About this episode:
The panic of COVID-19 and high-profile Black deaths like those of Breonna Taylor and Geroge Floyd have led to a rise in Black gun ownership around the country. A survey from the National Shooting Sports Foundation found that gun dealers reported a 58-percent increase in Black customers in 2020, the most rapid growth of any ethnic group.
Twenty-four-year-old Jeneisha Harris is worried she could be another Breonna Taylor. Harris is a student and activist in Nashville, Tennessee. She grew up anti-gun, but feels vulnerable and wonders if she should arm herself.
On this episode of Into America, Jeneisha Harris tells Trymaine Lee about the pros and cons she’s weighing as she decides whether to get a gun. And Lee speaks with Philip Smith, the head of the National African American Gun Association about the long tradition of Black gun ownership, and why he thinks all Black people should be armed.
Find the transcript here.