The National Rifle Association left little to the imagination in their March 2019 issue of American Rifleman, citing Democrat Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and gun control advocate, former Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Gifford — herself an assault rifle victim — as in the line of fire and perhaps in need of a little target practice.

On Feb. 18th, US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson found herself in the crosshairs after rejecting Roger Stone’s effort to get his case reassigned to a new judge. A target symbol appeared next to Judge Jackson’s head.

Stone later shared a statement — which he reiterated when reached by BuzzFeed News — saying, "This was random photo taken from the internet .Any [sic] inference that this was meant to somehow threaten the Judge or disrespect court is categorically false."

There’s no doubt that these are macho men. The white nationalist assassin from Australia who Facebook livestreamed with his assault on two New Zealand mosques Friday is also a macho man. that currently leaves 50 dead and 50 hospitalized — many in critical condition.

On Thusday, March 14th, the Connecticut Supreme Court overturned a lower-court ruling, agreeng with Connecticut’s Sandy Hook families that the marketing employed by Remington Arms, a major manufacturer of deadly assault rifles and specifically the AF15, was so aggregious in appealing to men’s “killer instincts” that it transgressed against federal immunity laws that protect gun manufacturers from liability.

Connecticut law, the court wrote in the majority opinion, "does not permit advertisements that promote or encourage violent, criminal behavior." While federal law does offer protection for gun manufacturers, the majority wrote, "Congress did not intend to immunize firearms suppliers who engage in truly unethical and irresponsible marketing practices promoting criminal conduct, and given that statutes such as CUTPA are the only means available to address those types of wrongs, it falls to a jury to decide whether the promotional schemes alleged in the present case rise to the level of illegal trade practices and whether fault for the tragedy can be laid at their feet."

The NRA and Roger Stone will swear on a Bible that their words and pictures aren’t really meant to incite violence against Nancy Pelosi and Gaggy Giffords. We’re just clutching our pearls!! But if the US Supreme Court let’s the Connecticut Supreme Court decision stand, we might find fewer prominent women in the crosshairs of America’s macho men. Given Gabby Giffords permanent brain disability, and the mounting dead carcasses at the hands of testosterone-infused nationalists worldwide, we have every right to be concerned. One social conservative determined to kill me for supporting Planned Parenthood on TV is enough.

Read on in Salon. Sandy Hook Lawsuit Court Victory Opens Crack In Gun Maker Immunity Shield

Stacey Abrams is the first African-American woman to deliver a State of the Union response in the 53-year history of this tradition. Pool response image via AP.

By Sharon Austin, Professor of Political Scieence and Director of the African American Studies Program, University of Florida. First published on The Conversation

In a brief, direct and optimistic speech about fighting immigrant scapegoating, racism and voter suppression, Stacey Abrams celebrated diversity in her Democratic rebuttal to Donald Trump’s divisive 2019 State of the Union address.

“We will create a stronger America together,” she said.

Abrams is the first African-American woman to deliver a State of the Union response in the 53-year history of this tradition. She is the first black woman to be nominated by a major party to run for governor. Before that, she was the first African-American ever to serve as House minority leader in the Georgia General Assembly.

Her State of the Union response has increased speculation that she is a rising political starwith a bright future in the Democratic Party.

By choosing Abrams to give the State of the Union response, Democrats were clearly reaching out to African-Americans and women, a key base for the party.

But Abrams’ speech also spoke to an often-overlooked constituency the Democratic Party may not have even thought about when they picked her. It’s a constituency Abrams has already cultivated: rural Southerners of color.

Abrams campaigned in both urban and rural counties last year, defying the logic of a Democratic Party that tends to court big city voters while leaving rural Americans to be won over by Republicans like Donald Trump.

Stacey Abrams vows to keep fighting for voting rights in a speech, November 16, 2018. (Alyssa Pointer / Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

Forgotten Southerners

I have been studying minority politics in the South for over 20 years.

The rural South is home to about 90 percent of America’s entire black rural population, and politics in this region have long been defined by black and white polarization. The South was a Democratic stronghold until the civil rights movement, and Democrats know they can’t win national office without winning here.

But the South – both urban and rural – is changing. In recent decades, a large number of Asian and Hispanic immigrants have settled in Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolinaand other southern states, bringing greater demographic and political diversity to this formerly black-and-white region.

Chinese immigrants first came to rural southern areas like the Mississippi Delta after the Civil War, so Asian-Americans have deep roots in the South. But between 2000 and 2010, the population of Asian-Americans in the South grew 69 percent, to over 3.8 million, largely due to the region’s many job opportunities and affordable housing.

The South’s Hispanic population has grown by 70 percent in recent years, surpassing 2.3 million people in 2010, when the last U.S. Census was taken. Many of these individuals have settled in rural communities, filling agricultural and other jobs and sending their children to public school.

Racial and ethnic minorities now make up over 20 percent of the entire rural population in 10 southern states, from Florida to Virginia.