According to the FBI there were 9,146 murders caused by firearms in 2009. Sadly, six more will be added to the ranks of those killed in 2011. These six, and the others that are wounded are being given attention denied to other victims.
In the past days there has been talk of little else within the media community. ABC World News broadcasted live from Tucson for several days following the tragedy and has run a story about the shooting first on their evening program for the last nine days days.
The interest in a tragic event involving a public servant is not unusual, but it has garnered more media attention than any story of its kind. On January 13th New York Times Online had no fewer than ten headlines regarding the shooting on their front page.
Murders, no matter the circumstances, do not often make the national news and it is unfortunate that it takes a public figure to bring attention to such crimes. Although this crime has brought attention to many problems associated with our regulation of the mental health and gun control systems, these problems existed before. This story has taken so much precedent that other important events have been overshadowed.
There has been little visible mention or discussion of the historic vote in Sudan that is occurring this week. By some estimates several hundred thousand people have been killed in the Sudanese conflict and five million have been affected by the genocide in Darfur. The vote for secession that could be the start to ending this killing began Sunday, January 9th and continued for a week. This event has been pushed to the background due to the shooting in our own country.
What is more, January 13th marked the one year anniversary of the devastating earthquake in Haiti where more than 200,000 people died immediately after the disaster and now an epidemic of cholera is taking hold.
This story did make the evening news, but not before the reiteration of the facts from Arizona.
It’s not that the wounding of a congressperson, the murder of a federal judge, a nine year old child and four others is unimportant. In this time of heartbreak it is appropriate to mourn. It is expected to grieve for those who were killed and wounded. And it is right to take lessons from this event and work to prevent it from ever happening again.
It is appropriate to do this every time someone is murdered. The togetherness and spirit felt after the tragedy in Tucson is admirable. But it shouldn’t take the death and wounding of someone famous to warrant it.
The horrible fact is that people are murdered everyday. I am upset that simply because a member of Congress was among the wounded, attention is heightened.
President Obama gave a moving speech on January 12th. He advocated looking beyond political motivations and working towards a common goal. He also called upon the country to mourn with the families and friends of affected.
It shouldn’t take such a crime to draw attention to things that need to be fixed in our country. If gun safety laws and the mental health system are improved after this shooting, that is to be applauded, but it does not in any way offset the sadness of the moment.
If our political unity and cooperation is strengthened by this event the country will benefit, but the real triumph will come when it doesn’t take the wounding of a public servant to inspire togetherness.
With the current political landscape in our country it would be expected that President Obama speak about political unity and cooperation wherever he goes. When a speech is unprecedented because it addresses unity and togetherness in government it shows how divided our country is.
We shouldn’t value one life above another and it seems as if we are leaning in this direction when the focus of the country is on one woman. Gabrielle Giffords may be an extraordinary public servant, but the fact that we have waited with baited breath to hear of her condition in the hospital while no attention is being paid to the other 5 people killed and the 14 wounded in the shooting is upsetting.
The shooting in Tucson Arizona has dismayed the country, but it has also pushed aside many issues that deserve to be covered.
According to the Detroit Free Press on that same day, January 8th, a 74 year old man in Rochester Hills, Michigan was murdered by his son. Both of these crimes are tragic, but only one has garnered massive media attention.
In his speech president Obama spoke of “An American family 300 million strong,” saying that the victims of the Arizona tragedy “are part of our family.” Every member of that American family, public servant or not, deserves the same respect and affection.
