|
Last week at Glide Memorial church in San Francisco, we held a minute of silence to mourn the recent victims of gun violence in El Paso and Dayton. I was strongly reminded of a similar incident a little more than one year ago, when I was at the March For Our Lives rally in Washington D.C. watching Emma Gonzalez lead tens of thousands of people in silence for 6 minutes and 20 seconds (the time is took the shooter to kill 17 Parkland students).
|
|
|
That day, I hoped our lawmakers would heed the cry of my generation for gun legislation, but that was not the case. On June 27th, the Allen Texas police department received a call from the El Paso shooter’s mother, concerned about her son owning an AK47-style weapon given his age, maturity level and lack of experience. A public safety officer dismissed her concern, with deadly consequences.
|
|
"A fear of replacement"
The El Paso shooter left behind a screed - I won’t share a link but I will share my reaction to reading it. I was stunned and had to sit with my feelings for awhile. He states his fear of Hispanic Texans outnumbering white Texans by 2022, justifying his terrorist solution.
Before the shooter became a terrorist, he caught the malignancy that is white supremacy. Ubiquitous white-nationalist rhetoric, repeated by media and our political leaders, led him to think that killing immigrants would solve his problems. This fear of replacement language was similarly echoed by the white supremacists who marched with torches in Charlottesville.
The us versus them mentality displayed by the shooter is encouraged by our President, and demonstrates a lack of community and shared national or humanistic identity. Thanks to the failures of media and elected officials, American culture is stewing in a toxic brew: the ready availability of assault-style rifles in the wrong hands, the unchecked social media- propagated hate by malicious actors, and the dominance of big money in our political process. Reports filed with the Federal Election Commission show that the PAC and nonprofit arms of the NRA spent a combined $54.4 million in the 2016 elections.
|
|
|
|
Agatha at March For Our Lives in Washington D.C.
|
|
As a representative of Congress I commit to pass gun reform and represent people over corporate interests like the NRA lobby. I commit to reforming our democracy, starting with getting money out of politics, and enfranchising people to be heard and taken care of. Read more about my policies on gun violence here.
But more is needed. That day at Glide, the congregation committed to take action. To reach out to those who feel unseen, unloved, and unworthy and build community together. We need to stop teaching that some lives are not valuable, and stop the spread of unchecked hate. I applaud initiatives like the Stanford Internet Observatory, investigating the spread of malign narratives across social networks to assist policymakers in understanding and responding to this threat. What will you do?
It’s time for voters to send the message, money and winning elections are not worth other people’s lives.
|
|
|
|
|
