Killer Mike Doesn’t ‘Trust Black Leadership That Wants to De-Arm Black People’

Killer Mike has made a career off of exploring the underbelly of American society. Yet this doesn’t stop with his politically provocative raps. The Run the Jewels rapper is also very active in the voting process and during a conversation with Yahoo News disclosed a pressing issue that’s swaying his vote. 

As he did in 2016, Killer Mike has endorsed Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders’ presidential bid. This decision was prompted by the other candidates’ stance on gun control. “I don’t trust black leadership that wants to de-arm black people,” Killer Mike explained. 

Presidential candidates Cory Booker and Kamala Harris have taken a strong stance that pushes for tougher gun control laws. For Booker, he feels as though it’s his personal commitment to his Newark community to regulate the sale of firearms. 

“In my community, kids fear fireworks on the Fourth of July because they sound like gunshots,” Booker told CNN. “In communities across the country, from Newark to Charlotte, from San Diego to Chicago, and everywhere in between, Americans are being killed and families are being torn apart. We must do better.” 

Mike thinks more restrictive gun laws will only have an adverse effect on black Americans. He believes proper gun ownership gives a black person an opportunity to be “responsible” for his/her own life.

“They don’t want you to have guns in cities for fear of crime and violence, yet the crime and violence [are] there and the police treat you as though you’re criminally violent,” the R.A.P. Music artist said. “So at what point do you become responsible for one’s own life? At what point are you going to buy a gun, are you going to train, are you going to commit yourself?”

The rapper also reminded Yahoo that his views on gun ownership are not new or exclusive to him. When quoting early Civil Rights activist and journalist Ida B. Wells, Mike showed how important proper gun ownership has been to the black American. “Gun laws affect black people first and worst,” Mike said before quoting Wells. “A Winchester rifle should have a place of honor in every black home, and it should be used for that protection which the law refuses to give.”