This is a sensitive post for me, but I am thinking it, so fuck it, I am going to write it.
Over the weekend, three incidents that made national news pissed me off and disappointed me on so many levels that I really don't know where to begin.
But let me start with the animal in Memphis who killed his brother and five other people including some of his brother's children (he just returned home from prison). Like what the fuck is wrong with our people? Look, I live in Killadelphia, and killings and murders are nothing new to me. But when I see stories like this I really have to wonder what the hell is wrong with us. And before you give me the white people do it too comments and e-mails, save it; I really don't care what white people do. There are plenty of white folks investing a lot of time and energy in trying to cure whatever ills they have.
Then there is this Negro in Alabama who allegedly killed this 18 year old Auburn coed (he just returned from Iraq). This clown is being charged with kidnapping,robbery, and attempted rape as well. And didn't you just know they were going to find this girl's killer? She was a white college student in Alabama for crying out loud! Could the National Guard have been far behind? Don't laugh, the Governor offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the capture of the young lady's killer soon after the shooting. How many folks that were killed in the hood in cities like Birmingham or Mobile do you think the good Governor offered a reward for? I won't hold my breath waiting for the answer. But I seriously digress. And I shouldn't be making political points on the back of this poor victim. Still, there is a post in there somewhere and maybe one day I will revisit it.
The third incident happened in North Carolina where a 22 year old college student was found shot to death on a Chapel Hill street. Again, some dumb ass Negro is a "person of interest", and even if this clown didn't kill the woman, his dumb ass was caught on video using her ATM card. Again, this woman belonged to the most protected class in A-merry-ca; a white woman (yes Hillary, a white woman), and this ignoramus chose to fuck around and end up with her ATM card, and even worse, he might have killed her.
Three incidents all giving me reason to pause and shake my head at the state of this country. But I have been saying it all along: if we don't do something to clean up some of the problems facing cer
tain segments of the population, some of the shit we see happening in the hood everyday is going to start carrying over into WSZ (white safety zones), and then the war on terror will take on a whole different meaning. What are all the scared A-merry-cans going to do then? Build a wall around every major urban area? Hmmmm, I am sure the thought has crossed their minds.
tain segments of the population, some of the shit we see happening in the hood everyday is going to start carrying over into WSZ (white safety zones), and then the war on terror will take on a whole different meaning. What are all the scared A-merry-cans going to do then? Build a wall around every major urban area? Hmmmm, I am sure the thought has crossed their minds. So my heart goes out to all the victims and their families from the incidents that I mentioned. I hope that justice will be served and that their killers will be forced to face the consequences of their actions. But I also hope that as a society at large we will never be forced to face the consequence of ours.
49 comments:
I'm going to look like an asshole, but I just can't watch the coverage on these murder victims, because I will be thinking" why can't they do this coverage for the thousands of Black teens killed every year?" I'm not siding with the cretins that did this,but this news is just more of the "missing white girl" crap I tend to ignore and not care about, because, hey, they don't give a fuck about us why should we give a fuck about their kids?
I understand your sentiments .I have the same deep haunting embarrassment .I have the same wproblem within my business.I try to hire mainly young black people because I want to put income in the black home and it's only fair that I do that , RRRiiiiigggghhhhht...It hurts my heart and saddens my soul to tell you how often they steal lie and do things to let me down ...The most ignorant and stupid act concievable constantly and consistently Last week a new and very promising delivery driver I personnally stole a $5000.00 tv .He never deliverd the tv he simply sold it for $800.00 . I did not press charges or attempt totake any recourse because I did not want to add another statistic or another broken home ..This is a minor incident among the people like me , tHere have been numerous more and they all are black .All the other workers no problem maybe an hr late . I am stereotyping and i can't help myself .It's so frustrating and sad .
That's the one thing I really hate about the mainstream media. You never hear about big rewards or large search parties whenever minorities go missing. Hell, you're lucky if you even hear about it in your local newspaper.
Where I live (San Diego), we already have the proverbial moat around the urban parts of town. In the more affluent suburbs, it's called "Don't put that Trolley or bus line through my neighborhood. We don't want those people here."
