In one school where I taught, a man was murdered outside my class window. Some students witnessed it. We did all of the appropriate things: pulled down the shades, locked the door, turned out the lights, and crouched down under our desks. One boy whispered to me from across the room, “Kate, will you protect us; would you die for us?” What a question for any young person to ask. What a horrible question for any teacher to have to answer. But there it is. That is America today.
Shocked but not surprised is what Americans are saying after one more horrific school massacre. The 213th mass shooting in this year. But somehow a school is the most horrific site imaginable. Shooting the youngest, the most vulnerable is beyond any code of decency. Let’s call it what it is: evil. And there it is, one more school to add to our list of shame: Columbine, Sandy Hook, Virginia Tech, Marjorie Stone Douglas. Santa Fe, and now Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. And the list is not complete.
And, yes, I too want to scream out, as did Beto O’Rourke, with the words, “You are all doing nothing.” And it is projected that a Supreme Court ruling could soon make gun safety laws even weaker. It is enough to throw up our hands in despair but that is not an option. We say that we are a community that upholds the dignity of every human being. If that is so, we do not give up hope. And we do not give up action.
In the last few weeks we have witnessed violence against people of color and of children. That should be a rallying cry for all of us. If this is our country, we work to change the laws that hurt the most vulnerable. That means that our gun laws need to be changed and not tomorrow but today. We challenge the gun lobbyists, incessantly call our politicians, and we show our anger. Let them know that we vote.
And if each of us joins with others, our strength multiplies. Check out this Washington State site: the Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility (WAGR). We are not hopeless; there are many others in our community and in our state who are ready to tackle our culture of gun violence. And if joining an advocacy group is not your thing, you can volunteer in our schools, show attention to a child on your street, talk to parents who are worried about their children in violent times. Open your heart.
And if we do not act, each of us is likely to hear from a child, “Will you protect me? Will you die for me?” What is your answer?
My daughter finished college two years ago and started teaching school, via Teach for America, because she wants to teach and needed a teaching certificate. She has been teaching 8th grade in Denver for two years now, on line until March 2021 and then in person. Trial by fire. The second amendment is an AMENDMENT and it is not written in stone. I know how to load a muzzle loader from Laura Ingall’s Little House books. They needed the muzzle loaders to survive, but the family also built a house in “Indian Territory” illegally and witnessed the Trail of Tears. I do not have a problem with ethical hunting, since I still eat some meat, but I think that much of the US gun culture is about fear. I want to counter it with a peace culture and love culture and this is a slow process, to change the fear of people who are seen as different into tolerance and acceptance. I worry about my daughter being a teacher in our present culture, but I hope to add bits of accumulating change. Thank you for your thoughtful essay.