The latest mass shooting to make the national news happened in Buffalo (New York). An 18 year-old right-wing racist shot 13 people -- killing 10 of them. He said he chose Buffalo because it has a significant Black population, and he was aiming his terror at Black people.
This shooting highlighted two of the most serious problems in the United States -- gun violence and racism.
While most don't make the national news, there have been about 200 mass shootings in the U.S. this year, and we have not even reached summer yet (the prime season for mass shootings). This country has more guns in circulation than our population, and too many of those guns are available to anyone who wants one -- including criminals, terrorists, and the dangerously mentally ill.
We could save many lives by passing some constitutional and popular gun laws, but our Congress doesn't seem interested in doing that.
Some thought we were getting past our problem with racism after electing a Black president. That was just wishful thinking. It just made the racists bolder, and electing a racist president made them think their sick beliefs were now popular. Most Americans don't like that, but a significantly large portion of our population are racist and support white supremacist beliefs (including the Buffalo shooter).
Much of the blame for both gun violence and racism continuing to be problems rests with Republican officials. They could have passed laws to curb gun violence, but they refused to do so. They could have called out the racist president and his dog whistles to the racist right, but they didn't. Instead, they adopted those dog whistles as campaign fodder.
Catering to the gun culture and the racists more more important to them than saving American lives or making our country one where everyone can thrive. Creating a better, safer, and fairer country will not happen as long as the Republicans remain in power.
We can go a long way toward solving both of these problems in November.