Sad, but true.
Brother Field, Its good that your heart is not desensitized to pain in regards to another human being. Being a participant in RVN 69-70 I have seen the killing spirit of Amerikka. You express wonderment and suprise to the actions of my people, Ionly feel sorry for our stupidity. These killings, robberies and etc will be explained away as PTSD for the young veteran (which well be valid) and aa excuse of drugs and poverty for the other young lost brother. You will soon dissect your feelings for your race also, it may allay soon of the sorrows of not being able to make our race whole- which we have never been. Beinf in the legal field I know you see more misery and tragedy on a daily basis that the average person care not to see. Only when events like these happens do we pause and hope -its not one of us? Stay strong Brother.. you are doing your part to make this a better world or if not a better informed. StillaPanther2
ESPN actually did a special on the last young lady because, as it turns out, she was the student body president of UNC, and the promos were running all week. It was set in the backdrop of the Duke-UNC game, so you know it was getting national media. I'm tired of the murder and killing too, but if you have people who have no self-worth, then what's another person's life? Right.
I agree with the first poster that if the murder victims were black college students, there wouldn’t be any outrage. However, as an African American female (that just recently graduated from college), I feel outraged whenever I hear about a man killing a woman. I don’t care what color the victims were. My blood just boils looking at the pictures of the sicko who murdered Eve. He is grinning, grinning!!
I’m sorry, but you did something wrong as a parent if you raised a child that doesn’t value human life. Having fought in the Iraq war is NO EXCUSE! My 10th grade history teacher was a Vietnam vet. Has he ever been arrested for killing someone because of his traumatic experiences at war?? NO! The excuses need to stop.
The only thing that gives me hope after hearing stories like these is the fact that all the black men I know are succeeding in society.
"but if you have people who have no self-worth, then what's another person's life? Right."
Right Jose, and that probably should be where we start to try and solve these problems.
Panther2, thanks for your perspective as usual my brother, and thanks for your encouraging words an knowledge.
robster, those WSZ's don't want anything coming through that would disrupt the peace, or upset their order of things.
anon.1:54AM, that's a deep story. I am glad you didn't press criminal charges on the guy. And lord knows that if you did he would have deserved it. WTF? N*****s and TV's I swear.
"I'm going to look like an asshole, but I just can't watch the coverage on these murder victims, because I will be thinking" why can't they do this coverage for the thousands of Black teens killed every year?"
elle, you are not looking like an asshole. I think most of us right minded people feel the same way:(
~
If we don't have information about our daughters, it is not white folke fault:
Our Kids Go Missing Too
http://whataboutourdaughters.blogspot.com/
I have not read all the comments, but we have both a serious spiritual problem and a NATIONAL PUBLIC MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS which won't change until there is national policy that identifies it as such.
Phil
Let me talk about the first incedent you bring up. the only way I found out about it was the afrosphere. The other two it was everywhere.Black life IS valued less than white lives. I live close to the Cleveland/Shaker Heights border. A white lawyer was severly beaten in Shaker. They caught the group of kids that did it. The media called them savages and animals. Last year at a special science school a,"young confused kid" (white) tried to go on a murder spree. On Fox one of the announcers describe it as a inner city school (it's a so-called genius school).They were dissapointed it was a white guy that did it. The announcer said he knew it wasn't a black guy(after they waited all day to find out) because the guy didn't reload and keep shooting . The kids are crazy because no one is trying to solve the problem. It not that black kids are going nuts, but their young white counterparts immitate the young thug behavior and do it in their neiborhoods too. You wish the canidates were addressing the issue.
There is something missing in the genetic coding of an individual who can shoot another human being at close-range in the face, and leave them in the dirt like roadkill but not before stealing their ATM card and then proceeding to empty out the victim's bank account of their money. I don't think anyone like this can be rehabilitated and reenter society.
where were the rewards when Stepha Henry went missing. Wasn't she a promising student? Latasha Norman was a student at Jackson State, prior to finding her body and her boyfriend's confession to the killing, her parents had to beg for national coverage. Yes, what happened to these white students are both sick and twisted, and I am saddened for the losses the families suffered, but is this not happening everyday in major cities with black victims?
