Mass shooting near Crosstown a call to action
In the Crosstown area of Memphis last Sunday, two young men were killed and four others wounded in a mass shooting.
It wasn’t reported that way. We don’t think of it that way. We reserve the anguished term “mass shooting” for lone gunmen who attack a Waffle House or a church service or a concert.
The methods and motives may differ, but the carnage is the same. So is the damage to the psyche and prospects of a community and a generation. If we viewed it as a mass shooting, maybe we’d address it with more urgency.
In the days after the shootout, police and family members either didn’t know or weren’t saying why two carloads of young men started shooting at each other.
The mystery only adds to the mania. The lack of analysis only adds to the paralysis.
We do know the shooting had nothing to do with Crosstown Concourse. That just happened to be the nearest landmark when the shooting began.
If the shooting had begun a mile farther north, few of us would have paid much attention to it. Probably just another gang-on-gang crime. Just another senseless Memphis crime.
Crime isn’t just a Memphis thing, of course. The same day, 37 other people were killed and 75 wounded the same day in gun violence across the country. The next day, 37 more people were killed and 69 wounded in gun violence. The next day, 24 were killed and 42 wounded.
According to Boston University, Americans are 128 times more likely to be killed in everyday gun violence than by any act of international terrorism. An African-American living in an urban area is almost 500 times more likely. An African-American young man living in Memphis, infinitely more likely.
blessings. The children are better off now.
Q: And you’re a widow, too.
Yes. My husband used to say this, and it has stayed with me: “Why do people grieve at a death? If they believe in heaven, they should rejoice!”
Q: Please share a bit about your family.
I have two daughters, six grandchildren, and two great grandchildren. They all seem to be doing well.
Q: And what about your early life?
I was born in Oregon. We moved to East Tennessee, to Erwin, a typical small town near Johnson City. I had an ordinary life, nothing special. School, church, piano lessons. I played piano for the Methodist church for years. I also played for the glee club. I graduated second in my high school class.
Q: What were your parents like?
Also ordinary. I remember that my father had a fit when I wanted to wear white ankle socks to school. They were the new rage! Actually I wanted to show my legs! The school standard was thick black stockings and a dress. Everything was very different in the 1920s.
The Depression didn’t affect us much because my father worked for the railroad and always had a job. But it was hard on other people.
Q: What about college and jobs?
I went to a very good school in East Tennessee, very highly rated. Tusculum College. I had a double major, English and education psychology. I graduated second in my class there, too.
Then I taught third and fourth grades for two years and later worked for the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) writing reports and monthly safety bulletins.
Q: How did you meet your husband?
After he came back from Italy after the war, we met at the TVA. He was doing his MA in political science at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. We married six months after we met and a year later honeymooned in Cuba.
Since we couldn’t both work at the TVA, I became assistant director of religious education at a big church in Knoxville. Then we moved to Washington because he was doing his Ph.D. in international geography at Georgetown. We both worked at the Pentagon, and he worked in the Korea section. Then he won a Fulbright and we were in Turkey for two years.
Q: You also were Methodist missionaries for years and raised your family in Pakistan. What are some memories?
My husband taught political science at a college; I served on boards of mission schools. Our home was like a hotel with constant visitors. We loved it. We were there for 14 years and it’s the place the family calls home. We lived in Pakistan in a peaceful time, the ’60s, and missed much of the unrest going on in America.
Q: What are some highlights of your life?
My husband and I loved to travel. We’ve traveled via boat, car, train, plane, and of course tongas and rickshaws. We’ve visited every continent except Antarctica and every state except Utah. We liked learning about how people are different and how cultures are different.
I’ve been very active in church all my life and in the women’s societies of the United Methodist Church. I’ve had a very happy, satisfying life.
Q: What health issues have you encountered?
A spider bit me; I had a severe allergic reaction and was hospitalized. I recently fell and broke a vertebra; the neck brace came off several weeks ago. I have hearing aids (that don’t work well!) and glasses. Because I require little sleep, I spend a lot of time reading. I like biographies in particular.
Q: Last year 200 guests from many parts of the world came to your 100th birthday celebration. You have so many friends. Can you give some suggestions?
I’m not judgmental. I’ve never hated anybody; hate destroys. Before I moved to assisted living, I had a spare bedroom and bath. I told people I couldn’t offer meals, but they could come and go. Many people stayed with me over the years. We had good conversations. I made many friends. Even now, people are always coming to my room to talk.
May is Senior Citizens Month. Margaret is certainly a centenarian to be honored.
Robin Gallaher Branch, a Fulbright scholar, is an adjunct professor in the department of religion and philosophy at Christian Brothers University. She can be reached at rbranch3@cbu.edu.