The NRA (& its allies') reaction to corporations removing discounts from NRA members is a breathtakingly textbook display of the adage that "when you're accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression." 1/
They are not preventing you from buying their tickets. They are not preventing you from boarding their planes. They are not telling you where you can sit on the plane. They are not telling you that you don't belong in the city you're flying from, or the city you're flying to. 2/
In fact, they are not treating you any differently than any other customer. That's called equality. In other words, the NRA has no basis upon which to claim it has a right to discounts given to them by corporations like Delta. Discounts are privileges, not rights. 3/
In this case, the lobby group had negotiated additional privileges for its members (i.e. discounted fare for NRA members flying to Dallas for its annual meeting). It's not a right, or something they're entitled to. It was just a privilege - and, in this case, a business deal. 4/
To call this an "attack on conservatives" is just breathtakingly bold. Withdrawing a discount is not an "attack." It's decision based on business interests, which compels an NRA member to make a very simple choice: can you tolerate being treated like any other Delta customer? 5/
The answer to this question may be very informative regarding how accustomed to privilege folks have become, and how much equality feels to them like oppression even in an incredibly trivial episode in the grand scheme of things. 6/
Because *actual* life and death oppressions and inequalities are part of the daily lives of ppl who have been calling out the NRA for its hypocrisy when it comes to defending the 2nd amendment rights of people of color nydailynews.com/news/national/… 7/
As well as for people who have been calling for reductions community-level violence and gun control - which the NRA has either remained silent about or outright rejected, respectively. 8/
And as @ColinKahl noted, the NRA claims that the 2nd amendment protects people against a tyrannical state. But then the lobby group also favors arming the police with militarized weapons. washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch… 9/
And they've done nothing to stand up against police brutality against communities of color too. So make no mistake. The NRA is not the oppressed group here. And neither are "conservatives," whom Cagle conflates with NRA members. 10/
Instead of these weak claims of victimhood, NRA members would do well to do some soul-searching. It's what the activists calling for noncooperation w the NRA are trying to produce. For the businesses themselves, it's just a bottom line issue. 11/
In the face of a mass killing, nonviolent methods like protest & pressuring corporations take courage. Kids were assaulted by a weapon the NRA says ought to be available to protect the country (from whom, again?). No. No one's "attacking" you. You are not the victims here. 12/12
