I am glad that Donald Trump was not seriously injured or killed. I remember when we lost both Jack and Bobby Kennedy, and how much that hurt, along with the loss of MLK and Malcolm X.
When President John Kennedy was killed in Dallas, Texas, I was a freshman at Palomar Junior College in San Marcos, California. I was shocked as I saw some folks I knew to be John Birchers (an ultra-conservative group) and some young Republicans cheering the murder of our president. I did not understand why you had to kill someone whom you did not like. Later, we would see Bobby Kennedy killed, and again my heart and head were confused.
Today, I am living in Magdalena de Kino, Sonora, Mexico, where Luis Donaldo Colosio, a strong candidate for the presidency of Mexico, was gunned down on March 23, 1994, in Tijuana. Every day that I drive through downtown and see his statue, I am reminded of his tragic death.
Over the years, like many, I have faced serious threats to my life, including a scab contractor holding a .30-30 deer rifle to my head and threatening to kill me. I have been lucky to survive, but it does make you examine how easy it is to be murdered. While I am not afraid of dying, I want you to know that I want to live many more years and, in the process, perhaps be able to help someone.
Donald Trump and the MAGA crowd have dog-whistled time and again the need for violence “to take back America” and have celebrated the attack on January 6th on the US Capitol and all the violence that took place that day.
Now, as Malcolm X would say, the chickens have come home to roost. You cannot preach violence and not expect it to flourish anywhere and everywhere.
Today, we have over 400 million guns in America, more than we have citizens. In the past two weeks, I have encountered two white men with guns strapped to their waists. Both guns looked like those stylish and powerful Glocks. Neither seemed to be aware of their surroundings, and a real shooter could have easily disarmed them.
What if huge numbers of dark-skinned people started showing up in public with pistols and long rifles? What would be the reaction? And what about if millions of women, armed to the teeth, were at our shopping malls, churches, or schools?
I, for one, am glad that there is going to be an investigation into this shooting of Trump. But in the past, when we have had mass shootings, the right wing and gun lobby have told us that it was not the right time to discuss the shooting, and they have yet to find the right time to have those discussions and hearings.
Other public officials also have been injured, such as Ronald Reagan, George Wallace, Steve Scalise and Gabby Giffords, not to mention the many civil rights workers who have been lynched and killed.
Since 1970, I have been preaching and teaching that we need to diminish violence in our society.
And that we must arm ourselves not with weapons but with love. I don’t wish violence on anyone, including those who disagree with me. I want to live in a country where our public officials respect the Constitution and the rule of law. And if anger overcomes you, consider throwing a cream pie instead of using a gun.
DON’T SHOOT!
