Why I was Relieved to Learn the Colorado Shooter was Not Black!
Yesterday morning as I woke up early to update my site on the overnight numbers on the Dark Knight, I read about the shooting. At first I thought it was one or two people, possibly a fight or some type of personal conflict. I’m embarrassed to say that I initially brushed it off as just another day, another shooting. That’s how desensitized I’ve become to violence – that in itself is scary.
As the details unfolded throughout the day and I learned the horrific details, the number of possible rounds that were fired the amount of people killed not to mention the number of critically wounded, which we still do not have a count on I was no longer desensitized. 100% innocent victims! I knew instantly that this is and will be an event that will affect this country. The question on “how” it will affect the country depended on the shooters race.
Yes – I said it, and I’m not afraid that I said it. Hear me out before you say “f#$ck me”. After you hear me out then you can say “F#$ck me”.
If the shooter was anything but a white guy, we would not have been learning as much from this entire incident. Innocent lives were lost. Young, innocent lives and many of those wounded will have lifelong physical and emotional scars. Bullets fired will cause permanent limps, brain damage, and lung damage. People who survived without physical injury will be never be the same emotionally. The least we can do as a country is embrace them, and take away lessons that can make us better. US meaning the U.S. If the shooter was a minority the country would be focusing on that community having problems. If the shooter was Latino, it would be guns in the Latino community, guns in the black community, bullying, single parenting, in minority communities. It would focus on lower class issues possible unemployment problems and eventually Obama would be blamed for everything. If the shooter was Middle Easter this would be 100% focused on alkida and the Taliban. The media would go through great lengths to disconnect this person with mainstream society even if they grew up in the US with a normal upbringing it would not be the same.
EAGAN IS A UNITED STATES PROBLEM….WE NEED TO OWN IT
James Eagan Holmes was a PHD candidate. An honor student, a 6ft 3-ish white guy. This forces us to take responsibility for our sh@#t. This forces us as a nation to come together in crisis. Everyone owns this. Eagan grew up in an affluent suburb of San Diego, played soccer and ran cross-country in high school, and graduated with honors at UC Riverside with a degree in neuroscience. This is everyone’s parents dream.
What went wrong? Now social networks are raging with intelligent debates, we are taking notice how we treat people. Not just people that we need something from, strangers. People we bump into in the parking lot. What made this guy snap? Now we are thinking before we say something negative or doing something that will emotionally hurt someone. Maybe you won’t pay for it but someone else will. Someone that is innocent. Did those 12 people pay for a douche-bag move that someone did to Eagan.
Maybe nothing triggered Eagan’s massacre. But while we wait for the answer, we don’t get to blame any sub-culture. Eagan is “US”. Eagan is the United States of America and we need to take responsibility for our sh#$t. 12 people died, 71 people injured let that be enough for you to slow down and take notice of how you treat your fellow citizen. We are all here together. United we Stand.
I’m proud of this nation and how it is handling this event. Politics suspended and both candidates striking just the right emotional accord. We will get through this as we do all tragedies because that’s how the United States Rolls, but let this be a reminder we never know what anyone is going through in their personal lives. Treat others despite economic status, race, sexual orientation or physical appearance with respect and you will have the peace of mind that you weren’t the cause when someone snaps.
My heart and prayers go out to all the families in Colorado that were affected by this tragedy.
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