Left-leaning media outlet VICE’s racist presentation of pro-second amendment women’s groups

Many American viewers are aware media outlet VICE presents information with a severe left-leaning angle, that’s not difficult to determine. However, I found a striking difference in how VICE presented two different pro-second amendment women’s groups in the United States based on race.

On February 8, 2017, VICE released a Youtube video titled “The Black Women’s Defense League Taking Aim at Racism and Misogyny.” The film featured a woman who started the group The Black Women’s Defense League in 2015 in Dallas, Texas. She stated the purpose of the group is to combat racism and oppression. The group primarily focuses on shooting guns. Throughout the 12 minute long video, the interviewer never challenged the group’s members for what they were doing or asked about gun safety, instead he celebrated their interest in firearms. The film showcased members wearing t-shirts with the group’s logo while they handed out food to small children, had them discuss Africa and walked around town yelling “Black power!” While the video did show the members meeting at an indoor shooting range and shooting guns, there did not appear to be a certified gun trainer involved with the group at all, and practically no emphasis on gun safety. At the end of the video the founder was presented as though she was a hero.

A separate VICE video focusing on a different a pro-second amendment women’s group was published on Youtube on July 26, 2018, titled “Fear and Loading: Meet the NRA’s Most Wanted Customer.” The video featured women attending a conference called A Girl and a Gun, also in Texas, where women of all races (let me repeat, ALL RACES) trained to protect themselves from sexual predators and home invasions. The conference did not emphasize race at all. A woman who spoke throughout the video was a certified NRA instructor who was clearly experienced in gun use, gun safety, and took gun handling very seriously.

As the movie plays on, it becomes evident that VICE did not create this video to put the group in a positive light as it did with the group in the first video. This video made the women appear “paranoid” for wanting to protect themselves from predators. The interviewer challenged the women who attended the conference, while embracing gun policy activist women who shared why they do not support using a gun for protection. The film even included footage of a student protest where students demanded more strict gun control.

What can be concluded from comparing these two videos is that VICE prioritizes race above all else, and does not prioritize gun use safety. In VICE’s world, a black women’s group will go unchallenged, and will even be praised, for using guns for protection, while a non-race oriented women’s group will be presented as paranoid.

Additionally, VICE clearly does not care about gun safety since it promoted a group that has no certified gun safety instructor involved, and did not emphasize gun safety at all. It is even fine for this group to indoctrinate children about race and gun use in VICE’s racist world.

Lauren Ell is an American blogger born and raised in Southern California and is currently based in Sweden. She discusses Epilepsy, Politics and Fun. Professionally Ell is an Online Marketing Consultant and Virtual Assistant. She is also founder and president of Republican Atheists and GunSafetySociety.org. Connect with Lauren on Facebook and Twitter.