Teabaggers Can carry guns, but we are NOT racist! You lie!

[caledesi]

The Racist Roots of Gun Control

The historical record provides compelling evidence that racism underlies gun control laws -- and not in any subtle way. Throughout much of American history, gun control was openly stated as a method for keeping blacks and Hispanics "in their place," and to quiet the racial fears of whites. This paper is intended to provide a brief summary of this unholy alliance of gun control and racism, and to suggest that gun control laws should be regarded as "suspect ideas," analogous to the "suspect classifications" theory of discrimination already part of the American legal system.

Racist arms laws predate the establishment of the United States. Starting in 1751, the French Black Code required Louisiana colonists to stop any blacks, and if necessary, beat "any black carrying any potential weapon, such as a cane." If a black refused to stop on demand, and was on horseback, the colonist was authorized to "shoot to kill." <1> Slave possession of firearms was a necessity at times in a frontier society, yet laws continued to be passed in an attempt to prohibit slaves or free blacks from possessing firearms, except under very restrictively controlled conditions. <2> Similarly, in the sixteenth century the colony of New Spain, terrified of black slave revolts, prohibited all blacks, free and slave, from carrying arms. <3>

In the Haitian Revolution of the 1790s, the slave population successfully threw off their French masters, but the Revolution degenerated into a race war, aggravating existing fears in the French Louisiana colony, and among whites in the slave states of the United States. When the first U. S. official arrived in New Orleans in 1803 to take charge of this new American possession, the planters sought to have the existing free black militia disarmed, and otherwise exclude "free blacks from positions in which they were required to bear arms," including such non-military functions as slave-catching crews. The New Orleans city government also stopped whites from teaching fencing to free blacks, and then, when free blacks sought to teach fencing, similarly prohibited their efforts as well. <4>

It is not surprising that the first North American English colonies, then the states of the new republic, remained in dread fear of armed blacks, for slave revolts against slave owners often degenerated into less selective forms of racial warfare. The perception that free blacks were sympathetic to the plight of their enslaved brothers, and the dangerous example that "a Negro could be free" also caused the slave states to pass laws designed to disarm all blacks, both slave and free. Unlike the gun control laws passed after the Civil War, these antebellum statutes were for blacks alone. In Maryland, these prohibitions went so far as to prohibit free blacks from owning dogs without a license, and authorizing any white to kill an unlicensed dog owned by a free black, for fear that blacks would use dogs as weapons. Mississippi went further, and prohibited any ownership of a dog by a black person. <5>

Understandably, restrictions on slave possession of arms go back a very long way. While arms restrictions on free blacks predate it, these restrictions increased dramatically after Nat Turner's Rebellion in 1831, a revolt that caused the South to become increasingly irrational in its fears. <6> Virginia's response to Turner's Rebellion prohibited free blacks "to keep or carry any firelock of any kind, any military weapon, or any powder or lead..." The existing laws under which free blacks were occasionally licensed to possess or carry arms was also repealed, making arms possession completely illegal for free blacks. <7> But even before this action by the Virginia Legislature, in the aftermath of Turner's Rebellion, the discovery that a free black family possessed lead shot for use as scale weights, without powder or weapon in which to fire it, was considered sufficient reason for a frenzied mob to discuss summary execution of the owner. <8> The analogy to the current hysteria where mere possession of ammunition in some states without a firearms license may lead to jail time, should be obvious.


<snip>

http://www.firearmsandliberty.com/cramer.racism.html


edit - fixed link
There is a vid, but cant find it.

[Raine1967]

1. Link not working. eom.

[spin]

2. Updated link to article ...

http://www.firearmsandliberty.com/cramer.racism.html

This one should work. The article is interesting and worth reading as is is this one from a brief filed to the Supreme Court in the Heller case.

http://www.gurapossessky.com/news/parker/documents/07-290bsacGeorgiaCarry.pdf

[Raine1967]

3. Is this the link?

http://www.firearmsandliberty.com/cramer.racism.html

I am reading it, and I am really bothered by the title. The history of gun control was to keep the minorities in line, according to this article. So am I missing something here?

