#jasonstefaniak

African-American men will be the ones to solve the epidemic of gun violence in the United States. When Philando Castile, a concealed carry permit holder, was shot and killed, the NRA showed remarkable and rare restraint by not coming out in vigorous defense of his right to carry. They were suddenly less interested in a full-throated defense of the second amendment than after every other similar incident. When a black man in an open carry state walks down the street with an AR-15 over his shoulder, he's restrained at police gun point as a clear and apparent threat. As uncomfortable as it makes us, as disgusting as it is, the race of these men - black men - are laying bare for police, the NRA, and society how deranged our attachment to guns has become. Conscious and unconscious racial bias is, strangely, the contact lenses society has needed to see the clear and apparent threat of gun proliferation, concealed carry, assault weapons, and open carry. The comfort and privilege that whiteness bestows on guns makes us blind to their danger. Fear of black men reminds us that guns are made to kill us.

When we expect writers to literally "write what they know," when we assume writers will create characters that match their racial, gender, socioeconomic, etc identity, we seriously undermine not only the universal scope of the human experience, but the inexplicable way a writer's subconscious works. Joss Whedon said in an interview that for whatever reason, his avatar in his work is a teenage girl, strong, but alienated. For me, I often find myself writing interracial couples - even though I've never been in an interracial relationship. I write women that feel more like me than men, and when I write men, I find they feel most like me when they're black. Why is this? I have no idea. But it's human and our political goals, as admirable and necessary as they may be, should never assume or circumscribe on an artists' instincts and interests. Honesty and authenticity are our goals above all else.