Throughout history, the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States has protected the right to bear arms. For Black Americans, this has come with the understanding that the moment they exercise this right (or the moment that they don't), their life - as surely as the lives of Philando Castile, Tamir Rice, Breonna Taylor - may be snatched away in a single, fateful second.

In this week's podcast historian Carol Anderson speaks to Mark Mardell about her new book The Second, illuminating the history and impact of the Second Amendment: from the seventeenth century, when it was encoded into law that the enslaved could not own, carry or use a firearm, to today, where measures to expand and curtail gun ownership continue to limit the freedoms and power of Black Americans.

To buy the book click here: 

https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-second/carol-anderson/9781526633682 Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared.

 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Podden och tillhörande omslagsbild på den här sidan tillhör Intelligence Squared. Innehållet i podden är skapat av Intelligence Squared och inte av, eller tillsammans med, Poddtoppen.