To the Editor:
I’m repulsed by racism, but equally repulsed by the exploitation of race for a personal agenda. Recent comments made by Oprah come to mind (entire white generations in southern states “just gotta die,”)* but it’s happening closer to home. There is a vocal Catholic priest who, on Nov. 15, addressed the diocese of Camden’s Catholics with a relatively fair written statement discussing racism and a repentant baby killer. He ended with a cheap non sequitur: “Finally, racism would take a much-needed hit if we repealed the Second Amendment.”
This priest is not known for subtlety. That the statement was unaccompanied by supporting facts implies its self-evidence. The insinuation that the right to bear arms is a racist viewpoint, or worse, that gun ownership fosters racism isn’t only laughably absurd, but trivializes the real problem of racism.
The NRA is the Second Amendment’s strongest defender with an interesting story. Historical research on the NRA provides some vital contextual insight. The organization was founded following the civil war. Their original goal was not to oppose the Ku Klux Klan, as some believe. They were actually founded to improve gun accuracy after the Civil War after witnessing the horrible shooting records of Union soldiers. At the same time, the KKK, an emerging racist democrats-only group, was vigorously fighting to deny blacks the right to bear arms. The NRA soon took up the primary cause of opposing the KKK. After judges sympathetic to the Klan denied that right to former slaves, it led to the murder of those the Klan knew were disarmed. Their murders included a massacre of 30 blacks at once. The NRA stood up for oppressed former slaves: courageous actions in those times.
I never expected an apology from the priest for his statement. He’s not the type to ever admit he’s wrong. But I asked the periodical that published his statement to either 1) apologize for printing a statement equating a belief in one of our God-given freedoms to the vileness of racism, or 2) in the spirit of fairness, at least allow the historical facts be published.
There are practicing pro-gun Catholics who abhor both racism and its exploitation. A priest is in a leadership position and is looked up to by many people for guidance; they should use his influence with responsibility. When using his influence in an irresponsible manner, it reflects on the church. So I asked his editor to correct the record and take one of the above actions. He did not. He wouldn’t even reply personally to my request. I don’t know why a publication whose focus is information on Catholic events and Catholic living would condone racial exploitation. Maybe I’m wrong on the Second Amendment. But is this how Jesus would try to convince me?
*Ed. Note: In a Nov. 15, 2013 interview with the BBC, Winfrey said, “… there are still generations of people, older people, who were born and bred and marinated in [racism], in that prejudice and racism, and they just have to die.”
