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For Some People, Stand Your Ground Means A License To Kill
Everyone wants to feel safe, and everyone wants to feel free to defend themselves if their life, or the life of someone they care about, is endangered by a person, or persons, with ill intent.
I like to feel safe, so I own several weapons. I especially like to feel safe in my home or in my car. I don’t have a shoot first, ask questions later mentality, but I do believe in self-defense.
It’s an American right per the Second Amendment of the US Constitution.
However, it’s an American right that comes with baggage.
By baggage I mean a history of slavery, institutional racism, and racial violence that is indoctrinated by, and protected by, American law. When the Second Amendment was ratified in 1791, Black Americans were classified as 3/5 of a person; therefore, the Second Amendment did not apply to us. Also, Black Americans didn’t even have citizenship and free Black people were banned by law from bearing arms. Factor in the fact that the Second Amendment also served the function of giving white American men the legal authority to use weapons against any Black person they felt threatened by, or who was trying to escape slavery, and you will see that the Second Amendment was passed to protect white people and cause fatal harm to Black people. It was never meant for the…
