A LESSON LEARNED BEFORE LIVING

A lesson learned is a foundation block for the future.

Except when the lesson is ignored, the future looks bleak.

Who wants a bleak future?

Nobody, but here we are.

Ernest Gaines wrote about a lesson learned the hard way.

Reading a story about the Jim Crow south was a hard read.

It seemed to ask, ‘if you know better, how can you do better?’

Then, as the story progresses, the question I heard was, ‘if you know better, but live in a social structure that doesn’t care, then what?’

The Lesson Learned?

If you’e ever felt trapped in a job, a relationship, or a city, and surround yourself with others sharing the same feeling, nothing changes.

Status quo rules the room. Don’t make waves.

When you don’t want to change jobs, people you care about, or where you live, it’s easy to make excuses for not changing.

Change is hard. Excuses are easy.

School Shooting Changes?

Good Housekeeping published tips on what to teach kids in the event of an active shooter on the loose in their school.

What is the lesson learned? This #10:

If you can’t run or hide, adults especially still have the option of fighting. It’s risky but, as Emerson points out, “This is probably one of the worst scenarios that you could ever imagine, so you’ve really got nothing to lose.” Consider this: “It’s [probably] the bad guy’s first time to come through those doors and take people’s lives,” says Emerson. “He’s nervous, he’s not an experienced shooter. The reality is, with some confidence and knowing what you’re going to do ahead of time, you actually have more of an advantage, especially if you’re within striking distance.”

Do you remember your elementary school teachers? Can you imagine how they would respond to gunman?

The three male adult teachers from Bangor Grade School, Mr. Barbur, Mr. Parken, and Mr. Purcella, seemed like men who could handle their business.

Mr. Parken would be my choice to stand his ground and save his kids.

He had an NBA tryout when he left the service, but became a teacher, a big teacher with experience in handling situations.

I feel sick to my stomach even thinking about them facing down a shooter with bad intentions.

How must every teacher and parent after a school shooting feel?

The Official Feelings In Office

Ernest Gaines wrote about a young black teacher in 1948 conducting classes on the plantation he grew up on.

From the white men who owned the farm, to the law enforcement, the teacher was a ‘college boy’ they wanted to back down.

The teacher didn’t want to make waves, but his community asked him to act when a local black man was tried and convicted and sentenced to death.

This is what his lawyer said in his defense:

“What justice would there be to take his life? Justice, gentlemen? Why, I would as soon put a hog in the electric chair as this.” 

Is Justice In 2022 Better Than 1948?

Take Texas Senator John Cornyn for example:

In January 2014, Cornyn introduced the “Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act”. The bill would provide interstate reciprocity for persons with concealed weapons permits. Cornyn described the bill as “It’s like a driver’s license. It doesn’t trump state laws. Say you have a carry permit in Texas; then you use it in another state that has a concealed-carry law.” He was rated “A” by the National Rifle Association (NRA) as of 2003 and 2014; as of 2018 his NRA rating was “A+”

From his Twitter:

Tell us what else is “Not gonna happen?”

How about universal background checks before a gun purchase?

Safer gun laws to prevent wing nuts from getting their hands on guns with high capacity clips?

Who Are The People That Ignore The Lesson Learned After Another Mass Shooting?

These are German POW’s after WWII watching mass murder film from a death camp.

What happened after the German unconditional surrender?

Denazification was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of any remnants of the National Socialist ideology.

It was carried out specifically by removing those involved from positions of influence and by disbanding or rendering impotent the organizations associated with it. The program of denazification was launched after the end of the Second World War and was solidified by the Potsdam Agreement.

The leaders who could vote for better gun control, but don’t, need to tour a mass shooting before the clean up the same way German citizens were forced to tour a concentration camp after the WWII.

The German civilians figured the tour was a set up, fake news from the Allies, the Americans.

While there they saw shrunken heads, lampshades made from human skin, and dead bodies stacked up.

They finished with a walking tour of the housing and the atmosphere of stench, filth, and horror.

It’s hard to watch even after seventy-two years.

Is that how much longer we’ve got to wait for better gun control in the aftermath of another mass shooting of fourth graders and their teachers?

What will it take for men like John Cronyn and his ilk to wake up to the reality of an environment that produces people with access to weapons they have no idea how to use?

What would Ernest Gaines have to say?