I also carry a weapon most times I leave my home, though my circumstances are a bit different. I’m a white, 63-year old male whose family has been in this very same rural South Carolina community long enough to have once had a land grant from King George. (Something of little value after the Revolutionary War, and less now.)

Every time I leave my house I carry a metal cane, which my age and degree of disability allows under normal circumstances. Why? Because when I leave the house, I also wear my own specific type of armor; a progressive shirt to serve the purpose of letting every racist know their days are numbered, and “white folks are not all like you!” And to say, “Though I do not look like most of you, I will stand by you and give my life protecting those who are victimized by any form of injustice and/or inequality.” (Since the murder of Mr. Floyd, the designs I wear have been almost exclusively BLM in nature, and where I live that's almost a call to battle among the ignorant.) I also carry a professional level bleed-out kit in the event of extreme violence toward myself or anyone I may encounter. (After all, I’ve little choice but to visit Walmart weekly, and that place is becoming soaked with the blood of the innocent.)

I hope with all my heart that I'll never need to use either, but I'll hopefully not again be as easily taken by surprise.

Thank you for writing. This is important.