Violence in America Isn’t Growing By Accident

Here’s one of the most powerful speeches you’ll ever hear, given by the junior senator from Connecticut, Chris Murphy, speaking on racism and violence, and how it’s used to the political advantage of certain demagogues.

People like Donald Trump exploit Americans’ instinct toward violence, which was born of our history of slavery of blacks and mass slaughter of the Indians.  They manipulate us into division, into feelings of fear, and hate, while ensuring that we have unlimited access to high-powered assault weapons, so as to maximize the number of gun deaths that result.  This cycle expands as it repeats, further perpetuating that division, fear, and hate.

“It’s a choice,” Murphy reminds us.  “We can elect leaders who unite us in peace,” or those who pull us apart, and grow ever-more powerful as the carnage rips through our society. “It’s a decision, and it falls upon us.”