Dr. Boyce: The NRA’s Ad to the Black Community is Sick, Sinister and Possibly Brilliant
by Dr. Boyce Watkins
The National Rifle Association is at it again, seeking to find ways to drum up support for a set of gun laws that don’t quite make any sense. This week, the organization put out a new ad specifically targeted toward African Americans, particularly young black men, stating that the answer to too many guns is to simply supply more guns than ever before.
An energetic young black man appears in the video. I’m not sure how much he was paid, but I expect that it was a lot. One must be well-compensated to support this kind of genocide.
“The only person responsible for your safety is you,” the video says. “Cops can’t always be there. Obama definitely can’t be there.”
The brother in the ad keeps at it:
“No one wants to fight for their protection, they want the government to do it. The same government who at one point hosed us down with water, attacked us with dogs, and wouldn’t allow us to eat at their restaurants and told us we couldn’t own guns when bumbling fools with sheets on their heads were riding around burning crosses on our lawns and murdering us.”
The video is a clearly insulting and counter-productive appeal. It relies heavily on racial anxieties and stereotypes to convince black men to support the unsettling notion that more guns on the streets are actually good for us. Given that black males are, by a long shot, the greatest victims of hand gun violence in America, we know without a doubt that more guns will only lead more of us to the grave or a prison cell. My sister, who has done autopsies in the killing fields of Chicago, often tells me about the horror stories she saw every day on the job.
But here’s where the NRA’s ad was absolutely brilliant, in a malevolent sort of way. You see, the NRA, unlike other conservatives, understands that black people are as heterogeneous as any other group of people in America. We don’t all think alike and we are incredibly diverse in our viewpoints.
Most of my Southern Baptist relatives in Kentucky don’t care much for gay marriage, my father the police officer appreciates Republican support for law enforcement (we had a lot of guns in the house growing up), and I have more than a few relatives who can’t stand Obamacare. Finally, many of the church-going black people I know don’t seem too happy that the Democrats were determined to remove the word “God” from the party platform. The perception of African Americans as “Robo-Dems” is entirely off-base and leads to quite a few missed opportunities: We owe liberals nothing, yet they owe us for giving consistent and often blind support.
While I don’t consider myself to be a conservative, the fact is that such viewpoints should be and are respected within the African American community. If the Republican Party could grow past its desire to hold on to racist and disrespectful habits, I argue that they could actually grab millions of African American votes (imagine if they’d run Colin Powell for president). So, the NRA, as underhanded as they are, might actually be trend-setters for their fellow conservatives.
But let’s be clear: The NRA is not making this ad because they care about black people. They also don’t care about white people, or anyone else in America for that matter. The NRA made this ad because they care about one thing: MONEY. The group is simply leaning on America’s commitment to the Second Amendment as a way to indirectly support illegal gun transactions that kill thousands of people ever year. If you want to see the NRA’s influence, watch videos like this one, taken on the south side of Chicago, where dozens of teenagers have found their way to automatic weapons, most of which were purchased illegally through a well-designed black market for guns. This market could be shut down pretty easily if our politicians wanted to do something about it, but the truth is that dead black men don’t bother our politicians all that much and there’s too much money being made from our demise.
The massive amount of violence that suddenly appeared in black communities when the CIA allowed guns and drugs into our streets 30 years ago has been nothing less than an absolute nightmare for millions of black families across America. Much of the violence in commercialized hip-hop is a reflection of the trauma experienced by too many black children who’ve been left by our society to die. During a melancholy reflection on the current state of affairs, the rapper Spice 1 once said these words in the song “Killerfornia”: “No self-defense laws, bullet proof vest is illegal, but you can go to the gun store and purchase yourself a Desert Eagle.” Words like these are descriptions of a horror that was made in America, where black men often have a choice between (as the rapper Ice Cube said), being “judged by 12 or carried by six.”
So, the NRA can’t, under any circumstances, present this ad as any indication that they care about the safety or well-being of young black men. At best, they are depending on the expectation of millions of black men that at some point, they are going to have to kill someone in order to keep from being killed themselves, all because the NRA and similar organizations have worked so hard to turn black America into a god-forsaken war zone.
