Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, January 25, 1993 TAG: 9301250278
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
POLITICIANS TRYING TO DISARM BLACKS
AFTER READING Malcolm X's autobiography, I am convinced that he would have a bone to pick with 99 percent of today's black elected officials, including Gov. Wilder.I was not surprised to find that Malcolm X was a vocal defender of the right to keep and bear arms. He would be shocked to have seen the day when Virginia's first black governor actually supports Jim Crow legislation. I am referring to Gov. Wilder's refusal last March to sign a state law that would have prevented local governments from banning gun ownership in public housing. If a white conservative proposed restrictions on public-housing tenants, the cries of racism would be deafening.
The media gives a lot of attention to incidents of police brutality and racism. Why then should blacks surrender guns to the police or ask their permission to buy them?
We must recognize the right of all people to keep guns for self-defense. Still, one thing is overlooked by the gun prohibitionists when they present their homicide statistics. Almost all of the shocking numbers used are from the black community. In Richmond in 1991, 80 percent of murderers and 70 percent of victims were black.
Unfortunately, race is important to any discussion about crime. Whites must realize that minorities are always test cases for what the government can get away with. Blacks should understand that there is a rising resentment among whites over the high crime rate in black communities, which is fueling the assault on all our rights. Blacks should also realize that 90 percent of the politicians they vote for are conspiring to disarm them.
We should all remember that an unarmed person enjoys his life, liberty and property at the discretion of the armed state and other criminals. WILLIAM D. STUMP II DUBLIN