I recently read this article and it got me thinking about why gun rights are particularly important for historically oppressed groups such as blacks in America.
You see, I’m a pacifist who supports the Second Amendment for a variety of reasons. Partly because I am a student of history.
I know that when only the nobility was armed — whether samurai in medieval Japan or knights in medieval Europe — peasants were oppressed. This holds true in more modern times as well. Before Kristallnacht, the Nazis disarmed the Jews. The Khmer Rouge disarmed civilians before their massacres.
The right to bear arms gives a line of defense against government condoned oppression.
During the American Revolution, armed colonists, though often outmatched by the British, were able to fight back.
The first man to die in this conflict was Crispus Attucks, a black stevedore who was shot in the Boston Massacre. Was he armed? He could have been.
Free blacks, just like their white neighbors, owned guns during colonial times. On the frontier, it was essential, both to provide a game for the table and to provide protection against both human and non-human predators.
Black soldiers fought in the Revolutionary War. Sometimes they earned special distinction for their bravery, as two did after the battle of Lexington. Their names were Salem Poor and Peter Salem.
Later, the influx of immigrants into Northern cities fueled competition for jobs. Because blacks often worked for lower wages, the new arrivals felt they had an unfair advantage. This, along with other factors, triggered race riots. Fortunately, free blacks in the North could use guns to defend themselves.
On at least two occasions, citizen militias of armed black men protected their neighborhoods from white mobs.
White slave-owners were afraid of how effective armed blacks could be. That is why in the antebellum period, free blacks in the South could not own guns. In Mississippi, they were even forbidden to own dogs!
After the Civil War, Southern states quickly enacted “Black Codes”. These were designed to keep blacks submissive. They included bans on gun ownership for a freedman, which was the term for newly freed blacks.
The KKK, in addition to being America’s home grown domestic terrorist organization was also the first gun control group. The KKK fought against gun rights for black citizens.
Congress (which was under Republican control at the time) fought back with the Freedman’s Bureau Act which said, “the constitutional right to bear arms, shall be secured to and enjoyed by all citizens”. This guaranteed that blacks could not be disarmed. Congress followed up with the Civil Rights Act and the Fourteenth Amendment.
One proponent of the Fourteenth Amendment was Samuel Pomeroy (R-Kan) who stated that “the three indispensable safeguards of liberty under our form of government are the sanctity of the home; the right to vote; and the right to bear arms so… if the cabin door of the freedman is broken open and the intruder enters…then should a well-loaded musket be in the hand of the occupant to send the polluted wretch to another world.”
Of course, white supremacists fought back.
In Tennessee, they enacted the 1871 “Army and Navy” law, barring the sale of any handguns except the “Army and Navy” model. These were high-quality and expensive guns that most poor, newly freed blacks could not afford but that many ex-Confederate soldiers already owned.
Later, Jim Crow laws kept guns out of the hands of blacks and went on to become the foundation of other gun control laws.
These later laws were aimed at immigrants, such as the Italians and Jews in New York City and at organized labor. Guns gave poor laborers a fighting chance against rich industrialists.
For example, the 1914 Ludlow Massacre in Colorado, where miners were striking against the powerful Rockefeller family, would have been much worse but that many of the miners were armed and some had military training.
During the Civil Rights era, activists of all races were protected by the organized black militias that had formed in the Southern states.
Leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. preached non-violence but did not advocate helplessness in the face of murder. Dr. King stated that violence “exercised in self-defense” was moral and pointed out that even Mahatma Gandhi was not against it.
The Second Amendment of our Constitution is a great equalizer. It gives teeth to the First Amendment and helps to safeguard freedom for all Americans. But it is most important for those who are vulnerable.
It is more important for women than men. An average woman might not be able to fight off an average man, but she can use a gun to protect herself against a potential rapist.
It is more important for the poor than the rich. The rich can live in gated communities, hire security and even buy government support as shown during the labor movement. The poor must rely on themselves.
Finally, the Second Amendment is important for oppressed groups such as blacks in America. Bullies like the KKK will avoid targets that can hit back. They will certainly give a wide berth to a target that might kill them.
Law abiding Americans of all races and genders should be able to defend themselves and their fellow citizens against attacks by bullies.
Do I have a gun? NO. But! I might re-think my pacifism if I knew that I needed to in order to save innocent lives. I certainly appreciate those who are armed in order to defend themselves, their families and their communities.
And I appreciate the Second Amendment as a tool to prevent oppression. Knowing the history of how armed blacks and other groups fought against those who would intimidate them makes me even more of an advocate for the right of law-abiding citizens to bear arms.
Thanks for reading! Please CLAP if you liked this, and feel free to respond!
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Previously published on Medium.com.
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