The man in the ad’s speculation on what a black man should be doing in a gun fight makes the sad presumption that black men should expect to have to shoot other black people in order to survive. The bottom line is that NRA officials are simply investors in a well-funded civil war, and they are happy to see their guns contributing to black male genocide. Even worse is that our so-called friends in the Democratic Party are too politically cowardly to support us: The only black issue Democrats will truly support are voting rights, largely because blind support from the black community will help keep them in power. But after the election is over, we are left to fend for ourselves, without an utterance of concern for all of the black children dying in the streets.
THAT’S why this ad from the NRA is effective.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and author of the lecture series, “The 8 Principles of Black Male Empowerment.” To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here. Please join Dr. Watkins and Min. Louis Farrakhan for the forum on “Wealth, Education, Family and Community” at The University of Illinois at Chicago on March 30 at 5 pm. You can RSVP here.
70 Responses to Dr. Boyce: The NRA’s Ad to the Black Community is Sick, Sinister and Possibly Brilliant
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100% on point. The NRA only cares about money. Most people are unaware that 70% of NRA members actually support background checks for gun owners. Having said that, why would the NRA ignore their membership—easy–their membership has no vote, hence no control over how the organization functions. Assault weapon ban, and large capacity magazine ban will have no effect whatsoever on the people who already own them. They will be allowed to keep their guns, they just have to be registered. NRA disinformation has led to panic buying of guns and ammunition and the gun manufacturers and the NRA are laughing all the way to the bank.
Another ignorant dummbass allowing his stuois a*s to be used by the white man to help destroy his own ppl.I really hope he got paid very very well by themm because hei sa fool
meant to say he is a d**n fool
you mean o’drama? he has already said you have to take care of yourself and not expect any govt help, and you kissed his azz for it
STACCEEE,
Honestly,I think you know very little about this young man in this video for you to be calling him out of his name like you did. First of all,this young man has already had videos out on youtube advocating gun rights before he ever did this video for the NRA.
I also agree with what he says about right being violated and taken away. Maybe before you start acting like more of an ignorant dumbass like you called this young man,maybe you should hear him out and then form your own well informed opinion.
well said stacee when the white man or his spokesman say the same thing obama says, they’re offended. white folks getting tired of the bullsh8t stupidity
Oh please, how long has our music been glorifyig black death? And you call this man ignorant? Tell me exactly how Obama’s assault weapons ban will save the black ghettos.
Dude looked like the white man’s best attempt at what they think the “stereotypical” young black man is. His NY cap, demeanor and lingo only show how ignorant most of us already know they are. Comical whitey….comical.
I’m a Black man, an African-American, an American of African descent, born of West Indian -African parents in NYC and raised in the Islands. I served just about 13 years in the US Army as a commissioned officer. I voted for the current POTUS both time and I agree 100% with Colion Noir. I subscribe to his YouTube channel. The problem of Black-on-Black crime is not one of accessibility to guns but rather the state or lack thereof of a pervasive civil Black culture. That is a civil Black culture among young Black men in particular. The fact is that young Black men have no respect for or place any value on their lives or the lives of other Black folk. That being the case however doesn’t negate my own respect for and value of my onw and that of my family, and even theirs. That said, I reserve for myself the right to protect and defend myself and that of my family “by any means necessary.”. It is not that the answer to crime and lawlessness is more guns, rather that the reason for crime and lawlessness in not guns in the first place. But to ask folk to abdicate their own self-defense in the midst of chaos is irresponsible. Address the real reasons for crime and then perhaps folk will feel safe enough to ramp down their need for immediate and lethal self defense. And BTW there still does exist a remnant of folk that don’t mean well for all Black folk irrespective for Black folks lawfullness, and those folk would certianly advocate the wholesale and unilateral disarming of all Black folk criminal and otherwise.
Thanks for your comments L.A Davis. There is a lack of civility in black culture due to the systemic break down of the black family. Which creates easy pickings for the new slave system, aka the industrial prison complex.
