By San Diego County Gun Owners<\/p>\n
One of the many new changes that the year 2020 brought was the mainstream use of the term \u201cInstitutional Racism.\u201d\u00a0 The phrase is heated, controversial, and its acceptance is a partisan divide (like everything these days).\u00a0 It is the burden of each reader to decide if institutional racism exists, but it is clear that there is a direct line connecting the results of extreme gun laws and the conditions in society described as institutional racism.<\/p>\n
What is institutional racism, or what is the term institutional racism referring to?<\/p>\n
The term \u201cinstitutional racism\u201d appears to have first been used in an official capacity in 1967 by Stokely Carmichael and Charles V. Hamilton.\u00a0 In the book\u00a0Black Power: The Politics of Liberation<\/a>, the term was described as \u201cless overt, far more subtle\u201d and \u201coriginates in the operation of established and respected forces in the society, and thus receives far less public condemnation than [individual racism].\u201d Institutional racism has generally come to be used as racism that is \u201cembedded as normal practice within society or an organization<\/a>.\u201d Dictionary.com defines institutional racism as \u201ca policy, system of government, etc., that is associated with or originated in such a doctrine, and that favors members of the dominant racial or ethnic group, or has a neutral effect on their life experiences, while discriminating against or harming members of other groups, ultimately serving to preserve the social status, economic advantage, or political power of the dominant group.\u201d\u00a0 In summary, institutional racism is a process set up by some kind of institution that has a severe, debilitating negative impact on a particular racial group.<\/p>\n So, what does this have to do with gun laws?<\/p>\n Long term incarceration and living life as a felon, without question, has a debilitating negative impact. \u00a0Despite self-defense being a natural and civil right, violations of restrictive gun laws carry harsh penalties.\u00a0 People of color, and especially blacks, are disproportionately incarcerated and gun violations make up a disproportionately large number of convictions of those incarcerated.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s examine.<\/p>\n The statistics paint a clear picture.\u00a0 Black men, across the California and federally, are disproportionately serving time in jail and disproportionately charged with crimes related to firearms.\u00a0 California is one of the most severely restrictive states when it comes to banning many kinds of rifles, shotguns, pistols, ammunition, and firearms accessories.\u00a0 California is\u00a0well-known to have more laws governing gun ownership and use<\/a>\u00a0than any other state in the country.\u00a0 Each law carries penalties like hefty fines and long-term incarceration, which means there are more opportunities to break a gun law than anywhere else in the country.<\/p>\n The \u201cinstitution\u201d causing this racism is the legislature, and they are fed by anti-gun groups like Brady Org and Moms Demand Action.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The elected officials passing and supporting California\u2019s restrictive gun laws are creating institutional racism.\u00a0 The more laws passed intended to turn people into felons for possessing firearms, the more the institutional racism grows.\u00a0 Terms like \u201ckeeping guns off the street\u201d and \u201ckeeping guns out of the wrong hands\u201d are little more than dog whistles for racist policies that target and destroy the lives of people of color; especially young, black men.\u00a0 As a result, families and communities are being destroyed.<\/p>\n Those who dismiss institutional racism do so too quickly and those who base many political philosophies on institutional racism apply it selectively.\u00a0 The intersection of restrictive gun laws and the minority communities gun laws destroy is the opportunity for non-partisan cooperation to help reimagine public policy.\u00a0 If one side puts away its bias against gun ownership and the other side puts away its bias against institutional racism, enormous strides will be made in eradicating such a horrible source of destroyed communities.<\/p>\n The institutional racism that the California legislature has baked into the Penal Code is an area where all sides should be able to work together.<\/p>\n\n