Will the Charlie Kirk Assassination Inspire a Young Generation to Solve Our Problems with Guns?

by Ernie McCray

Oh I wonder if we will ever solve this gun problem
that hangs over our nation
like a vicious thundercloud,
the latest tragedy
involving Charlie Kirk’s life being taken,
an assassination
that apparently has triggered,
no pun intended,
a few celebrations
which kind of chills me to the bone.

But it also makes my blood run cold

seeing this man being idolized

by people who seem energized

by his reputation

for

doing so called wonderful things for young people

part of that being on how, particularly,

he encouraged our youth

to think critically

which makes me go “Whoa, wait a minute,”

considering that millions of these young folks

he rallied

played a huge role

in getting an asshole

reelected for president

which begs the question:

who with critical thinking skills

would ever do something like that,

believing that it was okay

to show allegiance

to a man

who brazenly vowed

to trash our Democracy and throw it away

and acts on that promise every single day.

And in the process of working with our youth

Mr. Kirk also bonded them with White supremacists,

spreading racist ideals for their minds to ponder

like a crop duster seeding large areas of farmland,

telling them how if he saw a Black pilot

he’d hope he was qualified

and how he thought of

Black players in the WNBA as pot-smoking lesbians

and Martin Luther King as an “awful” person,

and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as a “huge mistake,”

and he shared his fears of non-Europeans

replacing the White population

and of gay people being cut too much of a break

in the United States,

giving the impression

that all he seemed to do

was expose our children to hateful ideologies

which, by no means, meets any reasonable description

of doing wonderful things for them

when one takes in account our society’s need

for togetherness across race and creeds

and beliefs

if we’re to succeed

as human beings.

And this public face of Turning Point USA

once said that he couldn’t

stand the word empathy

but in spite of my feelings about him

I find myself empathizing with his family,

especially his children,

as no one should have to endure the emotional pain

they’re going through.

And I empathize with my fellow human beings, too,

as we continue to overcome

all that we are now going through

as a country,

hoping that maybe,

through this recent tragic situation

we’ll get around to finally

addressing our problems with guns.

That would be something very worthwhile

for this young generation

to take on.