Well said Mr.Davis and I agree 100% with what your thoughts are.
my view exactly
Could you shed some light on Jamaican culture and how it came to evolve into the worse culture of violence on earth, and your govts plans to address it. Do you think large numbers of violent islanders have caused America’s black community to evolve backward? I would appreciate your honest opinion.
Jamaican women bloggers said:
To tell the honest truth, Emily… I personally would never be with a Jamaican man…. Most of them who come here from Jamaica are looking for someone to use and take advantage if not infect them with HIV/AIDS. My girlfriend was with someone who is Jamaican, and he messed her over BAD. He messed up her credit by getting her involved in a scam (She didn’t know it was a scam til it was too late). He always acted like he was mad at the world. I REPEAT, I am not saying ALL Jamaican men are like this, but A LOT of them are.
I am not even going to lie—I won’t mess with a west indian man to save my life and I am west indian! I have had to deal with (on top of everyday relationship problems) being drug in the middle of scams and also physical abuse. The last straw was when my last boyfriend was behind my back getting stolen items sent to my house. The police came to my door and he was sitting right on the couch and denied everything even though they said they would put ME in jail!
I also think I had one boyfriend who tried to use witchcraft on me because of some strange stuff I found out about.
I ONLY deal with African American men now and things have been going MUCH better
It’s true… I know a lot of jamaican men (Not all, but most of them) are AIDS infested… I remember before I got saved for real, I was messing with this Jamaican guy who moved here to NY from Jamaica just about a year or two before, and once, when we were intimate… he rolled over and told me, “I have AIDS”….. Then I just looked at him with TOTAL shock on my face…. and he waited about close to what seemed like forever and told me he was just joking…. But I don’t think he was…. I have been tested several times before AND after then, and the tests come up negative.
Jamaican women bloggers said:
To tell the honest truth, Emily… I personally would never be with a Jamaican man…. Most of them who come here from Jamaica are looking for someone to use and take advantage if not infect them with HIV/AIDS. My girlfriend was with someone who is Jamaican, and he messed her over BAD. He messed up her credit by getting her involved in a scam (She didn’t know it was a scam til it was too late). He always acted like he was mad at the world. I REPEAT, I am not saying ALL Jamaican men are like this, but A LOT of them are.
I am not even going to lie—I won’t mess with a west indian man to save my life and I am west indian! I have had to deal with (on top of everyday relationship problems) being drug in the middle of scams and also physical abuse. The last straw was when my last boyfriend was behind my back getting stolen items sent to my house. The police came to my door and he was sitting right on the couch and denied everything even though they said they would put ME in jail!
I also think I had one boyfriend who tried to use witchcraft on me because of some strange stuff I found out about.
I ONLY deal with African American men now and things have been going MUCH better
>>It’s true… I know a lot of jamaican men (Not all, but most of them) are AIDS infested… I remember before I got saved for real, I was messing with this Jamaican guy who moved here to NY from Jamaica just about a year or two before, and once, when we were intimate… he rolled over and told me, “I have AIDS”….. Then I just looked at him with TOTAL shock on my face…. and he waited about close to what seemed like forever and told me he was just joking…. But I don’t think he was…. I have been tested several times before AND after then, and the tests come up negative. >>
I had one boyfriend who I found out was doing God Knows what back in Jamaica. I told him I wanted to use condoms and he had the nerve to slap the c**p out of me. He slapped me so hard that blood came out of my nose. The only way he left my house is because I grabbed the phone and pressed 911. He jumped up and left.
I’ve also have had my feel of being involved in scams by the men I was dealing with. I myself never do anything to break the law, but the men I was involved with was deep in the c**p and when the police came into the picture I was left out to dry and I was innocent.
I have been dealing with African American Christian men and I have had MUCH better luck in my life.
I think it has a lot to do with the poverty and lifestyle. Almost everyone wants what the people in America has in terms of wealth. They might not want to say it but they do. To be honest it’s not just the men who are not worth much either. I have female family and old friends that I do not even talk to because they are always on a scam or worse.Some of the women can be just as underhanded because of the men. But back to the men, I think what women in the US don’t understand is the west indian man’s mindset. Many (not all) are terrible liars and cheaters. The violence is another thing too. I always tell the few American friends I have made here to NOT get involved with a man fresh from the Islands. You are playing with fire.
