Why women touched by violence back Clinton
Hillary Clinton with Gabby Giffords and others at an event in South Carolina. Credit: Lane Filler
When Gabrielle Giffords spoke at Central Baptist Church Tuesday in support of Hillary Clinton, it was heartbreaking and heartening. Her smile remains magnetic, her spirit is strong, but her speech is halting and her message is, by necessity, simple. What Jared Lee Loughner destroyed when he shot her in an Arizona shopping-mall parking lot in 2011 is immeasurable. She is a living testament to a sickness festering in this nation.
Clinton is going through South Carolina backed by a tragic assemblage: women united by horrific violence. And what was most daunting, as Clinton talked about race and privilege and perceptions and tragedy, was the diversity of problems that led to each tragedy: racism, police violence, vigilantism, homicidal maniacs, gun culture, entitlement. And how little any president might be able to do to change them. As each woman talked about her support for Clinton, they cited the warmth, empathy and compassion they had found in her as the key to their endorsement. They are with her because she cares enough to try to fix the problems, even if she is as flummoxed at how to do it as anyone else.
With Clinton to address the largely black, largely older crowd Tuesday were:
*Former congresswoman Giffords, who was shot by Loughner in 2011 and suffered permanent brain and other injuries. Six people were killed and 12 others injured in the shooting in a shopping-mall parking lot in Arizona. Her husband, Mark Kelly, accompanied her and also spoke.
*Sybrina Fulton, mother of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed 17-year-old black male who was shot to death by George Zimmerman in Florida in 2012 while out to buy candy. Zimmerman was acquitted under the state’s “stand your ground” law.
*Gwen Carr, mother of 43-year-old Eric Garner, a black male who died after he was placed in a police chokehold in 2014 in Staten Island as he repeatedly said “I can’t breathe.” A video of the incident was widely circulated, but a grand jury failed to indict the officers.
*Geneva Reed-Veal, mother of Sandra Bland, a 28-year-old black woman who died in police custody in Texas last year three days after she was pulled over, purportedly for failing to signal a lane change. The only charge in that case has been perjury, related to the traffic stop.
*Lucy McBath, mother of Jordan Davis, a 17-year-old black teen who was shot and killed in 2012 by a white man in Florida enraged because the music Davis and his friends were playing was too loud. Michael Dunn was convicted of first-degree murder in Davis’ death.
*Maria Hamilton, mother of Dontre Hamilton, a 31-year-old black man with diagnosed mental health issues who was shot 14 times and killed in a park by a police officer in Milwaukee in 2014 while apparently doing nothing illegal. The officer has been fired, but not charged.
They weren’t all victims of cops. Giffords wasn’t the victim of racism, as both she and her assailant are white. They weren’t all victims of overly loose gun laws, or even of guns. The common thread was just senseless tragedy in a violent society …. and their willingness to go out on the trail for Clinton.
The church Clinton spoke at Tuesday was full of her supporters, as most campaign stops are. The crowd, many of whom were actual members of that church, were audibly moved by the tales of violence and injustice. Many are residents of one of the poorer areas of a tough, violent city: many have tragic, violent tales of their own.
It’s not necessarily clear that Clinton would or could do more to address racial injustice, violence and the gun culture than Democratic opponent Sen. Bernie Sanders. It is pretty clear that both would prioritize these issues far more than any GOP candidate.
But black voters in South Carolina, and any voters in the state infuriated by the systemic violence and racism, loose gun laws, the National Rifle Association and its paid political lackeys, and roadblocks always thrown in the way of potential improvements may well give Clinton credit for this:
These women came out to support Clinton because she sought them out, listened to them, spoke to them, and convinced them she would try to help. Even if they’re only giving her an A for effort, voters can see she’s the only one who earned that A, or according to these mothers and victims, even tried to.
