Opinion
Ending Violence? More Security is Just the Start
S
afety in a free, democratic
society can't rely solely on
armed security agents or gun
laws. Laws require the consent of
those who are governed by them,
and the police cannot be every-
where all the time. Like it or not,
our safety is based on what John
Locke referred to as the social
contract.
This contract carries the implicit
understanding that in exchange for
living with order and safety, we
give up some degree of freedom.
That "freedom," if we want to call
it that, is the tacit agreement not to
act on impulses that might lead to
us harm others.
For the most part it works. We
usually go about our lives without
worrying if we will be attacked
walking the streets, shopping,
watching a movie or going to
school.
The shooting in Newtown, Con-
necticut, serves as pointed
reminder that our social contract is
breaking down. That is because
the most recent shooting was not
an isolated incident.
In December, an armed assailant
killed two people before killing
G UEST C OLUMNIST
Pedro Noguera
himself at a shopping mall in Port-
land, Oregon. In July, a gunman
slaughtered 12 people in a movie
theater in Aurora, Colorado. The
list goes on and on.
Given the frequency of these
attacks it is clear they can longer
be treated as aberrations or simply
explained away as actions by
deranged man who had easy
access to weapons. Of course, part
of that is true. In each case, men-
tally ill men with easy access to
semi-automatic assault rifles
devised ways to take innocent
lives.
That is why those who think that
we can solve this problem through
additional security and gun control
alone are fooling themselves. Who
knows when or where the next
mentally ill killer will plot an
attack?
We live in a violent society with
far too many guns, far too much
anger and way too much alien-
ation. The real problem is that the
social contract is fraying. The
bonds that should prevent individ-
uals from harming one another
have deteriorated.
If all we do to seek solutions to
the threat of violence is enact
increased security measures, we
continue to ignore the real source
of our security -- civic solidarity.
loner. This is important to consid-
er because human beings are
inherently social beings. People
need people to survive. We need
contact with others to sustain our-
selves and to remind us of what it
means to be human.
Schools are in some ways the
most important social institutions
in our society. Unlike families,
social clubs and churches, which
also play important roles in social-
If all we do to seek solutions to the
threat of violence is enact increased
security measures, we continue to
ignore the real source of our security --
civic solidarity.
As we become more atomized as
a society, as alienation grows, as
the social bonds that give our lives
meaning -- family, community and
religion -- weaken and wane, we
find ourselves at greater risk.
Each of the assailants in these
mass shootings was described as a
izing us, public schools accept all
children, regardless of background
or need. Our schools teach our
children how to be members of
society, and while some of what is
learned may be problematic,
schools nonetheless play a vital
role in a society as diverse and
complex as ours.
That is why when our schools
are attacked and when the safety
of children can no longer be taken
for granted, it is devastating to the
social trust that is essential to hold
our society together. Some may
react to the shootings at Newtown
by calling for more security. Oth-
ers may feel safer by homeschool-
ing their children in the hope that
this will shield them from harm.
Unfortunately, the answer will
not be found in either strategy.
Instead, we must find ways to
strengthen our bonds, to increase
our connections to each other, to
embrace the alienated and to care
for the mentally ill.
Our schools must lead the way
in carrying out this work, just as
they did more than a century ago
when we struggled to integrate
millions of new immigrants from
Europe. We turned to our schools
when our society finally came to
the realization that legalized
apartheid was morally reprehensi-
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Now is the Time to Talk About Guns and Mental Illness
E
nough with putting off
tomorrow what we should
be talking about today.
Enough with being afraid to step
on someone's delicate sensibilities
when it comes to the Second
Amendment. Enough with elected
leaders who are too cowardly to
confront the National Rifle Asso-
ciation and their ardent supporters.
Enough with moms and dads and
brothers and sisters and aunts and
uncles and pastors and deacons
who are afraid to make public the
private anguish of mental illness.
Enough! Enough! Enough!
Enough with just asking for
G UEST
C OLUMNIST
Roland
Martin
control are quick to say, "Now is
not the time."
One day after Kansas City
Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher
shot and killed his girlfriend,
Kasandra Perkins, NBC Sports
anchor Bob Costas said it was
time to talk about this nation's fas-
cination with guns. Instead
of being hailed as an honest
communicator, he was vili-
fied for having the audacity
to raise the subject at the
halftime of a football game.
Have we become such a
nation of cowards that we
are desperate to not discuss
a real issue, instead saying,
"Please, shut up so I can
watch the game?"
Yet today, we are glued to
the television, unable to turn from
the scene in Newtown, Connecti-
cut, eager to find every new detail
as to what led to the horrific mass
murder of a classroom full of
kindergartners.
It wasn't time to talk about this
when Rep. Gabby Giffords was
shot in the head, and six others
were killed in January 2011. It
wasn't time in July 2012 when 12
people were blown away in a
movie theater in Colorado. Seven
were killed at a Sikh temple near
Milwaukee near August, and we
were told then, "Now is not the
time."
So, please, exactly when is the
time?
This nation, whether we want to
admit it not, is one that is fasci-
nated and enraptured with guns. It
courses through our veins like
heroin shooting through the arms
of an addict. We love to see it in
our movies, video games, on tele-
vision, and then we'll fiercely
defend the right to bear arms, all
This nation, whether
we want to admit it
not, is one that is
fascinated and
enraptured with
guns.
thoughts and prayers. Enough
with just hugging our children.
Enough with leaving flowers and
teddy bears at a makeshift memo-
rial.
It's time for action. It's time for
people of conscience to, in the
words of the late civil rights
activist Fannie Lou Hamer, be
"sick and tired of being sick and
tired."
America, 20 of our children are
dead, and we are all paralyzed, not
knowing what to do or say. I've
shed tears for the lives of the inno-
cent children and adults at Sandy
Hook Elementary School in New-
town, Connecticut. Many of you
have likely done the same.
We witnessed the president of
the United States, Barack Obama,
stand before the country fighting
back tears talking about the lives
lost, reminding of us other
tragedies involving guns and sick
individuals behind the trigger.
And every time this happened,
those who refuse to discuss gun
while flagrantly waving the U.S.
Constitution in the face of anyone
who objects.
There is absolutely no reason
why we need as many guns in
America. None. It simply should-
n't be the way of life others are so
quick to defend. There is absolute-
ly no doubt that we need tough
and stringent gun control. Not
solely to prevent murders like
those in Connecticut, but to
remove the option when someone
is angered, depressed or in the
case of too many, mentally ill.
And that's the second issue that
it's time that we come to grips with
in this country: We are a nation
that has chosen to either medicate
or ignore altogether.
"They have a few screws loose."
"You know he's off his rocker."
We've heard all of the terms. We
often laugh and dismiss the men-
tally ill in America, choosing to
cross the street when we see the
homeless veteran screaming and
cussing at anyone who walks by.
When it's time for budget cuts,
those most vulnerable often get
thrown out first.
For years American cities, coun-
ties and states have shirked their
responsibility when it comes to the
mentally ill, choosing to abandon
helping them, but quick to build a
new prison to incarcerate them
when a law is broken.
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December 19, 2012 The Portland Skanner Page 5