Are we to explain to white folks that minorities had it worse? I see what the article is saying, I am just trying to understand how this applies to what we are seeing now.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

11. Its one of many that documents the racist roots of gun control, which many antis ignore or try to

dodge.

[nosmokes]

4. The teabaggers are so racist they bleed hate and shit stoopit

[dashrif]

10. Now

that is not true I may not see eye to eye with my inlaws on alot of things but they are not racist in anyway shape or form so please put that brush back in the bucket

[nosmokes]

12. No. Because the movement as a whole is racist to the very core and

produces nothing but voluminous quantities of inane horse shit, not to mention how idiotic they look walking down the street strapped w/ a fucking gun that ain't loaded. So I'll keep my broad brush out and use it as long as it's appropriate. If your in-laws don't want to get splattered they shouldn't hang out with ignorant racist cretins.

[tburnsten]

14. They are only unloaded in California

I personally have seen nothing racist coming from the protesters, but if you have any links to anything like that, any stories that have documented that kind of thing, please post it. I'm not doubting you, I just haven't really been on the news much lately and what I have seen has included plenty of allegations of racism from teabaggers, but never an actual example of it.

[one-eyed fat man]

16. Who are these people on you tube?

'Response to Olbermann: "People of color" at Tea Parties'

They SURE bear a striking resemblance to 'people of color"? Are you telling me a black person who disagrees with you is not a REAL black person?

Yeah, no doubt there are racists in that bunch, but you can bet there is a damn bucketful of racists in the Democratic party too. Hell an sitting Democratic Senator was a big-shot in the Klan. Lester Maddox, George Wallace, "Bull" Conner, how many more racist stalwarts of the Democrats do I need to dig up?

Yeah, we understand you don't like the tea-baggers, you don't like guns, but you don't get to pick or make up the facts or reality you like to argue it.

[SteveM]

18. Tens of millions of gun-owners did NOT show up at teabagger demos.

[jazzhound]

20. Of course this is the *real* story -- esp. here at DU.............

.............but it doesn't make for as good of a talking point for the control crew, does it?

[HALO141]

24. No, you're wrong.

Just because they're vehemently opposed to the administration, and the President happens to be a black man, that doesn't make them racist. I do know a more than a few conservatives - they're among the group I shoot with - and while I don't know for sure whether or not they count themselves as Teaparty members, they're pretty much on the same page politically. These people WERE opposed to a number of Bush's policies and Republican Party positions. The Patriot Act is a prime example of a Bush Administration initiative that they had really big problems with. Many of them just sat out the 2008 election because they were so pissed off.

Screaming "racist" just because the opportunity presents itself is ultimately self-defeating. It only serves to weaken the meaning of the word. There are plenty of valid reasons to take issue with them. You don't need to make up crap just to be offensive.

[SteveM]

17. They shit on their stoops? Here I thought it was the cats. nt

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

5. Did anyone ever poll separately black and white people in...

- Gun ownership?
- Opinions about gun control?

[Walk away]

6. You would almost think the Christian Militia was on the front line of civil rights!

I guess all of those folks brandishing guns yesterday as close as they could get to our President, were really just standing up for his rights as a black man to carry a gun through the streets.

[spin]

8. I can't speak for or against the motivations of the people who gathered...

to support the Second Amendment, as I am not a member of that movement and don't know anyone who is.

However, I do know many gun owners and a overwhelming majority support laws which allow honest citizens of any color or religion to legally purchase firearms. We also support "shall issue" concealed carry laws which eliminates the ability of some bigoted official to turn down a permit merely on skin color.

The ranges I shot at all had black membership. I personally introduced several black and Hispanic co-workers to the shooting sports and encouraged them to get concealed carry permits.

I remember one black co-worker who was really surprised that he didn't encounter any racism when he shot with me. He became an excellent shot and when he decided to get his concealed carry permit, he went to a top notch instructor who was a retired police chief from Cincinnati. The instructor was so impressed with his ability that he tried to get my friend into competitive shooting.

