Let It Bang

July 23, 2018
Young, an African-American journalist, explores gun culture in this searing take on race and gun ownership in the U.S. Young recalls his childhood in gun-friendly Mississippi and Florida, and the perception of black youths as being a threat to white America. As a student at the University of Tulsa, he met and began to date a woman named Lizzie, the daughter of a white gun enthusiast. In order to get into the good graces of her father, Charles, Young developed an interest in guns. While Young had avoided guns throughout his life, his attitude changed when he began accompanying Charles to target practice and gun shows full of passionate Second Amendment supporters. Young and Lizzie married, and eventually, Young himself became obsessed with guns and skilled in the care of weapons, and met the requirements to become an NRA-certified pistol instructor. His marriage ended after two years, however, when he realized just before the 2016 presidential election that Lizzie herself was prejudiced. His experiences reaffirmed for him that “Gun culture in America is inherently racist because white people historically fear black men with guns.” Honest and heartbreaking, Young’s raw account of being a black gun owner in America will mesmerize readers.

August 15, 2018
Young chronicles his attempts to bond with his white father-in-law by embracing the gun culture that he previously held at arm's length.Toward the end of this short memoir about marriage, guns, and race in America, the author writes, "gun culture in America is inherently racist because white people historically fear black men with guns." He builds a convincing case that the NRA has become predominantly concerned with protecting the Second Amendment rights of white people to protect their property against the black intruders they most fear. He also notes how an increasing number of black people, particularly black women, are arming themselves, feeling like if they don't protect themselves, who will? "We are in a literal arms race," he writes, "ramped up by the racialized fear peddled to us by damn near every institutionalized force in the land." Amid his reportage, his personal story--about his mixed marriage and how it played out in conservative Oklahoma, where he always felt like a minority--doesn't hold together quite as well. He first noticed his wife-to-be as a privileged white girl at a graduation party where he was the lone black guest. He always thought of her, at least within this book, as white first and was conscious of himself as black first. But they got together and stayed together, at least until the Donald Trump victory, "when my country chose to show its true face, as bigotry stood at the doorstep and opened the door wide," and as he impulsively shouted, "I hate white people!" His wife, naturally enough, took offense, but rather than proceeding into a discussion of race and complex emotions, it led to the end of the marriage. Before then, however, he had committed himself to becoming a better shot than his marksman father-in-law and an instructor certified by the NRA.Race and guns make an explosive combination.

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November 1, 2018

In his memoir on how he went from being agnostic about guns to becoming an NRA-certified pistol instructor, sports vlogger Young meanders through the complexities of American gun culture. While the framework of the story rests concerns bonding with a white, gun-loving father-in-law, Young, who is black, takes time to look at issues such as the insurance industry that has emerged in response to stand-your-ground laws and the newly formed National African American Gun Association, which provides the support that many black Americans found lacking from the NRA. While Young's memoir does not delve too deeply into his relationship with his in-laws, it does provide a fascinating look at how American gun culture is moving from an old boy's network into one that reflects a broad political and social spectrum. VERDICT This book turns the commonly accepted perception of American gun culture on its head while delving into the author's conflicts with our love affair with firearms. Highly recommended.--John Rodzvilla, Emerson Coll., Boston

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