Race and Open Carry

            The discourse over race and open carry laws has reached an all time low. A fourteen-year-old black boy was killed in the open carry state of Ohio in 2014 because he was holding what a police officer deemed to be a weapon. In reality, he was holding nothing more than a toy. It has come to a point where people are now able to write satire over similar issues. Matt Bors’ scathing cartoon piece vilifies the police officers who are not seeing giving everyone the chance of being law-abiding citizens. He paints police officers as people who see color instead of right and wrong. While Bors’ portrayal is pretty drastic in his depiction of police officers, it is disturbing that we now live in a country where people can come and agree with what he drew.

            Our countries view on guns and race is something that John Blake ponders over in his article. Here he asks the question, “What if the roles were reversed.” It is an interesting proposition that does have some merit in it. Especially where he notes a game a computer designer developed to see who police officers were more likely to shoot when faced against a criminal that was white or black. Unsurprisingly, police officers were more likely to shoot criminals that were of color than those that were white. This is something that cannot be simply glanced over as an aberration. We are actually living in a country that still does not see skin color as nothing but that. People of color are still segregated but not like those in the 1950s. African Americans can now go to the same school as whites and drink from the same water fountains, however, when it comes to treatment by police, blacks are still seen as different.

            The actual shooting of the 14-year-old in Ohio is nothing but a tragedy. While the police officer who shot him will be able to claim that he was doing nothing but protecting himself when he approached young Tamir Rice that fateful day, the evidence that has accumulated since has put him in a hole. Tommy Christopher wrote a great exposition of the murdering officer. He was able to find multiple pieces of information about the man, including the fact that he was actually released by another police force for excessive force against an African American. Also, when looking at the security footage that captured the scene of the shooting, it is easy to believe that Tamir Rice was given no time to react after the officer pulled up on him.  There was also a quote from the officer’s father that said he was prone to violence and was looking for the thrill when he joined the force.

            People like this should not be able to join a police force so easily. A 14 year old was killed because of this person. A person who claims he saw a firearm.  Whether or not he shot him because he was black should not matter. He still opened fire on a young boy for holding a gun out in public in a state where it was completely legal.