On Sunday, June 12, a mass shooting occurred in the Orlando, Florida gay nightclub Pulse. The perpetrator of the crime, Omar Mateen, murdered 49 people (as of today) and injured over 50. According to one of the survivors of this shooting rampage--the deadliest in U.S. history--Mr. Mateen laughed as he propelled bullets from the nozzle of his Sig Sauer MCX rifle into the scared, vulnerable, and helpless bodies of those who were running away, and the already grounded wounded. While engaging in a shootout with Orlando police officers, Mr. Mateen was shot and killed--joining his place among the dead.
After news broke out about the shooting, people from all over the globe began to mourn the loss of so many innocent people, and pray for the injured and their families. Just a few hours after the rampage concluded, world leaders expressed their condolences to the American people. And on Sunday afternoon, President Obama reassured the American people that in the face of hate and violence, "we will love one another. We will not give in to fear or turn against each other. Instead, we will stand united, as Americans, to protect our people, and defend our nation, and to take action against those who threaten us."
To put the scale of American gun violence in perspective, nearly a third of the world's mass shootings took place in the United States from 1966 to 2012. And, just within the last 10 years, 16 of the 30 deadliest shootings in the United States, dating back to 1949, have occurred.
After being notified about the incident in Orlando when the news first broke, I sighed. Every aspect of the incident horrified me, and I began to ask myself questions: How could someone commit such a brutal, and inhumane act of violence? Why did Mr. Mateen commit such an act? Could this shooting have been prevented? Millions of other people were asking the same questions I was asking myself.
While I tried to answer these questions, I also began to reflect on history. Specifically, I focused my attention on the 1960s. America experienced, and was witness to, a multitude of seismic events that rocked the feathers of the world, and the American public, during this era. The assassination of President Kennedy in 1963, for example, brought the American public to the deepest depths of sadness and despair. In 1968, the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. resulted in the loss of hope for supporters of the civil rights movement, and converted the growing fear among discriminated Americans into devastating violence. And, two months after Dr. King's assassination, Robert (Bobby) F. Kennedy was killed by a deranged individual during a presidential campaign event, leaving a nation speechless.
The reason why I reflect on these specific murders that occurred during 1960s is because, just like in the 21st century, America has lost numerous people to senseless gun violence. Of course, times have changed and gun laws and regulations have been improved since the sixties. However, just like myself and many other people after the Orlando shooting occurred, Americans during the sixties began to question the future of their nation after the assassinations of JFK, MLK, and RFK. Is America moving in the right direction? Is the high amount of criminal activity--especially gun-related activity--in America the norm, and will it continue to be the norm going forward? Do America's moral principles need to be called into question and assessed?
The questions that were asked during the sixties, and today, are similar in purpose and substance. Especially when it comes to considering morals, many Americans today, like in the sixties, are assessing the meaning and enforcement of their moral perceptions and practices. To me, just like at the end of the sixties, Americans, as one people, need to question their moral obligations and relationships toward their fellow human beings. Maybe this action, directed at the advancement of mankind, will lead to a spiritual and moral awakening, and in turn curtail, or possibly eradicate, the senseless acts of gun violence that have placed a terrible stain on American history for almost a century.
