publicly a meme that mocked the idea of teaching children to handle guns with respect and responsibility. (Something I am already teaching my children to do.)
Ultimately to be pro-life IS to care for people from the time they are in the womb through their natural deaths.
That’s why I support urban inner city programs that get older teens working with younger kids, teaching them music instead of the drug business. It’s why I host debates and attend functions that promote candidates that will push for pro-life legislation as it pertains not merely to abortion, but to the second amendment, school safety, end of life, and all other pertinent issues. It’s why I even urged 1400 pastors last week to act biblically as it pertains to the teaching of scripture and our stewardship in this life as citizens.
Ultimately if we care about people—instead of our agenda—people instead of “points”—people instead of progressivism, we will seek what is best for them.
And it will almost never come at the conclusion of a snarky meme—that is easy to disprove.
Written by Kevin McCullough
Official website; http://twitter.com/KMCRadio