Guns & White Nationalism
The founding of the United States was based on the ideology of white supremacy, the practice of slavery, land theft and genocide. The mass murder of indigenous people by Euro-colonizers was fueled by white nationalism. From the settler colonialists down to the present, the U.S. has had a long love affair with guns. Violence is driven by racism, patriarchy, misogyny and homophobia. Worldwide, the U.S. ranks in the top tier in gun killings. From Thousand Oaks to Las Vegas, from Columbine to Sandy Hook the trail of tears and blood grows. Every massacre is followed by officials ritually saying, “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims of this senseless tragedy.” A lot of good that’s done. The NRA likes to say, “Guns don’t kill people, people do.” How many more will die before things change?
Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz grew up in rural Oklahoma, the daughter of a tenant farmer and part-Indian mother. She has been active in the indigenous movement for more than four decades and is known for her commitment to social justice issues. She is an award-winning scholar and author of such books as An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States, All the Real Indians Died Off and Loaded: A Disarming History of the Second Amendment. She is the recipient of the Cultural Freedom Prize for Lifetime Achievement from the Lannan Foundation.