Jackson Free Press

In January 2014, TALON Ordnance is expected to open, bringing jobs to Mississippi. What does TALON do? They manufacture guns, among them assault rifles for "enthusiasts, law enforcement and the military."

On the same day as the announcement, many in the Jackson community remained saddened and horrified by the as-yet-unsolved shooting of two bright young men, Jason Murphy and A.J. Barber. The death of these young men should have brought the demonstrations that surrounded the recently—and erroneously concluded—George Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin verdict. Instead, Murphy's and Barber's friends and family held a moving vigil, where most of the outcry came from the community most directly affected by the tragic end of two more young men who could have been our future doctors, teachers or stylists.

While we should laud more jobs for Mississippians, we should not applaud the making of more guns, especially in our own backyard. Since the December 2012 tragedy in Newtown, Conn., our country has supposedly tried to have a more rational conversation about guns. Inevitably, we've perpetuated an "us versus them" dichotomy instead. From the gun lobby we hear, "Guns don't kill people; people kill people!" From the gun-control lobby, the cry is, "Why do you need an assault rifle to go hunting? You're going to blow your prey apart!"

The inevitable shouting match continues into race and class: black and brown kids killing each other, or white folks defending themselves from an unseen enemy. Left out of the conversations are human beings—children mostly. Black kids are killing each other in Jackson—just like white kids kill in another community—because we are more divided by race and class in this country than any time since integration.

We have to dig deeper and get to the core question of who do we want to be as a society. How do we include everyone regardless of where and to whom they happened to be born?

When Trayvon Martin died, we should have all grieved for parents losing their son. Instead, his death turned into a debacle of the ongoing and, mostly, unchanging conversations on race, class and now guns. We have moved no closer over the last year to real conversations and actions on any of these issues. We welcome a gun manufacturer with open arms, and our state leaders pass an open-carry law—while also allowing more armed personnel on school campuses instead of funding more counselors and social workers. Without honest conversation, we will continue to suffer from what we have always struggled with in Mississippi: profits over people. The rich will get away with murder without ever having to pull the trigger. They just make the guns and let "others" do the shooting.

Mississippi, we can be better than this. We don't need another gun in our streets. We also don't want to take away anyone's Second Amendment rights—though I don't think our Founding Fathers were thinking about semi-automatic assault rifles when they wrote this often-misinterpreted law. We are seeing too much of our future wasted as our leaders fear-monger rather than make sound policy decisions. Until those who profit off the backs and lives of our young men—especially our young black men—until they come to the table willing to see people instead of money, we will get nowhere.

As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, please reach out to our leaders in business, politics, education, health care, athletics and more, and tell them how you envision Mississippi. I hope it's a Mississippi where everyone can vote if they are eligible, where everyone can receive a high quality education and access to health care, and where no one has to fear being shot in the back of the head with a gun that was manufactured down the road.

Jed Oppenheim is a citizen of Jackson. Please come join him tonight, Aug. 28, 2013, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on the south steps of the Mississippi State Capitol to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. As part the Day of Dignity, we will define what is happening in our communities, demand our dignities and determine the future of the Southern Freedom Movement in 21st-century Mississippi.