Regular shooters at the ranges I frequented also were more than willing to help out any new shooter who wanted advice or help. We gave out a lot of free instruction along the way.

It often upsets me to see gun owners portrayed as racist. I'm sure a few are. But if the majority were, shall issue concealed carry would have failed to pass in any state.



edited for mistake in title /i]

[SteveM]

19. Well, a bunch of Georgia crackers are...

www.georgiacarry.org

Search locally for the brief submitted on behalf of Heller. Good summary on the vast and RACIST body of Jim Crow gun laws in the South.

Did you know that tens of millions of gun-owners did NOT go to teabagger events? Thought so.

[Euromutt]

7. The Tea Party's credibility problem lies in their timing

I might believe the Teabaggers were sincere if they'd been equally concerned about overarching federal government while George Bush was taking a massive dump all over the Constitution. The fact that they didn't sound off until there's a Democrat in the White House, and a black one at that, speaks volumes.

[PavePusher]

9. I think it speaks volumes about how long it takes people...

to get angry enough to do something. These movements don't spring forth from the ground wholly formed and organised. Note how long it took for the American Revolution to become an organised shooting war, and the years of politics and anger prior.

[Euromutt]

15. Fair point, but I think you're being too charitable

Because I don't buy for a second that the Tea Party movement just happened to start coalescing within a month of Obama taking office. The costs of various stimulus packages and health care reform are dwarfed by the amount of money already spent on involvement in Iraq, so why haven't the Teabaggers been up in arms about that for since, say, 2005?

[EthanCW]

21. The better you know conservatives the better you know the Tea Party.

The movement has been growing a while before this administration. And 2005 you say?....hmm there is a very good example of the preferred way conservatives protest. It's called the 2006 mid-term elections.

Conservatives historically do not take to the streets. They use phone calls to notify their representation about how they feel on an issue. And then they VOTE! Or vote their conscience by not voting.

The current democrat majorities and presidency are not the result of a huge swing toward progressive politics, but rather conservatives abandoning the Republican party.

Look, it was re-soundly written that waves of minority and women voters flocked to the polls in 2008 to elect Obama, but in the grand scheme of things the over all percentage of Turnout was nothing special, perhaps even less than normally expected.

Huge Plus for Obama - Abandonment of Republican Party = A squeaker of an election.

The Tea Party would not come as a surprise to anyone with an ounce of intellectual honesty and a sense of history.

[one-eyed fat man]

22. Tea party fall out.

The best thing about the tea party is it will split the Republican and conservative vote. Ross Perot split the vote and allowed Bill Clinton to win. Ralph Nader split the vote and caused Al Gore to lose.

A third party is good when it splits the opposition and it sucks when it siphons off "your radicals."

The best thing is that they will split Repubs and let our guys walk.

[Euromutt]

25. "Conservatives historically do not take to the streets."

Right, so the teabaggers just happened to break with that particular historical tradition about a month after Bush left office, and some idealistic-sounding black guy from Chicago was inaugurated. Purely coincidental.

And call me weird, but I always learned that if you don't vote, you don't get to bitch about who gets into office. Vote for some third-party candidate, write in the ghost of Theodore Roosevelt, whatever, but vote.

Not to put too fine a point on it, I'm much inclined to say the Tea Party wouldn't come as a surprise to anyone with a generous dose of cynicism. There's really no way you can seriously use the phrases "Tea Party" and "intellectual honesty" in the same sentence.

[jazzhound]

23. And how 'bout the lack of concern as Bush was trampling their

civil liberties?

[X_Digger]

13. The racist history of gun control isn't all ancient, either.

See 1967's Mulford Act in CA, in response to armed black panthers.

See 1968's GCA, and the commentary about the proposed licensing keeping guns out of 'those peoples' hands.

See various state laws in the 60's declaring that during a declared "emergency", citizens can't be armed. (The backdrop for said laws was the civil rights protests by african americans.)