American Fear
Much of human evolution has been caused by fear, a powerful emotion.
When presented with fear, we can fight or use our quick motions
To escape what might put us in danger.
For most, fear is familiar, not a stranger.
Especially in children, they’ve always had fears about attending classes.
Whether it’s about grades, their new pair of glasses,
What he said, what she said,
Or even just missing their friends.
But things haven’t gotten better since I was a child.
Today children fear about one of the students going wild
And taking away their lives instead of their lunch money.
If they do it as a sick joke, it’s just not funny.
You don’t believe me, do you?
Sit down and listen, I’m about to tell you something new.
May 6, 1940, South Pasadena Junior High
Verlin H. Spencer shot and killed 5 of his constituents
Because he was fired for having arguments.
May 4, 1970, Kent State
The National Guard opened fire on students at that were
Protesting - peacefully, I must add - the Vietnam War.
The death toll was four.
May 1, 1992, Lindhurst High School
Eric Houston fired in the school’s quarters
Injuring ten and killing four.
March 24, 1998, Westside Middle School
Mitchell Johnson and Andrew Golden set off the fire alarm
They shot and killed a teacher and four students
Ten others were left wounded
May 21, 1998, Thurston High School of Springfield Oregon
23 injured, 111 years in prison.
Kip Kinkel killed two students after killing his parents.
April 20, 1999, Columbine
The name alone is associated with school assassinations
12 children and a teacher were murdered
21 were injured
April 16, 2007, Virginia Tech
Even universities aren’t safe today
The third deadliest shooting in the USA
Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people in a day
Telling you all of this, like these massacres, is overkill, it seems,
But this fear is distinctly American, like the American Dream.
Gun violence in America is all too common
And every time it happens we have the same conversation
About who is to blame and what needs to be changed.
Is it a gun problem? Mental health? No one can decide
On a solution that will end gun homicide
That will please the left and the right.
There is no end in sight!
We still put up with this trite!
Instead of getting up to fight…
So, I have a question I want to ask all of you tonight.
How many dead children does it take to screw a light bulb
Into the minds of the fools at capitol hill
To find a fix for this epidemic?
It’s just so pathetic,
They’re so apathetic.
They don’t seem to get it.
Children’s lives are being ended
While they’re wasting OUR money that THEY are spending
On themselves and not for the people they’re representing.
It’s a loop that’s never ending!
The answer to my question is simple, like buying a gun.
How many dead children does it take?
Anything more than one,
It will never be enough, but that’s still way too much
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