Stefan B. Tahmassebi of the George Mason Civil Rights Law
Journal indicated that the first recorded law restricting African Americans
from owning guns was in Virginia in 1640. A century later, the 27 words of the
2nd Amendment made it clear that the people have the right to keep
and bear arms. However, those 27 words
are subject to interpretation. After the
Civil War, legislators of the South adopted Black Codes. Black Codes represented a series of comprehensive
regulations that made the bearing or owning firearms by African Americans
illegal. The Black codes essentially made African Americans vulnerable to any
attacks. Justice Buford of the Florida
Supreme Court justified two original Acts restricting African American laborers
from owning guns in 1893 and also in an amended version in 1901. Despite the pervasive gun restriction laws,
African American inventor Clarence Greg received a patent for an early version
of a machine gun in 1918.
The United States Congress overrode the Black Codes with the
passage of the Civil Rights Act and the 14th Amendment. The National Rifle Association (NRA) set up
charters throughout the South to help train African American communities to
defend themselves. There should have
been momentum for African Americans to become more integrated in the American gun
culture. What slowed down the momentum? Those of us that lived in the cities in the
late 1960’s can remember our parents telling us not to be in the front or back
of the house when the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve. There was always fear of people firing a gun
to bring in the New Year. Many people
were killed by the New Year’s Eve stray bullets. We also tended to associate guns with crime
and were told that guns were a bad thing.
Today, it is speculated that there are approximately 300
million guns in the United States. The
NRA indicates that their membership is approximately 5 million. When you think
of the American gun culture, you have imagery of pickup trucks, hunting and
primarily White Americans. The imagery is
further confirmed by survivalists and the membership profile of the prominent
NRA organization. The most popular
magazine catering to the gun culture, “Guns and Ammo”, usually has not featured
any African Americans contributors nor has any been displayed in advertising. Does the NRA see an opportunity to expand
their membership and target the 30 million African Americans in this
country? The NRA has taken their first
step to tap into this market by using 29 year old African American, Colion Noir
as one of their newest pitch men. Colion
has endured criticism from vocal members of the African American
community. Colion responded in an
interview in the LA Times, “Calling me an
Uncle Tom simply because I am into firearms, it doesn’t make sense. My entire
identity as a black guy is based on my ownership of guns? Really?” he said.
“Some of the most influential black individuals have advocated the use of
firearms, so how come when I do it, I’m vilified? Take a look at the Black
Panthers, MLK and Malcolm X.” Does
Colion deserve the criticism?
Gwainevere Catchings Hess, President of the Black Women’s Agenda,
Inc. points out that, “In 2009, black
males ages 15-19 where eight times more likely as white males the same age, and
2.5 times as likely as their Hispanic peers to be killed in a gun homicide.” The initial reaction could be perceived that
Colion could be adding more gasoline to an existing wide spread problem. Do these statistics and generational
stereotypes create a fear of African Americans with guns in the majority? Could
that be the reason for not targeting the African American market? Or is the gun industry using the statistics
and generational stereotypes to exploit fears to generate revenue? The NRA could be attempting to introduce a new
dimension of African American thinking in regards to firearms.
Some have noted that the popular gun publications don’t
market to African Americans because the demographic is heavily populated in
States that have strict gun laws. Therefore, those advertising dollars would be
merely symbolic because the target customer would not be able to answer the
call to action of purchasing a firearm. That
theory can be scrutinized because 2013 Gallup Inc., Gun Owners of America
statistics indicates that 27% of African Americans and 44% of White Americans own
guns. If you agree with the sample
statistics then almost 3 in 10 African Americans own guns. Others have indicated that the African
American gun culture is reflected in today’s urban rap music and is associated
with gang violence. With the
demographics of the country changing, maybe the NRA and gun manufacturers
realize that a shift in marketing may make sense. Ten years from now, the American gun culture
may look a lot more colorful.
