Gun control activist David Hogg blamed the United States’ “history of white supremacy” for gun violence that occurs in the country during an appearance on MSNBC Friday night.
Host Chris Hayes asked Hogg about how gun control could work in the U.S. when there is already a “very violent culture in America.”
“How do you and the movement think about that?” Hayes asked.
“I think it comes down to reckoning with our history, and our history of white supremacy in the United States, and the fact that we live in a post-genocidal society, oftentimes that was orchestrated by the United States government and that, if we want to talk about mass shootings, we have to recognize the massive number of indigenous mass shootings that were committed by the United States government,” Hogg answered.
“I think back to the Battle of Wounded Knee and the several hundred Native Americans, predominantly men, women and children that were slaughtered by the United States government back in the 19th century and how that’s never discussed as a mass shooting, right, and that’s wrong, because those people were not armed and we were stealing their land,” he continued.
“I think it comes down to reckoning with the tough history and realizing that, it’s okay if you recognize the actual history of the United States, it’s okay to hate that injustice that much of this country has been founded on and much of the oppression that this country was founded on. That doesn’t mean you hate America because it means you love your fellow Americans so much that you don’t want to repeat the same mistakes we’ve made in the past.”
The 19-year-old activist made a name for himself as a prominent gun control activist following the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida in 2018.
Hogg, at that time a senior at the high school, survived the shooting and along with a few other students became anti-gun figureheads on social media and cable news. (RELATED: Parkland Survivor Kyle Kashuv Calls David Hogg ‘Hypocritical’ For Hanging Up On Trump)
He recently declared that if he is ever killed, he wants his body to be dropped off at the doorstep of the National Rifle Association (NRA) headquarters.
If you want your photo published if you die from gun violence tweet about it so it’s on the record with #MyLastShot
— David Hogg (@davidhogg111) August 26, 2019
Hogg also recently promoted himself as a possible candidate for Congress.