Among the many things that have troubled me about the current debate about gun regulation is how black Leftists seem ignorant of the connection between racism and gun control laws.  It is troubling to me to see so many black folk beating the drum for (let’s face it) the confiscation of guns. Gun control was born in the racist and oppressive effort to disarm black people and prevent them from protecting themselves. And frankly, not much has changed.

I blame Hollywood.  You see, for decades, Hollywood has churned out films depicting black people cowering under the whip of the white man, afraid to defend himself.  Hollywood has made millions on images of black families peeing in their pants, while hiding from night riders, waiting for good (liberal) white people to save them. It’s no wonder the Leftist Hollywood loves gun control: they’re the heroes! The truth, however, is slightly different.

Thumbing through the history of this country, one doesn’t find gun control laws until the late 18th century and those laws were aimed specifically at keeping guns (and anything that could be used as a weapon) out of the hands of black people – both slave and free.  There is actually no madness to this method. After all, when one is fearful of slave revolts, the last thing one wants is slaves who are armed with guns.  Slaves who were armed were far more likely to defend themselves than were those who had no means of self defense.

Following the Civil War, in order to pass muster with the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment, laws were neutrally written, but were specifically aimed at keeping guns out of the hands of the local black citizenry.  You see, rather than cower in the corner waiting for white folks to save them, when night riders rode up to cause trouble, black people protected their lives and property, by shooting back.  White politicians protected their racist partners by enacting local laws that sought to protect terrorists by disarming their black victims. As more and more black men returned from service in the U.S. Army, blacks began to organize into, militias in order to protect them from the persistent and violent attack on their persons and property.  That’s right. A militia isn’t just the National guard.

What is particularly shameful is that today there are blacks who consider themselves warriors for social justice, who are now demanding that the Federal government act, or worse, that the president act without the consent of the congress, in enacting laws that appear neutral, but whose impact will be disproportionately felt by black and poor citizens.  Leftist used to call disparate impact racist. Apparently that is only true when the discussion isn’t about the fundamental right to protect one’s life and liberty.

Some may claim that I am reaching back to the mid 20th century in order to make my argument.  Wrong.  I am reaching back to last week.  Black Lives Matter is claiming that police are waging a war on black men. Why then would socially conscious black folk cheer when the white chief of the Chicago police department talks about removing guns from the Black community?  Why would any socially conscious black Leftists claim that the state of Illinois is giving concealed carry permits to white people and rejecting black applicants and then demand more regulation by the government? Why would black folks who truly care about the health of the black community decry the heavy presence of police in their communities and then demand gun laws that would make criminals out of previously law abiding citizens and INVITE more police scrutiny or their private property?  Perhaps it’s because the new KKK is spelled SJW.