I experienced the Virginia Tech mass shooting. We’re still reacting the same way. | Opinion
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Too little change since Virginia Tech
The writer is a Virginia Tech alum.
Wait for it. It’s only a matter of weeks, days, hours — until the next mass shooting in the United States.
It doesn’t matter where. It keeps happening, everywhere: an elementary school, high school, a university, synagogue, church, mall, grocery store, gay bar, nightclub, at a concert, Walmart, a Fourth of July parade, a theater, a restaurant — the location changes, but the cycle does not. The pain does not.
I was present at the Virginia Tech University mass shooting on April 16, 2007. At the time, mass shootings like this were considered “rare.” How I wish that were true.
Our country struggles to tackle the issue of mass shootings because people see this issue in such different ways. Is this about gun control? Is the issue mental health? Is this caused by failed safety measures? What is this about? We still can’t formulate a common view of the issue of mass shootings in America, despite the sheer eruption of mass shootings in 2023.
It is part of my life’s fabric that I have a “lens of familiarity” with mass shootings based on my experience with the Virginia Tech shooting. It’s what inspires me to speak up and seek change. Through this lens, I see that not enough has changed yet to make a positive difference to end mass shootings, despite the worthy efforts of some.
We have to stop reacting exactly the same way after each mass shooting — with shock, horror, sadness, public outcry, making the same pledges, pretending to “hear” the voices of victims, showcasing the shooter, and so on, to expect any positive change. We need to finally learn from the many other countries around our world which have tackled this problem successfully or never had the problem in the first place.
If we don’t collectively, strategically and significantly institute major high-impact changes, mass shootings will continue to be as commonplace in our country as washing our dirty laundry each week. You can count on it.
Dr. Karen J. Gilbert, Sherrills Ford
We must protect NC voting rights
The writer is director of North Carolina Voters for Clean Elections.
Democracy is fragile. In our state, we currently face bills that would limit early voting, curtail same-day registration at early voting sites, and remove the grace period for mail-in ballots.
Our elections have also become expensive. In 2022, multiple campaigns for state legislative offices spent over $1 million, largely from out-of-state or anonymous sources.
This year, extremist state legislators have introduced over 150 anti-voter bills in 32 states. Last year’s midterms were the most expensive on record, with over $8.9 billion spent on congressional races, empowering big donors at the expense of the people.
The same extremist legislators attacking our voting rights are also shoving through bills like N.C. House Bill 40, aimed at criminalizing our freedom to protest, House Bill 187, which would limit educators’ abilities to teach the factual history of race and racism in North Carolina; and Senate Bill 49, threatening the rights of LGBTQ+ students and teachers.
While our state Supreme Court has largely protected voters in the past, the new conservative majority has decided to ignore precedent and rehear a case around voter ID requirements that were previously found to be discriminatory toward Black voters, and to possibly re-implement legislative maps that were previously overturned for partisan gerrymandering.
In North Carolina, the Freedom to Vote Act, Fix our Democracy Act, and Safeguard Fair Elections Act are all pending. Passing them would fund our elections, protect voters and poll workers from intimidation, make voting more accessible, end gerrymandering, improve voter registration, prevent election subversion, and limit the power of big money in state elections.
Similarly, our representatives in Congress must do all they can to support the Freedom to Vote Act — which would provide these protections nationally — and restore the Voting Rights Act.
In the face of these attacks on our democracy, North Carolinians must come together and protect our freedoms. Future generations depend on us.
Melissa Price Kromm, Durham
