It’s a new year and already we’re off to the same old tricks. Donald Trump released his first televised advertisement in which he doubled down on his threat to prohibit Muslims from entering the country if he becomes president, while also vowing to “chop the head off of ISIS.” When he was informed that terrorists were using video footage of his comments, Trump proclaimed that he didn’t care.
Although President Obama is announcing expanded background checks for gun purchases, many states are moving in the opposite direction. Texas started the year with new legislation allowing people to openly carry their guns, and Florida looks poised to pass open carry as well as campus carry laws. This despite the fact that 27 Americans were shot and killed on Christmas Day alone, a number equal to the annual gun homicide rates in Austria, New Zealand, Norway, Slovenia, Estonia, Bermuda, Hong Kong and Iceland. Combined.
Just before the end of 2015, a grand jury in Ohio refused to indict the two white officers who shot 12-year-old African-American. This does not bode well for better police-community relationships.
While Bill Cosby will finally stand trial for sexual assault, his defenders are still babbling incessantly about “his side of the story,” a not-so-subtle code for “we don’t believe the victims.” Even less subtle are those who call the women “gold-diggers.” Harvard University and Florida State University, both of which were critiqued for their poor response to sexual assault victims in The Hunting Ground, have launched public campaigns to discredit survivors.
Despite being on the decline nationally, and its system being reviewed by the Supreme Court this year, Florida Governor Rick Scott is set to resume his execution binge on January 7.
Not only did an armed militia group occupy a federal wildlife sanctuary, but media has in many cases referred to it as a “peaceful protest.” I must be missing the peace part of their actions. The response by many on the left has been to mock the group, referring to them as “‘Y’all Qaeda,” “VanillaIsis,” “Yeehawdist,” and “YokeHaram.” How it is helpful to use the same demeaning language we decry when used to describe progressive activism escapes me.
A Florida woman admitted to killing her toddler and stuffing him into a suitcase because she believed the world is about to end in a great biblical flood. Meanwhile, close to 500 children died in a six-year period, all while child welfare officials were either investigating or had investigated their homes for abuse and neglect.
While so many of us make New Year’s resolutions for personal betterment, I think addressing these things and so many more should be our collective resolution for 2016. In addition to exercising more, spending more time with family and all the other things we vow to do annually, perhaps we can vow to take more seriously the call to reduce violence in all its forms. We should commit to being more careful with our language, to demanding better of our politicians and candidates, to supporting victims and families, to holding accountable those who perpetrate violence, and to promoting peace in our homes, schools, and communities