One of my co-workers was dating a man from my homeland–Jamaica—and she told me she thought he was cheating. I told her to just pay attention and if she catches him in lies, then he probably is cheating. so the next week after she told me this, she comes to work with stitches in her forehead. She privately told me that she followed him and caught him going to another woman’s house and when she approached him as he walked to the doorway, he punched he to the ground. Sorry to say but he was illegal so calling the police would do no good.
I hate to say it, but I distance myself from a lot of people from where I came from. They seem to always have stealing and wickedness in their minds.
He’s right.
NRA knows that there is an audience for such trash!!! We must consider the times we are in.
WOW NO ONE HAS YET TO SAY THERE IS ANOTHER SIDE TO THIS AND IT IS ABOUT MAKING MONEY ….MOST BLACK PEOPLE ARE NOT RUNNING OUT BUYING GUNS..IT’S TOO EXPENSIVE…I ADMIT A LOT OF WOMEN ARE NOW BUYING GUNS BECAUSE THEY ARE AFRAID AND THEY WANT TO PROTECT THEIR FAMILIES…WE ARE THE MOST OBVIOUS VICTIM….THIS AD WILL ONLY MAKE GUN FANATICS(WHITE PEOPLE) MORE FEARFUL…(A BROTHER WITH A GUN COMING TO YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD SOON!!!!) AND THEY WILL CLEAR THE SHELVES AGAIN…I CAN’T EVEN GET BULLETS… THEY HAVE ALL BEEN BOUGHT…AND ON BACK ORDER 2 TO 3 WEEK WAIT…THIS IS NEITHER A REPUBLICAN OR DEMOCRATIC ANYTHING…THIS COUNTRY IS ABOUT STAYING WEALTHY..BEING ALL POWERFUL…AND RULING WITH A IRON FIST…WE ARE GOING THRU A TRUE CLASS DIVIDE…AND RIGHT NOW BLACK FOLKS ARE EXPENDABLE..BUT I REFUSE TO LET ANYONE IMPEDE MY ABILITY TO PROTECT MYSELF WHETHER BY A WEAPON OR SELF DEFENSE…AND UNFORTUNATELY MY ENEMY RIGHT NOW ARE THE PEOPLE THAT LIVE IN MY COMMUNITY…THE YOUNG BLACK MALE AND FEMALE…..
The ad does not make the presumption about black men having to kill black men, you do. He is saying that people should always have the right to protect themselves. A magazine ban or a gun ban would not stop criminals from obtaining them. But it would stop Law abiding people from doing so. Here is a question for you. Black people are being affected by illegally obtained fire arms. There are gun laws o’plenty yet criminals are still able to get them. Most of the time when we get shot it is by an illegal handgun. why not ban handguns then??? People need to stop listening and start thinking. Ask questions about what peoples motives are and what type of agenda they might have before you go jumping on the band wagon.
I believe wholeheartedly in non-violence, but you can’t un-ring a bell. Guns are out there and they ain’t gonna be able to get rid of every single one. Some guns might either be used for you (to defend yourself) or against you. This is the wild, wild west…it is now and has always been. Where was the government before people of color were allowed to use guns. Were they talking about gun control 400 years ago when they were being used against us? That’s what I’m saying about Black folk, every time one of us disagrees from the rest of the herd we gotta get called names. This is the worst kind of discrimination of them all and hurts the most. It’s so sad that you have to either be the one getting crucified or the one doing the crucifying. This shish ain’t by no means civilized. People need to start using their heads and trying to find a better way to survive on this planet or there won’t be no one left to use a gun on. I suggest we try to figure it out bc nowadays everybody is scared regardless what color you are and if you’re not scared you must love this game of hunger. It’s all propaganda anyway. Most times people will choose their side according to who is going to do the most for them. You got your scholars, criminals, leaders who preach this or that to the masses according to whatever agenda they see fit but people need to look and see if that agenda is really fit for them and check themselves. Say what am I about? I for one would like to survive and believe in the pursuit of happiness and peace of mind, but now a days those two things seem to be an oxymoron.
