Call them what they are... TERRORISTS!

It’s scary to think that an entire group of people can be labelled such a strong, violent word over the actions of a small proportion. After 9/11 Muslims became associated with the idea of terror and violence. It’s even scarier to think that when an act of terror is committed by a man who is white, society forgets the act of terror and is reminded of their upbringing, their supposed mental state and the kind of person who would never have committed such a crime.

"I think Islam hates us." - Donald Trump, 2016 presidential campaign

Taken by: @toriladesma - Los Angeles City Hall

The biggest problem we have as a society, wherever you live in the world, whatever religion you follow, whatever political party you assign yourself to, is our ignorance. It is our lack of acceptance and our ability to hate that is out biggest weakness. It is hate which fuels violence and inevitably causes the countless mass murders that have taken so many innocent lives. President Trump has on numerous occasions openly given emphasis to his intolerance and prejudice against Hispanics and Muslims in relation to fear and aggression. As a President, a leader of the biggest nation in the entire world, it is unacceptable to promote this kind of hatred. The kind of hatred that encourages these vicious attacks of violence and divides society. He fails to acknowledge the issue of white supremacy and the country's easy access to guns and assault rifles which makes it impossible to create standard gun control laws.

“It is too easy today for troubled youth to surround themselves with a culture that celebrates violence.” - Donald Trump, response to El Paso shooting 2019

Source: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/8/5/20755092/gun-shooting-video-game-chart

There are countries all over the world that have young people exposed to video games but none of these countries have as high of a violent gun rate as the United States. Video games are not the problem. The problem is that the US refuse to acknowledge white supremacists, radical ignorance and easy access to guns and assault rifles as the problem. The problem is that mental illness is used top easily as a scape goat for white supremacists. Anyone, whatever their religion or intentions may be is not mentally stable to carry out a mass murder and endanger the lives of innocent people.

Taken by: @amberandart at March For Our Lives - Sacramento

251. August 4th 2019, marked the 251st mass shooting in America of this year alone. In less than 24 hours there were two mass shootings, the first in El Paso, Texas, where a man conducted a shooting in a Walmart leaving 20 dead and 26 injured. The other in Dayton Ohio, where 10 people were killed and 27 were injured. One of the shooters had praised Trump on his twitter and stated that he considered him and his beliefs to be "inspirational". In order for this not to happen again it is vital that gun control be looked at as a serious problem. It will not be easy or quick, but the first steps to ending these issues need to take place now!

Too many lives have been lost and too many places have become deadly reminders of pain and tragedy: schools, work, the cinema, concerts, supermarkets, places of worship. Places that should be considered safe and unalarming. There has to be a point where we decide to take action and create stricter gun control. To do so we need to take the issue of white supremacy seriously so that this never happens again.

Pass on the message,

Miss Minority x