While thousands of people marched for stricter gun control laws to an all-out repeal of the Second Amendment during Saturday’s March for Our Lives, rapper Killer Mike found himself at the center of controversy.
As the march was happening, the National Rifle Association’s cable news channel, NRATV, aired an interview with Killer Mike (born Michael Render), conducted by NRATV host Colion Noir, about black gun ownership. It was a fascinating interview that served as a window into his mind and how, until now, his views on the Second Amendment were recondite at best (unless you listened to his music).
But the takeaway from the interview was not Killer Mike’s views on the Second Amendment and how black gun ownership is more important than ever —– considering a majority of African-Americans voted overwhelmingly for Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump in 2016 and many view the president as a racist totalitarian demagogue — it’s that he gave an interview to the NRA in the first place.
The backlash was swift. Many saw his interview as giving the NRA more legitimacy, which is an interesting point to make when you take into account that the NRA has an estimated 5 million members. We’re not talking about some desperate far-right fringe group like Richard Spencer’s white nationalist/neo-Nazi National Policy Institute, the NRA already has legitimacy.
Nevertheless, Killer Mike apologized for the interview, saying that it “was used as a weapon against” the March for Our Lives, a movement he purportedly agrees with.
I hope this clears some stuff up. Love and Respect to all. Part 1 pic.twitter.com/pq977HEG7A
— Killer Mike (@KillerMike) March 25, 2018
— Killer Mike (@KillerMike) March 25, 2018
Let’s get one thing straight: Killer Mike should not be the one apologizing for thinking the way he does. The problem was that the NRA framed Killer Mike’s words as a rebuke against the March for Our Lives. Noir introduced the interview by chiding the Parkland, Fla., survivors, saying, “What are you really marching for? Because from where I’m standing, it looks like a march to burn the Constitution and rewrite the parts you don’t like in crayon.”
If Killer Mike is guilty of anything, it’s trusting the NRA too much. After all it is the same organization that, in just this year alone, tried to characterize “creeping socialism” as the main threat after the Parkland shooting and railed against Hollywood and mainstream media outlets in an effort to protect gun rights. The Killer Mike interview is just another example that shows the NRA is often it’s own enemy.
