USA TODAY International Edition
We need gun control, but it won’t fix hate
Evil is real, and it lives in my fellow Americans
In my younger days, I would have been hanging out in Dayton’s Oregon District. On a Saturday night, I would almost certainly have been partying at Sloopy’s or one of the other bars or night clubs in the popular entertainment district. It’s chilling to think that I or one of my friends or family might have been among the nine killed or more than two dozen injured in a senseless mass shooting Sunday morning.
Back then, my mother used to warn me about the possibility of shootings like this. With my youthful sense of invulnerability, I would laugh off her concerns, saying, “Aww, ma! Nothing’s gonna happen. We’re just going out to have a little fun.”
I’m not laughing now.
At 44, my youthful naiveté has been replaced with the sobering reality of adulthood and the frustrating realization that the country I live in suffers from the seemingly incurable diseases of hatred and violence. That we can no longer “just have a little fun” without also having to look out for an emergency exit or shelter to dive behind in case we find ourselves dodging a sudden hail of bullets. That evil is indeed real, and that it isn’t embodied in some fairy tale witch, ghost or goblin, but in the American citizens who are supposed to be my neighbors.
Two years ago, I wrote that I wasn’t worried about America being destroyed by Russia, the Islamic State or some other foreign adversary. What scared me the most was us, what we are doing to each other through our words and actions, that we are our own worst enemy. I see it every day on social media and in our personal interactions.
We have let our differences and divisions push us further apart. Our anger, contempt and intolerance for one another’s opinions and beliefs have driven us to become meaner, nastier and more cruel to our fellow man. We dehumanize each other so easily and so often, is there any wonder why we have become so desensitized to these horrible tragedies and our first response is to go to our respective political corners rather than take a moment to mourn the loss of human life — to pause and ask, “What are we doing to each other?”
Many will and already have rushed to blame President Donald Trump for fueling hatred with his divisive rhetoric about immigrants and other dog whistles. As the leader of the free world, the president does bear some responsibility, as do all of those in leadership positions, for setting the right tone, a tone of unity. But blaming Trump alone isn’t right, because each of us has personal responsibility for the state of our political discourse in America.
Others will and already are pressing the issue of gun control. I think it is ridiculous at this point to suggest that we don’t need to do everything possible to keep dangerous assault weapons out of the hands of those who shouldn’t have them. The families of shooting victims need more than our thoughts and prayers; they deserve action. But Congress’ track record gives no reason for hope that anything will change or that reasonable measures will be taken. Besides, gun control alone won’t fix what ails the United States.
There are those in this country whose hearts have been poisoned with hatred for others simply because they are different. There are those who feel a sense of entitlement and who believe that the promises of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness in America belong to them alone and those who look like them and share their culture. We must vigorously beat back these ideals, condemning them without equivocation or quarter. Hate groups that support, incite and perform acts of violence based on racism, anti-Semitism, homophobia, xenophobia or religious intolerance must be treated and dealt with like the domestic terrorists they are.
Every day, I see my fears becoming reality. We must find a way to come together, acknowledging the role that each of us has contributed to this toxic mess our nation has become, before it is too late.
I pray that it already isn’t.
Kevin S. Aldridge is the Opinion editor of The Cincinnati Enquirer, where this column first appeared.