Racism is not recognizing that races exist or using race as part of a description of a person. "That's a white guy. That's a black guy. That guy's Hispanic, and the other one looks Asian. That girl is blonde, and the other is a redhead." That statement does not make a person that says it racist or sexist or whatever .*ist you want.

If you were robbed/mugged by someone, and you were giving a description to the police, it would be idiocy to think "I can't say it was a (pick an ethnicity) guy because that would be racist."

It takes more than recognizing that people are different (which we all are) to be racist.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1625502573.jpg

I've always used the term "blacks".

I've heard interviews with many who said they preferred that over "African American".

It is hard to have any sympathy for a person who lacks the mental wherewithal to figure out that pulling a gun on a busy road might not end well.

I would not have been surprised if two motorists shot him.

Agreed and memorialized.

I’m not seeing color in this particular situation. I’m more concerned with bullets flying around on the freeway. This isn’t an environment I want to live in.

If you want to fix it, everything is on the table: race, gender, poverty, denigration of the family unit, the whole burrito.

Or, hope it will get better.

Best of luck....hope is not a metric.

Still nothing ... zilch coverage.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1625512962.jpg

Not much I can do to fix anything. All I can do is keep my family close, treat people around me with respect, and keep my head on a swivel.

And therein lies the problem with far too many people. Color is a factor in this whole "gun violence" problem and, to be brutally honest, it is statistically one of the most important factors.

Understanding and acknowledging all of the factors contributing to any problem is the very first step in solving that problem. Ignoring any contributing factors for any reason, be they religious, political, or whatever dooms any "solution" to failure. We have now suffered generations of failure in our attempts to solve this particular problem, in a large part because it is taboo in certain circles to discuss one of the most glaring contributing factors.

Why should this be national news? People die locally due to gun violence daily. Mass shootings barely make the news anymore.

My point, which you missed, was that I’m more concerned with any human shooting a gun on a busy interstate. I didn’t even know what ethnicity any of these people involved was until I stumbled upon this thread. I fully acknowledge that gun violence is a major issue in inner cities. I think that has more to do with socioeconomic issues than a particular race issue.

Seems relevant to the many folks post here from across the nation outside Texas.

No, I did not miss your "point", not in the least. And I began this little tangent by addressing the "point" that both you and Denis were attempting to make - that this is a "gun problem", that it is a problem driven by the presence of so many guns in America. My assertion is that it is not - it is a problem that is very much more pronounced in a certain demographic, the one to which our perp/"victim" belongs.

And you would be absolutely wrong. We have poor white communities, poor Hispanic communities, poor Asian communities, and on and on - poor communities of any race and/or ethnicity you can name. None of them are as violent and murderous as our poor black communities. None. Yes, poverty does demonstrably lead to more crime - that much is undeniable. But the crime rates - particularly violent crime rates - are several fold higher in poor black communities than they are in any other poor communities. Several fold.

So, if you really want the bullets to stop flying, you need to try to understand what created one JaDerek Gray, because there are plenty more where he came from. Quit blaming guns, quit blaming law abiding gun owners. Blame the culture that created and nurtured young Mr. Gray. Find ways to address the problems that have engendered that culture. Until you can do that, another one is going to pop up right behind him, and another young life will be needlessly lost.

I wish the mainstream media didn't see color......they are the real enemy......

I read somewhere that the poorest all-white county has a lower crime rate than the wealthiest all-black county.

13% of the population (actually much smaller when a specific age group of males is narrowed) commit something like 52-58% of all national murders.

There are lawmakers who actually encourage and defend mass violent 'protests' in defending the behavior of these individuals.
Media ignores the major trends and tries to portray the opposite is occurring.
Educational and social institutions consistently fail despite the funding poured into them.

Perhaps there are other factors involved?

Oh my God. Someone had to throw the race card.

Christ, the dude was brandishing a firearm. What part of "Dead" do you people not understand?

We are trying to understand "why" this young man was brandishing a firearm. "Why" he wound up "Dead". And why so many just like him do the same thing and wind up the same way. It's a horrible tragedy that unfolds many times, each and every day with young men just like him. Perhaps we would like to see it stop?

That's a fifteen yard penalty and loss of down. Stop with the facts.

Pics of that kid do not scream thug/murderer but he is still so very dead.

I think he listened to "These people" on YouTube.

To be fair, most black people would not have responded in the way that he did, either. Why can't he just be a young person who used extremely poor judgement, which seems to affect young white males as well? Why throw in all of the racial schit, which always seems like taking a victory lap for racists? Like, "See! Another one....goddamn..." :rolleyes:

All of the mass shooters seem to be white. They just released the report on the Borderline Bar shooting from 2019 in the Los Angeles area, sure sounds like a white guy who can't get laid with anger management issues and lots of guns. Which of course should give anyone Deja Vu:

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-07-03/mass-shooting-suspect-likely-targeted-borderline-bar-on-college-night-because-of-his-hatred-of-students

Yes, I deeply regret that my child never had the opportunity to watch me shoot a man dead. Nothing says love like homicide on the highway.