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Friday, November 9, 2018
Shifting Gears for a Moment: I Am Mad and I Am Sad
Hi to anyone who reads this. I want to start by saying that what I am about to say is my opinion. If you do not agree, that is fine. Today I read a statistic that saddened me to my core. We have lived through 311 days in 2018, and on 307 of those days there have been shootings. I read this over and over again until hot angry tears ran down my face. Im angry and I am sad. I can't wrap my brain around the fact that some people believe that their right to bear arms is more important than peoples lives. People argue that gun laws are already strict enough, yet California is said to have the strictest gun laws and there are twelve people who are dead in Thousand Oaks California from a mass shooting. The laws are NOT strict enough. My heart is so heavy today, and I guess me writing this is a way to try and deal with what I am feeling. I have so many other things to say, but I am having trouble articulating it. I want to end this post with the idea of privilege. People who believe that gun laws should not become stricter are privileged. I guarantee those peoples views would change if someone they care about was injured or murdered due to gun violence. I will leave you all with this photo. Read the sign, then read it again
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Morgan, I completely agree with you. I read this exact fact last night, and it shook me to my core. I think, personally, that this statement should shock everyone who reads it; if it doesn't, they need to seriously evaluate their perspective on this issue. It is very unfortunate that we are living in a period of time where we can say that we have survived nearly as many days as this year as there have been shootings in the United States. We need to take this saddening fact, and use it to reform gun laws, and empower people through voting and contacting government officials. I have also seen this picture before -- actually on Pinterest -- and it really made me rethink a lot about the privileges that I have in my life, as well as the struggles that I face. It empowered me to be even more active in exercising my political obligation to vote for those who will stand up for what I believe in, and give a voice to those who have had theirs stolen from them.
ReplyDeleteI know we already talked about this in person, but I completely agree. It is going to be hand to get others to see the problem at hand. All we can do, you and I and the rest of the class is use our active voice as future teachers. We must teach our future students the problems at hand, whether it has been fixed by then or not. But also as English majors we can "write our way out" using our skills to write to politicians and to other citizens. And of course, we can always vote. And they cannot take that away from us.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you brought this into the classroom even though it is not part of your single story or in relation to the class, but in relation to the world instead. These shootings are getting out of control, and people only want to discuss their severity right after they happen but do not talk about how this will ever stop around the world today. Because people are killing others for hatred purposes and since they're mentally ill, there needs to be a way we can analyze and change the way the world works. It is sickening that there has not been an end to this madness.
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