Killer Mike has responded after catching flack for an interview he did with NRA TV. The interview, which was reportedly conducted last week, was aired during the same time as the March for Our Lives protests to combat gun violence.
In the interview with NRA TV, Killer Mike spoke about the national school walkout that occurred last week. He advised his kids against the walkout.
“I told my kids on the school walkout, ‘I love you, [but] if you walk out that school, walk out my house,'” he said. “We are a gun-owning family, we are a family that my sister farms, we are a family where we’ll fish and hunt, but we are not a family that jumps on every single thing that an ally of ours does because some stuff we just don’t agree with.”
Killer Mike faced severe backlash for his interview on NRA TV. One day after the interview aired, Killer Mike apologized on an Instagram post and said that he was used by the NRA to disparage a movement.
“I’m sorry that an interview I did about a minority, black people in this country, and gun rights was used as a weapon against you guys,” he said. “That was unfair to you and it was wrong, and it disparaged some very noble work you’re doing.”
Killer Mike should speak out for gun ownership for Blacks if he believes in that cause. Gun control laws were initially implemented to prevent Black people from becoming gun owners. In America, Blacks could not legally carry guns until the Civil War.
In 1967, members of the Black Panthers showed up to the California statehouse armed with guns. Gov. Ronald Reagan responded by implementing the Mulford Act. It was a state bill prohibiting the open carry of loaded firearms, along with an addendum prohibiting loaded firearms in the state Capitol.
Killer Mike must continue to fight his fight. However, the NRA may not be the platform to use. The NRA has a history of racist antics which include not defending Philando Castile after he was killed by a cop although he legally owned the gun he was carrying. And their misuse of Killer Mike’s words proves, again, that the NRA is an organization that is not concerned with Black interests.
