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To: President Biden, Biden Administration, Members of Congress, local elected officials
End Gun Violence Now!
Over the weekend, a white supremacist gunman intentionally sought out a Black community and opened fire at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York. He murdered 10 people and injured 3 others—11 of the 13 people shot were Black.
Gun violence is tearing our communities apart, especially those that are constantly pushed to the margins. Enough. We need to address the root causes of gun violence, declare gun violence a public health emergency, pass national gun violence prevention legislation, reimagine public safety, and so much more. It’s time to end gun violence now.
Why is this important?
Authorities have found a 180-page manifesto, authored by the shooter, in which he identifies as a white supremacist and antisemite and describes his intention to attack a Black neighborhood. In his manifesto, the shooter spoke extensively about the “great replacement theory,” which asserts that white people are being driven out and replaced by nonwhite people in Western societies.
This theory is just white supremacy by a different name. At its core, it's a justification for anti-Black ideology that is as old as our country and has been used to rationalize slavery, Jim Crow, segregation, our carceral state, and more.
We need to be direct about it and call it what it is: It’s racism. It’s white supremacy. It’s gun violence. All of which are brutal, great dangers to our communities, especially Black communities, Indigenous communities, and communities of color. It’s time to end gun violence now.
One of the ways forward is to address the root causes of gun violence, because these dangers are not new. Since America’s colonial beginning, white people with power have used guns to colonize, enslave, and commit genocide against Black people, Indigenous people, and people of color.
The gun violence that we continue to experience day after day in America is very much rooted in our nation's history of violent white supremacy. This is why we must stay committed to fighting back against these ideologies. Together, we can imagine and build a world free from white supremacy, gun violence, police violence, and so much more.