Another Day in the Death of America

Another Day in the Death of America: A Chronicle of Ten Short Lives by Gary Younge
On Sale October 4, 2016 by Nation Books
Rating: ★★★★

November 23, 2013. There's nothing remarkable about the 24 hours that made up that day, no reason the date sticks out in our collective memory. Five years later, there won't be a nationwide memorial scheduled, and we won't glance down at the calendar and gasp: "has it really been that long since...?"No, November 23, 2013 was just a typical, average day in America. And that means 10 children died from gun violence.

Author Gary Younge tells the story of these ten lives tragically cut short, and, in doing so, he tries to paint the picture of an entire nation. Because as much as this is the victims' story, Younge would argue that it's also ours as a whole.

The only thing all ten young people profiled in this book have in common apart from the date and manner of their deaths was their gender. All ten victims were male. Their ages spanned from just nine to nineteen. They lived in rural Michigan, suburban Ohio, and inner-city Chicago. Seven of them were African-American. They were high school graduates with good jobs and gangbangers with criminal records. Some were shot deliberately, some by accident. None of them should have died that day.

Younge does an excellent job of telling their stories, even in the two instances where the family refused to speak with him. He's honest and frank about the lives he memorializes. One of the victims was released from jail just days before his death and was rumored to have killed people. Apart from the two pre-teen victims, all had factors that make them "unsympathetic" in the eyes of the national media: a combination of trouble at home, trouble with the law, gang connections, and experimentation with drugs. But, as the author would argue, no one deserves to die of gun violence, no matter who they are.

This book examines varied aspects of America's so-called gun culture. Raised in England, the author is unapologetic in his support of political gun control. He investigates issues like smart guns and why this technology is currently DOA, whether teaching gun safety to children leads to less accidents, and how joining a gang in some communities is as optional as voting for Kim Jong Un is for North Koreans. But the issue Younge touches on more than any other is the misguided idea of the "worthy victim." And, yet, I don't think it's random that the first chapter in the book is about the youngest boy to die that day: a fun-loving nine-year-old who gets stuck in the cross hairs of a domestic violence dispute.

If you're a card carrying member of the NRA, this is probably not the book for you. As an American who generally supports the 2nd Amendment, but is open to restrictions like child locks and background checks, I found the author's approach measured and even-handed. I disagreed with some of his assertions on the role of economic class, and I raised an eyebrow at a father who didn't know the number of children he had, nor their birthdays, being praised as "devoted."

It's not hard for me to recommend this book. 4.5 stars.