Emory Professor: The Second Amendment 'was designed' to keep 'African Americans powerless and vulnerable'
Emory professor Carol Anderson has new book in which she argues the Second Amendment is a product of racial hatred.
Repressing slave revolts and ensuring Blacks remained oppressed post-emancipation, Anderson argues, were motivating factors behind support for the Second Amendment.
Dr. Carol Anderson, chair of Emory University’s Black Studies Department and author of such works as “White Rage”, recently published a new book where she argues that “[the Second Amendment] was designed and has consistently been constructed to keep African Americans powerless and vulnerable.”
The book, “The Second: Race and Guns in a Fatally Unequal America,” was released on June 1 by Bloomsbury.
In an interview with CNN on May 30, Anderson said that the 2016 shooting of Philando Castile initially inspired her to begin work on the volume.
Later in that interview, Anderson attributes the lack of firearm restrictions following the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary shooting to an “underlying fear that if there are real gun safety laws then Whites will be left defenseless against these Black people.”
“Here was a Black man who was pulled over by police,” Anderson said of the shooting “who followed NRA guidelines in letting the police officer know that he had a license to carry a weapon. And that led to Philando Castile being shot dead.” Anderson went on to criticize the National Rifle Association for not issuing a sufficiently strong statement on the shooting.
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Anderson claims on her website that the work is neither “pro-gun” nor “anti-gun” but rather seeks to explore the “citizenship rights and human rights of African Americans.”
The book description states that “the right to bear arms has been consistently used as a weapon to keep African Americans powerless” and that “measures to expand and curtail gun ownership [are] aimed disproportionately at the African American population.”
“Blackness, it would seem, is the threat that must be neutralized and punished” the description continues.
In an NPR interview regarding the book, Anderson argues that the founders of the United States were motivated to arm White citizens, fearing a slave rebellion similar to the one that occurred in Haiti some years prior.
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While left-leaning media including the New Yorker and The New York Times have praised Anderson’s book, not all reactions have been positive.
A member of the Emory College Republicans, who has requested to remain anonymous for fear of reputational damages, disagreed with many of Anderson’s conclusions. Addressing the impetus behind Anderson’s book, the student pointed out that Philando Castille “did not comply with [the] officer,” and was “reaching for [an] unknown object.”
The College Republican also took issue with Anderson claiming White people oppose gun control out of fear of Black violence.
“Anderson is literally implying the logical conclusion of the racial conflict theory she professes: A race war. This is a disgusting point of view,” the student stated. In addition to this, they claimed Anderson is hypocritical for both a California law that prohibits open-carry and a Texas law that allows it universally.
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“Dr. Anderson is gravely mistaken,” the student continued. “She espouses and teaches critical and conflict theories in their racial derivations, which are descended from Marxist class-conflict theory.”
At the time of publication, Anderson has not responded to Campus Reform’s request for comment.
Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @RobertSchmad
