One of my mentors is Clarence Anthony, the Executive Director of the National League of Cities. A week ago, Clarence posted this item as he reflected on the most recent round of pointless and tragic mass shootings. Like many of us, Clarence is struggling to understand why these things happen. But like many of us in the arena of local government, he asks an even more important and immediate question: What’s our role? What’s our role in response to tragedies such as those that have occurred in El Paso, Dayton, and Oak Creek? What’s our role in averting and avoiding these acts of deadly outrage? What’s our role as citizens?
Democracy in America is not a spectator sport. It is nothing more and nothing less than every one of us acting together for the common good. What’s the role of democracy in the face of domestic terrorism? This will be a difficult conversation. It may be a painful conversation. But it’s a conversation we need to have if we are ever going to find a solution to this violence.
To quote Clarence Anthony: No more, no more, no more.
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