NYT Opinion: The Black Gun Owner Next Door

[Reptile]

I’m an African-American historian and, on most issues, decidedly liberal. Could I rethink my anti-gun stance?

On a bright, cold morning last November, I walked Boston’s Black Heritage Trail, a hidden gem among the city’s trove of historic sites. I had followed it decades ago as a graduate student and was returning now with my mother after a recent move to Massachusetts. I was especially looking forward to revisiting one stop on the trail — Lewis Hayden’s house, in the now-affluent Beacon Hill neighborhood.

Hayden’s story had made a strong impression on me. His immediate family was shattered by slavery. He had escaped from Lexington, Ky., not far from where I grew up in Ohio, and went on to build a remarkable life in Boston. Years after my first visit to the house, which was a stop on the Underground Railroad, I could still picture the green window shutters and elegant doorway. I associated Lewis Hayden with the place where I grew up, with family, perseverance and good will. So I was disconcerted by what I found when I arrived at the house that autumn day.

Opinion | The Black Gun Owner Next Door

 

[Radtekk]

Thnks for the link, interesting, and informative, article. Worth the read

 

[upcountry]

Good read, sent to my very liberal friend.

 

[bauer]

Totally misinterpreted the title. Thought this was going to be about the unassuming guy next door that owns an AR

 

[PeterC]

Well, pretty good until the end when he says "After sipping tea at the Hayden House, I am still suspicious of the N.R.A., and I would not abide having a gun inside my dwelling or my children’s schools. But where would I want to be if civil society topples and 2020 feels like 1820? In a home like the Haydens’, in a neighborhood like the North Slope of 19th-century Beacon Hill, in a community fortified by love in action and maybe a powder keg beneath the floorboards.".

How does he expect to reach his fantasy 'sanctuary' without weapons ? I think he's just going to rely on his friends, neighbors and relatives who are armed. Typical liberal.

P

 

[hminsky]

Hah, the author teaches at Harvard, and will soon most likely be punished somehow for admitting that there is any trace of ethical validity in a free citizen owning a gun. She better have tenure already or sayonara.

 

[Blueman1914]

I thought it was a good read. Too many in the black community forget about our armed past.

 

[mu2bdriver]

It sounds like the NYT writer was upset that he met a Black American who could think for himself and wasn’t willing to be enslaved on the modern day plantation.

 

[citoriguy]

The author is an African-American female. It’s a good read, and an interesting perspective she brings to the table.

 

[CLW42]

Had me right up until he started talking about white supremacy being on the rise. Stopped reading after that. I don't see a rise in that, I see a media that wants there to be a rise of white supremacy groups.

 

[Reptile]

Had me right up until he started talking about white supremacy being on the rise. Stopped reading after that. I don't see a rise in that, I see a media that wants there to be a rise of white supremacy groups.

Don't stop there.

It gets better.

 

[ToddDubya]

Had me right up until he started talking about white supremacy being on the rise. Stopped reading after that. I don't see a rise in that, I see a media that wants there to be a rise of white supremacy groups.

I hope you didn't read the comments where every Joe Whitey has an arsenal and is itching to start enslaving them darkies again. And are begging for the gun control like they have in places like Brittain (sic) where even the Bobbies don't have guns. Brittain (sic), where people are literally sending their children to Somalia to escape the violence.

London: Somalis Send Sons Home to Escape Deadly Knife Crime

 

[AHM]

Well, pretty good until the end when he says "After sipping tea at the Hayden House, I am still suspicious of the N.R.A., and I would not abide having a gun inside my dwelling or my children’s schools. But where would I want to be if civil society topples and 2020 feels like 1820? In a home like the Haydens’, in a neighborhood like the North Slope of 19th-century Beacon Hill, in a community fortified by love in action and maybe a powder keg beneath the floorboards.".

How does he expect to reach his fantasy 'sanctuary' without weapons ? I think he's just going to rely on his friends, neighbors and relatives who are armed. Typical liberal.

If so, the author's making the basic assumption that in a SHTF situation,
he's going to be welcomed into better-prepared homes.

Welcomed; not sent packing, with the advice to
"defend you and yours with your own guns".
(The null set of guns, in his case).

 

[seanc]

I read it like a typical meanandering NPR spot. “I guess it was ok for them then. And some people do it now. But I still think it’s bad and wrong. But after everything goes wrong and they are no longer available, I’ll get one”..

It could have been “ guns kept this man free. He used them to protect himself and others. After the CW the NRA was founded to give and protect the rights of all but especially freed slaves in the face of the Democrat Shock Troops that came to be known as the KKK. The 2A is just as relevant now as it was then in the face of an over powerful Gov stripping away rights and freedom”

 

[MAGA99]

Way too long winded for me. Spit it out!!

 

[RapidTransit]

Suggestion to OP, when linking to liberal rags try using http://archive.is/ Article: http://archive.is/ldiRf it doesn't give them the clicks/ad impressions https://seclab.bu.edu/people/gianluca/papers/capsules-ICWSM2018.pdf

 

[Chevy 2 65]

Way too long winded for me. Spit it out!!

Same.

 

[lowbuckbob]

Interesting read. Thanks for the link.

 

[Mark from MA]

Interesting Article. A little too much of "we don't have the arsenal a Joe average white guy has, and Trump bashing.

Some don't understand it's liberals that are responsible for dividing the country and spewing racism.......

Also mentions comments of White supremacy on the rise, and enslavement....they are missing the point and being very devisive for no real reason.

Its about freedom from Government enslavement, nothing else......we all should stand together on that no matter what color you are.