Wendell Pierce Posts an Interesting Tweet About Guns

I must admit, I've thought about the point that actor Wendell Pierce makes in this Twitter comment he posted on Nov. 22. It is thought provoking to say the very least.

Would that many black males joining the National Rifle Association change perceptions for better or for worse?

It's, of course, difficult to say, but I have little doubt it would generate some discomfort.

Is It True: Black People With Guns = Thugs, White People With Guns = Patriots

Checking Facebook, something I do quite often on a daily basis, I stumbled across this comment posted by Tim Wise, one of my favorite activists. Wise, who can verbally mix it up with the best of them and is outspoken in issues regarding race (all the more intriguing because he is a white male), had this interesting little nugget of knowledge he dropped on Monday, April 19, in regard to a recent showing of so-called guns rights activists on the National Mall in Washington D.C.:

(Tim Wise) ... wonders how FOX News and conservative white folks in general would feel about thousands of black men descending on the DC area with guns as part of a political protest. Actually, I don't wonder. I know. They would no more consider them defenders of constitutional liberty than the NRA considered the Black Panthers as such 40 years ago. Black people with guns = thugs. White people with guns = patriots. Don't forget it.

So, that whole statement and particularly the last sentence got me to thinking about the issue a little more deeply. Is Wise correct? Are we that shallow that black people with guns could be considered thugs while white people with guns are considered patriots?

To a large extent, I find it difficult to argue with Wise's comment. Imagine the outrage if a group of blacks (they would probably be labeled a gang) descended upon the Washington D.C. area with guns lobbying for the right to get and keep guns.

Huffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/19/gun-rally-second-amendmen_n_542872.html

MSNBC/Washington Post:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36635695/ns/politics-washington_post/