By Mildred Robertson
As average Americans deal with
the growing violence that blights our political landscape, many search for
leadership that inspires unity over conflict. It is a travesty that Charlie
Kirk was gunned down in the middle of a university campus, although he was
there to espouse violent, hateful ideas. He had a right to his beliefs and the
right to champion them. However, it is no less a travesty that he contributed
to the hate and violence Americans have come to accept as normal. Kirk defended
our weak response to gun control following a school massacre by saying,
"Yes, people die from gun violence. It's tragic. But that's the price of
freedom. Unfortunately, it's worth it to keep the Second Amendment
intact."
It appears political violence is on the rise in America. From the 2011 Tucson shooting, where then Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot during a constituent meeting and six people were killed and 13 wounded, to the assassination of right-wing conservative Charlie Kirk, terrorists have used violence to silence ideas different from their own. While right-wing leadership calls for vengeance following the fatal shooting of radical activist Charlie Kirk, they remained silent during violent attacks on political figures with differing ideas.
While we perceive ourselves as an
enlightened nation that values political freedom, our history presents a
different perspective. We are a violent
country. Our turbulent history dates back to the colonies and the destruction
of the indigenous population. We have romanticized the violence upon which our
nation was built. We see ourselves as rugged, gun-toting individualists whose
primary goal is to live free of others' opinions, wants, or needs.
You can trace America’s appetite for violence
from slavery, through the civil Rights movement, up to more recent history that
includes the assassination of Medgar Evers, the slaying of Martin Luther King,
Malcom X, and John and Robert Kennedy.
But we cannot stop there. Our country has endured white terrorist attacks
such as Timothy McVey’s bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma, the
13 domestic terrorists who attempted to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen
Whitmore, and the home invasion on Nancy Pelosi and the physical assault on her
husband.
Violence in our country is
neither red nor blue, as we cite the attempted assassination of Ronald Regan, a
mass shooting in 2017 that left five people injured, including House Majority Whip
Steve Scalise, and the attempted slaying of President Donald Trump.
In June 2025, state Sen. John
Hoffman survived an assassination attempt when he and his wife were shot in
their Minnesota home. The attack on the Hoffmans occurred before the political assassination
of state Rep. Melissa Hortman, the former House speaker, and her husband,
Mark. The assassin went as far as to kill their dog. The four were on a kill
list of dozens of democrats targeted for assassination.
While Trump basically ignored
these recent shootings against democrats, he has ordered flags to be raised to half-staff
in honor of the fallen Kirk. His administration did not formally acknowledge Hortman’s
assassination or attend or send a representative to her funeral. It appears that
he considers himself president of only those who support him. Whereas major
statesmen who preceded him have used times such as these to bring unity, he seems
to care little about uniting the nation in this time of turmoil.
As America grapples with 9,400
threats of violence against politicians in this country in 2024, we must
determine whether our rugged individualism tied to the 2nd Amendment
and the right to bear arms is more important than the right to live without
fear of the gun violence that has overcome us in our schools, our streets, our churches
and synagogues, and even within the halls of Congress.
As we struggle with the violence
that has overtaken our country, Americans have a decision to make. Do we want to unite as one nation under God? Are
we willing to live in a true democracy where all voices are heard, and ideas
are put to the test at a ballot box rather than the butt of a gun? Will we
relinquish our love of the violent gun culture, or will we continue to
normalize the lethal politics that currently govern our lives?
Rampant gun violence. Political
terrorism. Is it REALLY worth it?
I would ask Charlie Kirk how he
feels about it now. But I can’t, because he is a victim of his own rhetoric and
America’s lethal politics.
