What do most of America's mass shootings have in common? White, male culprits

As we watch the heartbreaking aftermath of America’s latest mass shooting, what we must acknowledge is what they have in common.

First, in most of the shootings, the culprits, including the alleged shooter in Thursday’s massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., used or owned AR15 assault weapons that shouldn’t be in the hands of anyone except military troops abroad.

Second, most of the culprits of the worst mass shootings since the massacre at Columbine High School in 1999 have been white males.

And for all of you who just set your hair on fire or ran to pick up your phone to call and scream at me that I’m a racist: I do not contend that these boys and men shot up schools or a movie theater or a church because they are white.

I contend that America continues to allow it because they are white …

… because you can be damn sure that if these shootings had been done by black males, there would be calls to round all up the young black men across the country until we could determine what was wrong with them — or until we, the collective we, which means the white we, felt safe. There would be some change in gun laws. There would be action.

And it would be a major, continuing news story rather than one forgotten by Sunday.

It is almost as if we want to forgive these men who for days after their crimes have been referred to as “broken” or “troubled.”

So when Adam Lanza shot and killed 20 children, six teachers, his mother and himself at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in 2012, using an AR15, we moved on. We thought that would be the incident that would change things. He murdered babies just learning to read books and solve math problems, children still leaving teeth for the Tooth Fairy and giving their wishes to Santa Claus. But we moved on.

After Dylann Roof took a handgun and shot nine African-American parishioners to death while they prayed at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Charleston (and was treated to a hamburger by authorities on the way to jail), we moved on.

After Omar Mateen shot 99 people — 49 fatally — at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando in 2016, using an AR15, we moved on.

Even after retired accountant Stephen Paddock shot 909 outdoor concertgoers in Las Vegas — 58 of them fatally and using an AR15 — we moved on.

Even after Devin Kelley shot 26 people to death at a Sutherland Springs, Texas, church in 2017, using an AR15, we moved on.

Now Nikolas Cruz, a 19-year-old former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, a student who had been expelled and who gave enough warning signs that someone should have seen it coming, went back to his old school, and opened fire with a semiautomatic, yep, you guessed it, AR15 rifle.

By Thursday evening’s news, the death toll had reached 17.

We cannot move on.

That is what must happen next:

First, we must take these shootings seriously and not continue to ignore them because they’re being done by depraved, young white men. We must be up in arms. If they weren’t white, we’d be up in arms. That is not racist. That is based on historical fact. Changing how people get guns, keeping guns from the mentally ill and weapons of war off American streets are not impossible dreams.

Second, we must stop treating black males like murderers when they’re selling cigarettes on a street corner or mass murderers if they are involved in a fight or like drug dealers if they’re caught smoking marijuana and sending them away for long prison sentences — while we do nothing to stop this scourge of mass shootings that has claimed thousands of victims. Many of the predominantly black high schools across Detroit — and in other urban areas — have metal detectors and an attitude of fear. There have been no mass school shootings at these high schools.

Third, we must stop voting for any candidate for any office that accepts money from the National Rifle Association.and stop electing leaders who watch these shootings happen over and over and do nothing about it but spout condolences.

Donald Trump was not wrong in his tweet after the shooting which said:

So many signs that the Florida shooter was mentally disturbed, even expelled from school for bad and erratic behavior. Neighbors and classmates knew he was a big problem. Must always report such instances to authorities, again and again!

There were signs that the shooter was dangerous, signs that were ignored again and again.

Trump also tweeted:

My prayers and condolences to the families of the victims of the terrible Florida shooting. No child, teacher or anyone else should ever feel unsafe in an American school.

But what Trump didn’t do, as is typical, was to go far enough.

America can always use prayer. But America also needs leaders who will put children before the gun lobby.

Trump told children in a televised address that leaders "would do anything to protect you."

Now, America's children will see whether his words have meaning. Because school shootings can no longer be treated like white-collar crimes.

Contact Rochelle Riley: rriley99@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @rochelleriley. Rochelle will appear at 6 p.m. Friday at Pages BookShop in Detroit to discuss her book "The Burden: African Americans and the Enduring Impact of Slavery," To see all upcoming book signings, visit www.rochelleriley.com