NRA, racism and misogyny
Over the past eight years, whenever there was a school shooting or some other mass killing, the National Rifle Association and certain politicians would spread the threat that Obama (Black guy) or Hillary (powerful woman) were about to confiscate and outlaw guns around the country. Recently, Trump gave a speech to the NRA where he combined racism and misogyny by referring to Sen. Elizabeth Warren as “Pocahontas” and implied that she wanted to eliminate the Second Amendment.
In the past, the reaction from the “outdoor stores” was to fill the store with everything from 9 millimeter handguns to AR15 assault rifles. This pattern would repeat itself several times during the Obama Administration, and gun sales were skyrocketing.
A few days after Trump’s speech, a white man in San Diego, with a beer in one hand and a gun in the other, shot eight Black neighbors at an apartment pool party.
The police chief of San Diego said that it was not a racist fueled incident.
Burt Raabe, Peoria
Push ERA through Legislature
Research shows that 80 percent of Americans believe that men and women are guaranteed equality by the Constitution, but this is not the case. Unlike 134 other countries, there is no such provision in the United States Constitution despite decades of advocacy to include an Equal Rights Amendment.
While the amendment passed both houses of Congress in 1972, it fell three states short of the 38 needed for ratification within the congressionally imposed deadline. Based on the 1992 ratification of the 27th Amendment, which was not added to the Constitution until 203 years after passing out of Congress, ERA advocates adopted a new strategy. This “Three State Strategy” calls for three more states to ratify the amendment and Congress to remove the original deadline, thereby making the ERA the 28th Amendment to the Constitution.
Nevada ratified the ERA in March of this year, making it the first of the three states needed to do so. At this time there are joint resolutions in both the U.S. House and Senate to remove the deadline.
Illinois now finds itself at the center of the “Three State Strategy,” as it has yet to ratify the ERA. Illinois Sen. Heather Steans is sponsoring SJRCA4, a joint resolution to ratify the ERA for Illinois, which passed out of the Executive Committee on April 26 and is ready to be heard on the Senate floor. Illinois Rep. Lou Lang continues to gauge support for a similar resolution in the House. State legislators need to hear from their constituents that it is long past time for Illinois to ratify this amendment and include gender equality in the U.S. Constitution.
Brittany Miller, Peoria Chapter, National Organization for Women