On March 24, 2018, the March for Our Lives took place in hundreds of cities, big and small, across the United States and abroad, calling for action on gun violence in the wake of the Parkland, Florida massacre. I myself have been to one of these here in Chicago, which reported an estimated 85,000 people descending upon Chicago’s Union Park on the near West Side. At the march, it was just as if I was at the Women’s March back in January, filled with the charisma of many who are angry for the Trump administration’s laziness and the spirit of the young people who feel hopeless with the way the system is going.
But while I was there, I noticed there was a sense of exclusion in the signs I saw there, and the messages being signaled throughout the march. Just as how the Women’s March primarily focused on an exclusive kind of feminism, the March for Our Lives seemed to focus on policies that are just merely “gun control”.
Gun violence is a systemic issue that goes beyond shootings in schools, movie theaters and night clubs. Gun violence also means police violence, like the death of Stephon Clark, or the gun violence that has infamously plagued the South Side of Chicago.
Now are the Parkland kids to blame for this? Of course not, for they are just children finding their budding political voice.
And of course, we will probably never hear the National Rifle Association (NRA), or anyone on the right for that matter, address these further concerns. This can be drawn from the fact that the NRA has never addressed the death of Philando Castile, a licensed black gun owner, or the creation of a fiery propaganda-like video narrated by Dana Loesch. Instead, the NRA has somehow attempted to go about rationalizing an absurd approach to gun violence: arming teachers.
But arming teachers is a claim that will probably exacerbate the social and financial situations for underprivileged schools. Instead, teachers should be armed with the resources that they need to foster and cultivate growth in the classroom. When children are motivated, they grow. The funding of the arts, STEM programs, and counseling services are just some programs that can be started in ailing schools to help kids become motivated for their future.
I am a firm believer in that education is the foundation for anyone to succeed. Here in Chicago, Chicago Public Schools was planning on closing several high schools in predominantly black neighborhoods that experienced the most gun violence. And of the ones that remained open, those schools have poor enrollment.
While it’s uncertain if the March for Our Lives will have amplified these calls for school funding, it has most certainly propelled gun violence into the national dialogue. But there is most certainly a chord that has been struck in the minds of young people beginning to find their voice in a society that demonizes their generation. Only time will tell whether or not these kids will begin to understand the broader picture of gun violence, but given the incredible turnout of the March for Our Lives this year, I have a great feeling they will.