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“There seems to be no safe place in America,” says Michael, noting that even in places that were once considered places of solace, people have to worry about being shot. Sam Jean joins another episode of Raw & Uncut to talk about gun control in America and its intersection with issues of race. The episode was recorded in the wake of Tyre Nichols dying at the hands of five Memphis police officers. They note the hypocrisy of allowing anyone to acquire a gun while requiring training and permits for far less consequential endeavors such as driving a car. Similarly, when it comes to police brutality, offending officers are moved to other departments while any other profession would bar its practitioner for life. Sam explains the sympathy he both has and doesn’t have for police officers based on the work they do, the power that they possess and the responsibility that comes with it. Asking for accountability is not the same as being anti-police.
There is a disparity between the way we view white people who own guns–and openly carry them–with the way we view Black people, particularly Black men, who do the same. Similarly, as Sam points out, white police officers convicted of police brutality have their officer portraits shown on TV while Black officers have their resulting mug shots shown. Sam and Michael discuss a movement gaining attention in Memphis that would have two different judiciary processes for each race. Racist conservatives blame Black criminality on single-parent households, a term often interchangeably and incorrectly confused with having an absentee parent, Sam notes, as a deflection from the effects of external racist forces.
Michael and Sam question why more money and attention aren’t being focused on de-escalating crime. Michael compares the huge disparity between incidents of gun crime in the U.S. to those of the rest of the world.
“I've already given up the idea that you're going to restrict the ability of people to own weapons in this country. I've already given that up because it is part of our culture And we don't want to let that part of our culture go.” (8:22-8:36 | Sam)
“We won't let a 14-year-old-vote. We will not let a 14-year-old drink…But we're going to trust a 14-year-old with an AR-15. To just walk around on public land.What could go wrong there?” (13:16-13:58 | Sam)
“If you're a police officer, and you were involved in this sort of thing, and you get fired and you don't go to jail, you shouldn't be able to go somewhere else and be a cop. Period. If I'm a lawyer and I lose my law license, I get disbarred for a reason. I can't just show up in some other state and try to join the bar.” (44:09-44:28 | Sam)
“In some consulate offices, when they have travel warnings for the United States, they sometimes put, ‘Be careful because of the rampant school shootings, at a club…I don't recall ever looking up a country's travel site and seeing a warning like that…And I thought that was interesting.” (48:36-49:18 | Michael)
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