False idolatry of the Second Amendment ignores its racist roots in the preservation of slavery & we must strip away such false notions before we can succeed at stopping the uniquely American horror of mass shootings.
"The Second Amendment ...provided the assurances...needed that the militias would not be controlled by the federal government, but that they would be controlled by the states and at the beck and call of the states to be able to put down these uprisings."
npr.org/2021/06/02/100…
Commentators who dismiss the racist roots of the Second Amendment wrongly think racism can be compartmentalized BUT you cannot reform or seek real equality if you are afraid to see the realities of structural institutionalized racism.
thehill.com/opinion/judici…
Professor Nicolaus Mills writes: "James Madison, the author of the Second Amendment, wrote his amendment with his eye firmly fixed on practical politics He introduced the amendment during Virginia’s debate over the ratification of the Constitution..."
"Virginia Governor Patrick Henry saw danger lurking in Article 1, Section 8, of the Constitution, which gives Congress the power to provide for “organizing, arming, and disciplining” militias."
"Henry feared that without checks upon it, Congress could undermine the ability of militias in Virginia and elsewhere in the South to suppress slave uprisings and pursue runaway slaves."
"The militia issue was important enough for Henry to see it as grounds for opposing ratification of the Constitution."
thedailybeast.com/how-slave-owne…
