In Gun Control Crowd, Racism Is Still the Favorite Scapegoat

Understand that racism still exists. It never went away, but at least for a while, it was driven mostly underground. People didn’t dare make some of the arguments that they used to make. Then, for just over a decade now, racism has been blamed for literally everything, and now the actual racists aren’t afraid anymore, which isn’t helping anything.

On Thursday, Cam talked about some of the issues facing March For Our Lives in his VIP piece (there will be a promo code at the bottom of this piece for non-VIP members to join if they’d like to read it), but he barely had time to scratch the surface.

That meant there was plenty for me to have fun with, but perhaps one paragraph more than anything reached out to grab me.

Some people interviewed by the consultant worried that the group’s often angry tone and what they saw as a simplistic “guns are bad” message — although founding elements of the organization’s identity — had turned people away. “I think MFOL is overall doing active harm in the political sphere,” reads a comment. “I think we’re turning off voters. I think we’re turning off adults and kids.” Another states: “I believe MFOL in recent years has actively detracted from the broader movement by putting out messaging that conveys naivety, entitlement, and condescension.” In a section on difficulties posed by “frenemies,” the report criticizes a leading gun violence prevention group, Everytown for Gun Safety, for “being obnoxious about creating space” and undermining MFOL. Still, one person floated being absorbed into Everytown, which did not respond to requests for comment, as a potential next step. (Everytown put up seed funding for The Trace and continues to provide annual grants. More detail on our funding and editorial independence can be found here.) 

When the staff got hold of the report, one comment in particular caused consternation: “Let me just say something that may not be popular but needs to be said. I think funding can be scarce because of racism. If we just tell a white boy story, it’s a little bit easier to raise money. All the data says that. When you start bringing in what’s happening to young Black kids it gets a little less interesting because people feel they’ve heard that story.”

Now, I’ll agree that March For Our Lives made a loud and obnoxious splash, pushing a tone-deaf narrative of “guns are bad” that didn’t resonate with a lot of people who might support gun control but don’t want an actual ban, and who are willing to buy the line from other organizations that they don’t want to ban anything–they’re idiots for that, by the way–but that second paragraph there is the one that got me.

Funding is scarce because of racism?

I find it amusing, because it’s not the political right–the people who are typically accused of being racists, by the way–that are the issue here, because they’re not funding gun control as a concept. It doesn’t matter if it’s white kids, black kids, or anyone else sharing a story. They’re not backing gun control because they believe it doesn’t work. They’re never an option for anti-gun organizations, and those organizations know it.

So what this staff member essentially said, though, is that the Democrat-affiliated donor class is full of racist people. 

The reason they figure they’re racist is because they’re pushing a narrative that revolves around black communities and the violence they experience, and they’re not getting money as a result, when they did right after Parkland.

What someone apparently forgot was that Parkland had wall-to-wall media coverage for weeks upon weeks. It was a regular circus, which launched the organization and was followed by another media firestorm around these young people who were suddenly going to take down the dreaded and evil NRA.

That made money flow in like crazy.

While the group expanded the narrative, though, media attention largely dropped off, which means they weren’t getting all of that free media anymore. They were having to work a whole lot harder for the same amount of money, so something had to give.

But it’s easier to blame racism for it, I suppose.

Then again, when have gun grabbers not tried to use racism to push their agenda, all while ignoring the racist roots of the policies they push on a regular basis?

Editor’s Note: The radical left and their media allies, such as those at The Trace, will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.

Help us continue to report on and expose the Democrats’ gun control policies and schemes. Join Bearing Arms VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your VIP membership.