Be Mindful of Looming Hypocrisy in 'Protecting Our Own'

Last week was already a long week and then we got stuck on Wednesday.

The story involved a gun on a school campus. While it is my sincerest opinion that this is where the story needs to start and stop - we simply can’t stop it here because there are two narratives at war, with a gun in the middle.

On one side, the topic of "bullying" stands with both fists ready for battle.

Positioned on the other side is the idea of a Black Male finally standing a chance at being a victim when society more often than not refuses such.

The names are yours to Google and commit to memory. The fight that appears to have ignited the fire is yours to watch, freeze and re-watch on every social media platform at your fingertips.  

For the sake of my own understanding  - I will both start and stop with the fact that on Wednesday, there was a gun both present and fired on a North Texas High School Campus.  

Most issues with our young people find their way to school. Family problems, drugs, gang activity, sexual involvement and of course bullying are all issues of society that converge on school campuses  - the largest and most consistent social gathering space.

To assume that school personnel is kept abreast of ALL issues that ALL students face is asinine, especially when many parents don't even know the social media monikers that their children use to discuss and share their issues on social media.  

If a school has an enrollment of 1,800 students, on any given school day there are at minimum 3,600 issues that enter the school doors. In a classroom of 30, there may be 15 students dealing with depressive thoughts they can't comprehend, 10 students suppressing uncomfortable thoughts and five students coping in unhealthy ways. But there are a guaranteed 30 students trying to figure out who they are and what exactly they want to be in every dynamic of life.  

"Growing pains" are in every backpack and sit at every desk.

Bullying seems to be the narrative that everyone is clinging to in wake of Wednesday's shooting at Mansfield Timberview High School. Ironically, "bullying" or the like has also been mentioned in every single school shooting I can recall.

This time, however, the shooter didn't turn the gun on himself after the damage was done.

The young man who will now be remembered for a video that shows him being beaten up by a classmate is still alive. After a short stay in jail, his bond was posted and he is home with his family awaiting his fate with the legal system. 

Usually, the school shooter is white. Typically we know his "mental health" issues before we see his face. For the most part - we call the school shooter crazy, dismiss him from the ranks of human beings and are adamant about praying for his victims.

This time is different.

I'll admit - it was hard initially for me to condemn the shooter as I have every other school shooter. I looked at his picture. He looks more like me than the previous school shooters. He looks like how I'd envision my son if I had one. He looks like a young man whose hair I would compliment on his first day in my class - maybe even sharing dreadlock stories.

Please understand that I walk many lines in a case like this: Black Woman, aunt and cousin to Black boys who wear their hair like the young man in question, former classroom teacher and logical thinker when it comes to the safety of innocent children.

Maybe the young man was bullied long before the attack that seemed like an eternity in that classroom. Maybe his personal property had been stolen. Maybe his mother had reported the aforementioned to the school without a timely response. Maybe so many things happened to him that were unfair and not properly addressed.

The truth remains - hundreds of thousands of students entered school buildings on Wednesday morning with troubles respective of the day and having experienced enough mistreatment for a lifetime. But only one student used a gun inside of a school to deal with his problems that day.

He didn't shoot at the other boy multiple times to simply get his attention.

For those who believe that his actions are justified because he was reportedly bullied:

What if the boy he shot died as he lay on the concrete with his mother watching blood pour from his chest on Facetime? What if the teacher who tried to intervene died on that same concrete? What if the student grazed by the bullet took a fatal blow? What if one of the bullets ricocheted off of the white board and hit a child huddling in the corner during the ever fast moving chaos? What if a bullet went through the wall and hit your completely unaware child in the next classroom?

It is never okay for a gun to be used on a school campus. No matter what happens before and what thoughts come after - it is never okay for a gun to be used on a school campus. How interesting is it that many of the parents who trust schools enough to drop their children off and keep going each day are now okay with a student taking bullying matters into his own hands?

If we're saying that a child has the right to shoot when he or she is mistreated, then perhaps our state officials should lower the age of those legally given the right to carry. We should equip our kindergarten students with small pistols, because guess what - even small children can be very mean. Let's make sure the children know now that shooting their way out of a bad situation is acceptable. Seems like that will truly prepare them for adulthood in this country.

It was suggested a few school shootings ago that teachers be equipped with guns. Let's do it.

Now maybe the woman beaten by her husband before school can be protected should he show up to the school to finish her off while she does cafeteria duty during lunch. Maybe the racist teacher who longs for his old district to return to white will be protected when one of the minorities curses at him. Perhaps schools will be less overcrowded if every single student has the weaponry to off his or her bully. This way the young teacher still paying off his college debt, having his catalytic converter stolen for the second time in the school parking lot, receiving anything but "constructive" criticism from administration will be prepared when he is put on a growth plan because students fail a state assessment.

Uncomfortable yet?

We don't often get to be victims as Black people in America. I get it. The next time a white boy shoots up the black jocks who get all the attention of the girls on his campus - someone will justify his actions by saying that the black jocks made high school hell for him. I get it.

I get it. It is not fair.

If Wednesday’s shooter were white (and didn't kill himself) - his mugshot would hit differently. His family’s stories of him being caring, loving and a good student would be received differently. Part of protecting our babies when they are wrong is acknowledging the wrong. Moments of extreme anger may not be reflective of our character, but these moments hold the power to change our lives forever.

Whether or not it is proven that the young man was indeed bullied - the sentiments that the school failed him will continue to spread. Guess what? Systems fail. Families fail. Children are failed by the very adults who are supposed to protect them. But at some point we must be held accountable for both our actions and our reactions.

Now is not the time to tell our young Black men that things would be different if they were white. Instead let's encourage them to not do wrong, because we know things will always be different if they are white.