BTW, I know the NRA don’t give a shish about me but one thing I have in common with them is that we need some kind of protection cause most of the time when you try to find help from most of the institutions set up to help people, they don’t really care about you. And if they do help you, you best believe that there’s something in it for them. I’m not saying that I’m ungrateful for some of the things that these institutions have helped me to achieve in life, but the laws of the land are changing and most people nowadays are sheeple, unless you got some kind of connection. If anybody can think of a better way to defend our communities they need to share and share now bc this is of the utmost urgency.
WTF? Let’s make something clear… The FIRST significant gun restrictive laws were made, not to protect black people from gun violence, but to disarm them and make them victims of violence (Specifically to disarm the Black Panthers). Lenient gun laws historically HELPED black people not hurt. The Panthers, for example, were powerful enough to even protect other Black citizens from police brutality and even themselves. If the original Panthers were not defunct, who knows, maybe Amadou Diallo would still be here. f**k the NRA, we know they don’t care about us, but neither do Koreans that sell our black a***s honey buns, potato chips, and hair weave, neither does the maker of Gucci and Louis Vaton, whose clothes some of us often wear, nor does the police, who guns us down often, but most of us still call them if we are legally wronged, therefore saying that the merchants “care” should be the prerequisite for using his/her services seems like a matter of convenience and double standard to me.
If the NRA or any other company, black owned or not, can provide a helpful service (especially to black people), no matter the cost, d**n if they care about black people or black people’s money, cause it ain’t about them, its about us getting what we need. So d**n who it comes through, or what their goals are.
I don’t think you should diss the brother in this video cause he has a point. The gun violence epidemic which plagues the black community is because people like Frank Lucas have them (Illegally), and people like Huey Newton don’t (Because they are Illegal). These are our people who, unfortunately, choose to prey on the defenseless, who then call the police, who (like the NRA) couldn’t care less about they black a*s. They do this because, since their victim is likely defenseless, and the pigs don’t care, they see it inconsequential.
Farrakhan said that Gang members who commit senseless murders should, instead, become protectors of their people (just like the black panthers were with their large arsenal)…. but tell me what is this “protector” going to do if he is simultaneously disarmed in his attempt to protect?…become just as defenseless as the protectee. All in all, legally disarming black people, will be just as effective at stopping gun violence in the black community as disarming the Black Panthers was… completely ineffective.
Finally, I am a disciple of Malcolm X, and he did not believe in the philosophy of ‘disarming black people to protect black people’. Malcolm X was armed to the teeth. He was not into pacifism, which it seems that America wants the angry black man to be. He did not believe in letting the bad guys have guns and the good guys being defenseless and vulnerable. He believed in standing up to the enemy whether it was black muslims who attempted to burn his house down, the police, or even the government, not laying down and waiting on the white man to protect you from himself, or even other black people. And I feel the same way, if somebody, no matter who, threatens me, I’m not waiting on the pigs to save me, because it might even be the pig doing the threatening.
Doc love you but , you are wrong this one Colin Noir has been a 2A advocate with his own YouTube channel for a while. You are doing the same thin you claim the NRA is doing, treating black folk as one mind. Guess what there many black folk tha are NRA member and believe in protecting their families that are not criminals. Stop blaming the NRA for stuff we should be handling in our community. The truth is the truth just because you don’t like the source, it is still the truth.
I often wonder, if zimmerman would have been so quick to jump out that car on Trayvon, if he thought black people would be conscious of the stand your ground law and live by it also. I think he would have kept his a*s in that car. So black people shouldn’t try to change that law, they should start packing. Same with gun laws. We know the NRA don’t give a dam about us, so what? We need to be armed. I would hate for us to be at the mercy of these fools out here. And lastly, our young men killing each other has nothingto do with gun laws, it has something to do with hating themselves and people who look like them
The gun is only the instrument through which black people murder and assault each other. It is the mentality of self hatred, belief in a God made in the image of their oppressors, which denies the belief in the future and fills their hearts with futility. It is time for the “de-niggerization” of the black man in America. To become first class human beings of planet earth. To stop subscribing to second class, sub-human values. We have the Akua-Ba and Oduduwa and the Nommo and Mawu-Lisa. A Fon legend says that we are the people who descended from the sky. From the sky man came, to the sky he shall return. These beliefs are just as valid as the fairy tales called religion which disconnect us from the power of life and living and faith in perpetual human destiny. We have a right, a constitutional right to own guns, choose our faith and a moral responsibility to reject the creator-hater, human hating madness that has destroyed more lives before their death than any weapon ever created.
