http://www.alan.com/2014/07/15/open...-black-neighborhood-with-an-actual-black-guy/
Open Carry Texas announced last night on Facebook that their group plans to move forward with their march on August 15th through Houston’s Fifth Ward, a predominantly African American neighborhood. C.J Grisham, the Open Carry group’s leader, is urging locals to take up arms in an area stricken with gun violence. He originally planned the march on Junteenth but opted to give a speech at a John Birch Society meeting instead.
The group’s special guest will be Tennessee resident Maurice Muhammad, a self-proclaimed disciple of Louis Farrakhan. On his Facebook page, he promotes the killing of police officers:
On his “About Me” profile, he writes, “At the Initiative, I am the National Director and our mission Is [sic] simple to build a reality for our people and to conduct WAR on anybody that comes against what we have decided to build. We must provide a fertile ground for black People to be able to do for self. And by any means necessary stop, the defamation and dehumanization of Black people.”
It’s nice radicals can meet somewhere in order to start a war.
Mr. Grisham does not meet the standards for a CHL in the state of Texas for a period of five years due to a conviction on his record. He pushes back against these “crimes.” wrapping them in his own air quote in the announcement posted below. He claims to be just like Rosa Parks. He’s helping out the community, because Jim Crow Laws — or something.
Via Open Carry Texas:
OPEN CARRY TEXAS ANNOUNCES 5TH WARD EVENT
Temple, TX, July 15, 2014– On August 16, 2014, Open Carry Texas will be holding an event in the 5th Ward district of Houston. Like all of our events, the public is invited to take part in this event to celebrate our right to keep and bear arms and protest our antiquated gun laws.
“We are not going to be marching through 5th Ward,” said OCT Founder CJ Grisham, “we’re going to hopefully be marching with 5th Ward.”
Open Carry Texas believes that Texas’ gun laws continue to be rooted in racism. In order to obtain a concealed handgun license in Texas, one needs to shell out over $250 in fees and requirements to do so. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the poverty rate in Texas was 14.4% in 2010, the date of the last census. In the African-American community, the poverty rate was 27.1%, nearly twice the state poverty rate and almost three times higher than non-Hispanic whites. In other words, the extreme cost to obtain a license in Texas disproportionately prevents African-Americans from getting one.
Texas law prevents anyone convicted of a Class B misdemeanor or higher from qualifying for a concealed handgun license for at least five years. The convictions do not need to be related to violence or even involve a gun. Some examples of “crimes” that will cause you to lose your CHL or fail to qualify for one are littering, writing a hot check, or even certain traffic infractions not involving another person.
If Texas were a country, it would have the highest incarceration rate than any other country. According to the DC-based Justice Policy Institute Director Vincent Schiraldi, “out of every 20 adult Texans you meet, one is under criminal justice control.” The black community is seven times more likely to be incarcerated than the white community. The Institute added that “nearly one in three young African American men in Texas is under some form of criminal justice control.” Because the black population is the most likely to be falsely convicted with a non-violent, non-gun related crime, their access to a license to legally defend themselves is extremely limited.
Much like the Jim Crow laws of the past, Texas gun laws seem geared towards preventing the minority community from exercising their rights. We aim to change that.
Open Carry Texas is dedicated to abolishing these racist and xenophobic gun laws as quickly as possible. Texas should be leading the nation in allowing its citizens to keep and bear arms. The crime rate in Houston’s 5th Ward is three times higher than the greater Houston area, mostly because the law abiding find it difficult to exercise their rights. Only the criminals are able to arm themselves and those that arm themselves for the purpose of self-defense find themselves in trouble just for carrying and never using the firearm.
We invite the community to join us on August 16th at noon to find out for themselves what we are about. We are excited to have special guest, Mr. Maurice Muhammed, National Director for The Initiative, whose mission is “to secure justice and fair treatment to all people. And end forever unjust and unfair discrimination and ridicule of Black people throughout the Earth.”