ACLU says 2A is “racist” – conveniently overlooks key facts

July 27, 2021

You knew this was coming, right?

This past weekend the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) tweeted that the Second Amendment is RACIST.

In a tweet, the group said “Racism is foundational to the Second Amendment and its inclusion in the Bill of Rights.”

According to the ACLU, “anti-Blackness” led to the Second Amendment’s inclusion in the Bill of Rights, and has led to the “unequal and racist application of gun laws.”

During their At Liberty podcast on July 16, guest “expert” Carol Anderson said African Americans are viewed as a “threat” whether they’re armed or unarmed due to “anti-blackness.”

Anderson argued the Second Amendment was an attempt to “bribe” southern slave owners so they wouldn’t “undermine” the United States Constitution. Southerners needed a way to protect their private “property,” and were worried that slaves could overtake the South, according to Anderson.

Anderson is the author of “The Second: Race and Guns in a Fatally Unequal America.”

Racism is foundational to the Second Amendment and its inclusion in the Bill of Rights.

Learn more from experts Carol Anderson and Charles Howard Candler on this episode of the At Liberty podcast.https://t.co/9AjGALT1GH

— ACLU (@ACLU) July 25, 2021

The ACLU supported Anderson’s claims, writing, “The gun violence epidemic continues to spark debate about the Second Amendment and who has a right to bear arms. But often absent in these debates is the intrinsic anti-Blackness of the unequal enforcement of gun laws, and the relationship between appeals to gun rights and the justification of militia violence.”

“Throughout the history of this country, the rhetoric of gun rights has been selectively manipulated and utilized to inflame white racial anxiety, and to frame Blackness as an inherent threat.”

So, is this “anxiety” borne out in actual crime statistics? Are white militia gunning down black people?

No. The facts do not support that claim.

According to the FBI, African-Americans accounted for 55.9 percent of all homicide offenders in 2019, with whites accounting for 41.1 percent, in cases where the race was known.

Black or African-Americans made up 54.7 percent of the homicide victims, and whites made up 42.3 percent, where the race was known.

The per-capita offending rate for African-Americans was roughly six times higher than that of whites, and the victim rate was similar.

Most homicides were intra-racial, meaning 81 percent of white victims were killed by whites, and 91 percent of black or African-American victims were killed by black or African-Americans.

This data is from 2019. Not 1919. Or 1819. Or 1719. Or 1619, for that matter.

Perhaps the ACLU might want to review some other history. In 1957, a black civil rights activist and veteran Marine named Robert Williams applied to the National Rifle Association (NRA) for a charter for a local rifle club. He called his local chapter of the NRA the Black Armed Guard, made up of 50-60 men, including some fellow veterans. Their goal was to defend the local black community from racist attacks, similar to the Deacons for Defense, who established chapters in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama in 1964–1965.

They didn’t think the Second Amendment was racist. Another interesting fact.

But clearly these days facts are so overrated.