(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Whiteism, 2FA, and Slavery [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-10-29 Firstly, what is Whiteism, a contraction of White Nationalism. According to Francis L Holland: “Whitism” is the belief that all white people, regardless of their qualifications, are more qualified for any position than are Blacks and Latinos who might apply, regardless of their qualifications. As to the 2nd Amendment, it derives from the original concerns held by the men in Virginia who were engaged in deciding whether or not Virginia would ratify the Constitution. One of their significant issues had to do with militias. For a list of their concerns, we turn to Carl Bogus writing in the New York Times in 2018: First, the majority population in eastern Virginia were enslaved blacks. Whites lived in constant fear of slave insurrection. Second, the principal instrument for slave control was the militia. In the main, the South had refused to commit her militias to the war against the British during the American Revolution out of fear that, if the militias departed, slaves would revolt. Third, previously the militias were creatures of state governments. The new Constitution changed that. It divided authority over militias between the national and state governments, but gave the lion’s share of authority — including the power to organize, arm and discipline the militias — to Congress. Ergo, the 2nd Amendment was never about a concern over Tyranny. The country had already won the war. No. The concern was about protecting and furthering the Institution of Slavery. The Federal Government had been given sole authority over the arming of citizens and the Southern States were obviously concerned that this would limit their ability to both control the slave population and to recapture any escapees from the “peculiar institution.” According to Thom Hartman in Truthout: The real reason the Second Amendment was ratified, and why it says “State” instead of “Country” (the framers knew the difference — see the 10th Amendment), was to preserve the slave patrol militias in the southern states, which was necessary to get Virginia’s vote. Founders Patrick Henry, George Mason and James Madison were totally clear on that… and we all should be too. All this nonsense about being able to preserve the country from some imaginary tyranny is just that, nonsense. The NRA and the Far Right have been shilling nonsense about the meaning of the 2nd Amendment for years in order go further their aims. The NRA wants to sell guns. The Right wants to play battle games in the woods. The deadly result is that more children die from bullets than from any other cause. And the United States is the only 1st world country to endure this distinction. We know a certain portion of the population is no longer amenable to logic or facts. So the best alternative is to create laws that properly control what guns are legal and who can own them. A recent test in Texas, where gun ownership is next to godliness had a white man stand on the side of the road with an AR 15. The cops drove by and waved. They then had a black man stand in the same place. He was quickly arrested, although he had broken no laws. So, the law is purely for the convenience of the White population, or more precisely, the White Nationalist population. I was at a downtown street fair in Austin a few years ago when a group 20 men armed with AR 15s strolled through the crowd. They weren’t there to protect anyone, they were just stroking their egos. If these arguments about the sanctity of the 2nd Amendment were held to the test of strict originalism, then these so-called militias would be happy to hold a single shot flintlock, a bag of shot, and a powderhorn. That would be appropriate for the times in which the article was written. Maybe the law is not being properly interpreted. For Christian Nationalists, gun ownership is a God given right. I’m not exactly sure where they can find that in the Bible they so frequently swear they adhere to. Clearly their adherence to any actual religion is highly suspect. The Bible I was brought up on had a lot about loving they neighbor and following Christ’s commandments, to say nothing of the Big 10, written on stone tablets. So, all I can see is that they’ve cobbled up some belief where Christ carries and AR 15 anyone who wants to can go around shooting people because they always have their “thoughts and prayers.” Little good those do for dead children. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/10/29/2202282/-Whiteism-2FA-and-Slavery Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/