“Every day in America, on average, seven children and teens are shot dead.” This was one of
many notable statements by award-wining journalist Gary Younge, who gave us an insightful
view into the shooting culture in America.
His book, Another day
in the death of America is not, as he says, about “gun control” but about a
country where there is no gun control. Gary picked a random day (23/11/2013)
and researched the deaths by shootings on that day. He discovered there
had been 10 people aged between 9 and 19 shot dead on that day.
Gary’s research into the gun-related mentality of some American
people provided captivating points, as when he quoted a victim’s parent
saying “You aren’t doing your job as a black father in this city if you don’t think
your child is going to be shot.”
Gary’s view on guns not being the whole picture is something
I had not previously thought about. “The gun is the spark on top of a big pile
of tinder" said Gary, pointing to "the racism, the inequality”. This was very thought-provoking; it hadn't occurred to me that the actual issue is
the social divide in American society and that this needs to change for there to be real
progress.
During questions at the end Gary made his feelings
regarding armed guard and teachers at school known, “the answer to people
getting shot is not more guns," he told us.
M.J.Dickinson
No comments:
Post a Comment