Erick Holder should sue Bill O’rielly and close FoxNews. There is latent point when free speech stops. Bill showed to be a bigot with no respect to Obama as President of this Country. Bill reminded me of George Wallace of Alabama. Bill speech also encouraged violence in this Country. We now know Bill is a racist. He should never be allowed continue with such behavior. Even his close friends, like Dennis Miller, Crowley are now running away and afraid of him. Bill is a buffoon now. If FoxNews is encouraging Bill’s behavior, it should be closed for safety of this Country.
As many people have stated before, gun control only became an issue when BLACK people were trying to get them. One of the biggest planks of the KKK agenda is to disarm blacks! Any black person who is for gun control either does not understand the reason for it, or is being paid to oppose it. Even MLK was seeking to obtain a concealed weapons permit because the 1st law of survival is SELF-DEFENSE. Anybody who tells you that you don’t need to have guns doesn’t really care about you. Nobody cares as much about you as you do.
For all the grandstanding about gun control and limitations, I don’t see anybody in government talking about it for them! They are all protected by gun-wielding men and women. But they tell you that you don’t need any protection, just call 911. That is total rubbish.
Now, I’m not for forcing anyone to obtain firearms who doesn’t want them, but don’t try to take away my right to protect myself and my loved ones. People who go through the legal process to obtain and carry firearms are mostly responsible, and are not out here committing the crimes because you would have to be a total idiot to commit crimes with a weapon that is registered to you.
And I’m also sick and tired of these media types, and Dr. Boyce included, for equating gun-toting career criminals with law-abiding, honest, hard-working citizens who choose not to be their defenseless victims. Guns do not kill people, just as cars, or knives or any other instruments don’t. It’s all about the person. Anything can be used as a weapon.
The old saying is that ‘free men own weapons, subjects and slaves do not.’ That is because if you really want to be independent and free, you have to have the ability to defend yourself from those who would subjugate you. And remember, the police have NO LEGAL DUTY TO PROTECT YOU FROM ANY CRIME, unless you are specifically in their custody. So don’t believe the c**p you see on tv police shows. You can not sue the police if they don’t show up when you call 911. Remember that…
@ Kevin. . Good link.. In short, Doesn’t McDonalds advertise that slop to the black community? I don’t know anyone black ccriticizing them! ! How about gin and juice? All over the billboards right? Now I know we don’t like.the truth but every person I know that has been shot and killed or robbed was done so when most did not have a weapon do defend themselves. My dad was robbed and he is an upstanding citizen. Now he’s packing! ! I’m packing, my single daughter packs and I advise every single sista home with no man to get protection! The cats out the bag, no turning back. I will not start trouble, but I will defend me and mine . No questions asked! !! Maat
Correction- criticize, to
Oh and let me be clear, against all assailants, white, black, blue or green. If u have a mind to hurt me and mine, then Ice Cubes hook rings true! ! Hotep
The sane thing the gangbanger says-kill them b4 they kill me.
Justin Thompson, I like your comments about how we as Black people will try to take each other down for speaking on our weaknesses. We have been conditioned to believe that if someone has weaknesses that means that they are weak. What human beings do not have weaknesses? Instead of helping our people who are perceived as weak, we denigrate them, ridicule them, run away from them or anything except help them. No wonder we get treated the way that we do. Do we look like a people who love ourselves? As said before, we are instrumental in our own demise, our own worse enemies. Who benefits from that? No wonder some of us exhibit such self-deprecating behavior (at times, myself included). Some of us are just flat out ignorant but my suggestion is that we need to educate and support each other, not continue to pile on the hate. But some people profit from the hate and I guess that’s why we keep popping off on each other.