The Nation — October 30, 2017

October 30, 2017 The Nation. 13

no change in our laws; the other does—up to and including

no-fly lists, religious bans, and mass surveillance. One

results in no discomfort for the white people who

happen to share the race or faith of the shooter; the other

culminates in the treatment of brown and black people as

criminals-in-waiting.

If you think I’m exaggerating, consider the language

that the National Rifle Association uses in framing the

debate about gun control. Guns cannot be legislated,

we are told, because this would simply deprive “law-

abiding citizens” of their constitutional rights while

“criminals” continue to arm themselves illegally. This

is a position that only makes sense if you believe that

criminals are always born, never made. The NRA and

its supporters treat the categories of “criminal” and

“law-abiding” as inflexible and inherent. That is the

language of race.

But how much would the national conversation about

guns change if people of color suddenly decided to

arm themselves en masse? There is no need to wonder,

because it already happened once, in California. In the

1960s, members of the Black Panther Party legally pur-

chased firearms and conducted armed patrols and “cop

watching” in Oakland. The movement so alarmed legis-

lators that they crafted the Mulford Act, which prohib-

ited the public carrying of loaded weapons in California.

We all know the script: When a mass shooting hap-

pens, we feel horror at the number of casualties, engage

in speculation about the suspect, hear our leaders offer

their “thoughts and prayers,” watch the NRA’s Twitter

feed go quiet for a few days. What we can hardly claim

anymore is shock that the shooting happened. Not only

did it happen, but it will happen again and again and again

until we do something about it. And that can only begin

with a frank reckoning of how white supremacy enables

and maintains our current gun laws. Q

When it comes

to terrorism,

we are

repeatedly

told that every

effort will be

made to keep us

safe, whatever

the cost.

Home Alone

SNAPSHOT / RAMON ESPINOSA Roberto Figueroa Caballero sits on a small

table in what’s left of his home in San Juan,

Puerto Rico, on October 5, 2017. Figueroa said

that he had wanted to stay put with his dog

during Hurricane Maria but was evicted by

police and forced into a shelter for the

storm’s duration. When Figueroa returned,

he placed his salvageable items back in their

original locations, as if his home still had walls;

he explained that it calmed him to do so.

AP PHOTO