Valentines Day Massacre pt.2

On Thursday February 14 at around 4:00 p.m. there was another campus shooting, this time at Northern Illinois University. This is becoming way to familiar in our society. The shooter was a former grad student. 5 killed and 16 wonded, so far.

I am assuming the shooter had this planned out to mock the history of the valentines day massacre that took place in 1929 in Chicago. Northern Illinois Univ. is not in Chicago nonetheless it is in Illinois.

First i will start by saying, I have been beating this drum for a long time. Guns are extremely easy to obtain in America. There are so many sketchy dealers that give guns to unfit individuals. I don't know where he obtained his gun from but, the report says he had TWO HANDGUNS and a SHOTGUN! Good grief. I know you can legally own guns but at some point it becomes excessive. Who really needs three guns for a good purpose, especially the type of guns he had. I don't hunt but i can't imagine that people would hunt with handguns. I am also familiar that people have them for protection. One day people will learn that violence begets violence.

The scary part about this saga is that these type of occurences are a clone of terrorism. America is an extremely free society. Lately the targets have been universities but what is to stop someone from walking into a mall or a theme park. People are rendered helpless in situations like this, especially when the person is willing to take their own life. I am not trying to scare anyone but i don't know exactly how to thwart efforts like this. I also ask, is it now ok to stereotype people in your head, although stereotyping is commonly shunned? What do you do here? The government is looking to curb terrorism from fanatic religious groups but i think situations like these merit intense consideration before they get even more out of hand. The best and often easiest way to prevent something is to stop it before it happens.

One of the proposed solutions that stemmed from the Virginia Tech massacre was the idea of teachers being able to carry guns. That argument seems to hold weight initially but i don't know if that would work either. If we were to enact that strategy it would put all of the students in a vulnerable position and what if that teacher loses his mind then everybody is surely going to die because now we have created a hostage situation. Therefore this thing needs some serious consideration.

-Pause-

Now here is where my problem lies. Whenever there is a younger black individual that has a violent streak then they are labeled as a menace to society or a thug. However it seems when white america has these violent issues then they need counseling.The picture is painted very differently, even in death. The undertone of the black story is that these things are part of the culture (whatever that means because it is part of america), but the white story is painted differently and it is a rogue individual. True, blacks are more likely to die from homicide than whites, but they need to acknowledge that they have a problem too. They just do their dirt differently, however people die and that is the bottom line.

I cannot recall of a school shooting that was done by a black person (if you can think of one let me know), from Columbine to Northern Illinois. When does this become part of their culture? Well the good thing about this is they can't blame it on 50 cent or hip hop. But perhaps they could blame it on L.A. Confidential, Training Day, SWAT, Bad Boys, Clear and Present Danger, or whatever other shoot 'em up movie you can think of. I am not trying to get rid of these type of movies at all but they would be quick to blame violence in hip hop for something a black guy did, therefore i think this should be a two way street.

Certainly I feel bad for those involved and i wish the best for everyone that has had to suffer, but America needs to admit they have a problem on there hands. As my man Nas said on Stillmatic, "never to worry, all the wrong doers got it coming back to em a thousand times over, every dog has his and everything flips around, even the most greatest nation in the world has it coming back to em, everyone reaps what they sew and thats how it goes, innocent lives will be taken, it may get worse but we'll get through it ya'll, BE STRONG".

Everybody be safe, be smart, and be alert!