Do you have a problem with one photo, but not the other?

[Martin Eden]

39. The black kids aren't smiling, and it's hard to discern the context

The photos aren't an equivalent comparison on many levels, and I have a problem with both.

If the black kids are unhappy because they need guns to survive in their neighborhood, I think they'd have different weapons than the guns they're holding. The photo looks contrived.

On the other hand, the photo with the smiling white kids is very believable as a real family photo at Christmastime in NRA Teapublicana. These kids were probably raised to believe that assault weapons designed for killing human beings are flag-waving patriotic and not in the least contradictory to being a morally upright Christian.

Whether the photos are contrived or not, both are disturbing in what they represent or are intended to represent. Kids in impoverished neighborhoods are routinely killed by other kids with guns, whether targeted by gangs or in the way of a stray bullet. Their circumstances (including gang members) are tragic. But the happy smiling faces of children holding assault rifles designed to kill human beings represents a cultural psychopathy that I find much more frightening.