The Tragedy of 9-10-25
To the Editor:
On Sept. 10, 2025, a high school student smuggled a revolver onto campus. Around lunch time he opened fire on his classmates, faculty, and staff. This event should have flooded social media forums and the news. Instead, the United States was inundated with the death of a single person whose work advocated the oppression of minorities. Why? Because we have become anesthetized to the shooting of children and place higher importance on the ideals of bad players.
Republicans do not really care about Charlie Kirk because they got what they wanted and were done with him; it was the marketing of his ideals they loved. Democrats were too busy trying to pretend like they care about the event on a human level; maybe a few did actually care. Whether singing his praises or just posturing for posturing’s sake, politicians and news outlets lit up over an event that should have been shadowed by a high school shooting. Even the social media forums could not stop and continue to snowball.
If someone makes a career dehumanizing people because of their genetic heritage or sexual orientation I cannot feel for them. I do not seek their demise, nor do I feel when that demise finds them. I suppose that is how some of us are anesthetized, and I am in awe of those who can work out the dichotomy of it all; someone who, at the same time, can condemn the actions of a wicked person and feel for their loss.
The shooting at Evergreen High School handed us better talking points. The impressive part of the story lies in the response by authorities. Reportedly, the sheriff’s department arrived in two minutes and was in contact with the shooter within five minutes. The response by the school at the start of the event along with the authorities’ response time saved a lot of lives. Only two students were shot and are both still alive though the last report stated they remain in critical condition. These events are what we should be exploring.
Analyze the trained responses of faculty, staff, and students in this kind of event. Did that training help? What kind of protocols and safety procedures were in place at the school? Did they at least prevent the perpetrator from smuggling in a higher-grade weapon? That is the kind of national analysis worthy of people’s time. Comparing and contrasting these factors may help future students.
It is noteworthy that the shooter at Evergreen High School had a lot of extreme ideological posts that included white supremacy. He is reported to have been “radicalized” by extremist groups but further details are not being released at this time. Charlie Kirk boasted white nationalism. We should not shy away from that; he did not. Again and again, he laid out statements that were reminiscent of a modern-day George Wallace as if it were normal political discourse. And white nationalism is just white supremacy’s cleaner cut sibling.
Words have a lot of power and meaning. And when you say homophobic things, yes, that does make you homophobic. When you say racist things, yes, that does make you racist. I cannot recall anyone from history who claimed to be racist or homophobic. No one believes they are these words because they simply believe they are correct in making a personal “choice”.
Words and/or actions are not just choices. They show an individual’s level of humanity. It is not a “difference of opinion” when you purposefully disparage people’s race, or sexual orientation, with the intent of condemning and/or oppressing them. This is done so easily - in public, at the dinner table, even in church - that we do not realize how such rhetoric and belief systems oppress the nation as a whole. Not using slurs and not saying ‘white nationalism’ oneself does not launder hateful and oppressive speech.
Can we work on nurturing our kids and teaching them to love better than us? Can we talk about better gun control now? Nope. We are too busy half-staffing flags to commemorate bad players and scoring political points. Let’s make better decisions.
Justin McCord La Grange