Right now, there is one Film That The NRA, Atheists, and other socio-political Groups do not Want the public to see. The recent debut of the film, “I’m Not Ashamed”, has elicited a great emotional response from the public. The film is based on the murders of the students at Columbine High School on April 20,1999 and it follows the story Rachel Scott in particular. Scott was one of the first victims to be killed and to make matters even worse, she was killed for her faith. The killers who I will not name asked her a few questions about her belief in God, they asked her if she believed in God after shooting a friend of hers right in front of Rachel. With a gun pointed to her head, Scott informed the shooters, that of course she still believes in God despite the evil she faced during her last moments. The shooter responded with, “Then go be with your him”. Rachel’s undoubting faith in God is what got her killed her, but the movie is about much more than her death, it follows the life of Scott (as written in her journals discovered by her survived family members), and depicts her adolescence as one filled with an undying sense of spirituality. The journals that Rachel left behind detailed her love for God as well as her belief in compassion for others.
Many of the people reading this hold a mindset that de- prioritizes mass shootings because of the white stigma attached to mass gun shootings. That is, the media often only relays the stories of white shooters and their white victims. Some of you may be asking why you should see it, if mass shooting don’t affect blacks.
However contrary to media depiction, mass shootings do affect the African-American community as well. What the movie also touches on is the story of another victim that lost his life that day, who happened to be one of the few Black students attending Columbine at the time. His name was Isaiah Shoels and not only was he was a student at the school, but he was a son, a brother, a friend, a teammate and much more to his community. Shoels was studying in the school library with teammates when two of his fellow classmates who were the gunmen entered into the library. According to survivors the gunmen spewed racist remarks at Shoels and informed him that his skin color, and status as a football player and wrestler, were the reasons why they would kill him, which they did. Within two minutes of being shot in the chest, Shoels passed away along with one of his friends who had hidden under a table with him and stayed with him while he was confronted by the two gunmen.
Isaiah was friends with Rachel Scott, was known for being smart and passionate about both music and sports, on top of being two weeks away from graduating. For this reason, he was buried in his graduation cap and gown, along with his high school diploma that he should have lived to receive if it wasn’t for the pure hateful violence that ultimately claimed his life.
The NRA and extreme gun supporters, along with atheist groups do not want people to see this film. NRA along with Gun supporters do not want the film to be viewed out of fear that the movie may force viewers to realize that not only is there an issue with gun control, but it has existed for some time and the impact of lack of gun control, is quite ugly. Being that the movie is premiering right before election time, there is a fear that those who view the movie will be more likely to vote for the candidate who is pro gun control (right now, specifically lobbying for a ban on assault rifles). Atheist groups are upset with the film, because of the religious undertone that is dire to the telling of Rachel Scott’s story.
This movie is actually what many of us need to see in order to be informed that mass shootings aren’t just isolated to white communities and families, but it affects everyone blacks included. We should see it because when mass shootings do happen in America, there is always at least one black person that is killed. Regardless, gun control is not a white or black issue, but an issue for humanity to face together.
On that fateful day at Columbine, 12 students and one teacher were slaughtered. At the time, CNN along with other major news outlets stated that Columbine was “the worse shooting” witnessed by the public. But since that day there has been many, too many to name or event count. Each time the numbers of fatalities climb higher and higher. Any loss of life is awful, and seeing this movie may open our eyes to know this is real and that it affects everyone. We have to make a change for all of us but mainly for future generations. It’s not fair to them and unfair to parents who now have to instill the lecture of “if a bad person comes shooting ” into the mind of their child. It’s not fair to them, it’s not fair to us, and not fair to the victims families that lost their lives in mass shootings. See the movie, do some research on the politicians, find out which politicians refuse to ban assault rifles, or refuse to make it harder for those who shouldn’t have access to it.
Of course all victims matter, however I feel that many African-American victims are forgotten, unheard of, and their stories go silent. So I’m going to list many of the names of African-American Victims in mass shootings, so that we as people can acknowledge that this too, impacts our community.
Ryan Christopher Clark, 22 Virginia Tech
Erin Peterson, 18 Virginia Tech
Ana Marquez Greene, 6 Sandy Hook Elementary
Cynthia Hurd, 54 Emanuel AME Church
Susie Jackson, 87 Emanuel AME Church
Ethel Lance, 70 Emanuel AME Church
DePayne V. Middleton, 49 Emanuel AME Church
Clementa Pinckney, 41 Emanuel AME Church
Tywanza Sanders, 26 Emanuel AME Church
Daniel Simmons Sr., 74 Emanuel AME Church
Sharonda Coleman Singleton, 45 Emanuel AME Church
Myra Thomson Obituary, 59 Emanuel AME Church
Sierra Clayborn, 27 San BernardioShooting
Isaac Amanios, 60 San Bernardio Shooting
Eddie Jamoldroy Justice ,30 Pulse Nightclub
Darryl Roman Burt 2nd, 29 Pulse Nightclub
Deonka Deidra Drayton, 32 Pulse Nightclub
Jason Benjamin Josaphat, 19 Pulse Nightclub
Shane Evan Tomlinson, 33 Pulse Nightclub
Tevin Eugene Crosby, 25 Pulse Nightclub
Paul Terrell Henry,41 Pulse Nightclub
Antonio Davon Brown,29 Pulse Nightclub
Akyra Monet Murray,18 Pulse Nightclub