I sit back everyday and wonder, what the hell happened to our people too. I also wonder what the hell we as a collective group that have it together are doing to make the difference?
We have to live in the solution, not the problem.
People like our host here, know what that solution is.
Look at the problem. Examine who what and where that problem is and the solution begins to crystalize.
My father-in-law (and one of my heros) went from a barefoot impoverished backwoods childhood to Harvard Med. School. . . believe me, that is no exageration. He always said: Education, is something they can NEVER take away from you.
Live in the solutiion, notthe problem.
(Something Sagacious Hillbilly always said)
Let us not hold our breath for the wingnut parade crying for the need of lynching to rid our streets of these creeps.
Mold
Right on, Phil!
I'm not offering this as an excuse for inexcuseable behavior, but I think untreated mental illness plays a part in this. It's at the root of a lot of the negatave behavior and criminality we see in our community. Who in their right mind could do these awful things? I'm not talking temporary insanity; I'm talking about years of emotional and physical abuse that produce an adult with little or no regard for his life or others.
Here are some interesting stats:
*Nearly half of all inmates in the U.S. are African-American; prison inmates are at a high risk of developing mental illness.
*Children in foster care and the child welfare system are more likely to develop mental illness; African American children comprise 45% of the public foster care population.
*Exposure to violence increases the risk of developing mental illness; more than 25% of African American children are exposed to violence that meets the criteria for post traumatic stress disorder.
*Experiencing homelessness increases the risk of experiencing mental illness; African Americans comprise 40% of the homeless population.
*Teen mothers are twice as likely as adult mothers to experience depression, and that depression afflicts almost twice as many Black teen mothers as white teen mothers.
Again, I'm not saying this is an excuse, but there is something pathological going on in our community and I strongly believe this has something to do with it.
I blogged last week about the need for therapy in our community, but the stigma attached to mental health services prevents folk from seeking counseling. White folk tend to seek therapy at early stages in life than black folk. This leads to better long term treatment outcomes for white folks. I had a friend who said he would rather "go crazy" than see a therapist. That type of foolish pride makes no sense to me, but it is probably come in our community.
All I can suggest is more knowledge about mental services should be flooded into our communities. This may break down some of myths of mental illness that exist with our folks. They need to understand a mental illness like Schizophrenia is thought to be mostly caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. That individual did not chose to be "crazy," they were just unlucky. Early recognition of individual who needs treatment may be able to prevent some of these horrible crimes. Lord willing.
Hi FN,
Hundreds of thousands of Black people in Darfur have been murdered and most African Americans remain silent.
Thousands of African Americans are murdered each year and Africans remain silent.
When a White person is harmed anywhere in the world, the whole White world community speaks out.
The Natalie Holloway story made news around the world; the little missing White girl in Spain was big news here in the U.S.
We have to value Black lives where ever they are. We cannot sit back and watch people that look like us be murdered and not speak out.
But I will say that the Black blogisphere is part of the needed change. We, Black bloggers, are creating value in Black lives by writing about Black lives that are lost.
The Black blogisphere is abuzz now whenever Black people are harmed. So we are making progress.
Truth,
The National Alliance on Mental Illness has a multi cultural outreach program geared toward Hispanic and AA communities. They have a faith-based initiative to try to get some churches to start mental health ministries. It's a start--
WWW.Nami.org
Field thanks for your honesty in your posting of these crimes. Until we value life and our life in particular no one else will care.
Too see that young man with that young lady credit card is sicken. We are showing that all those prisons or needed.
What happened to the 2 women last week was nothing short of madness. To their families, I wish them peace and JUSTICE.
Here is another story we did not hear about on a national level regarding another young black college student in January '08.
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=10246514
Why is this girl's life so unimportant to get national coverage???????
The media at large keeps these types of stories out of the limelight so that the world can continue to think damaged minds are generally from blacks. Every now and then you will hear about "misguided" white youths.
Not to take ANYTHING away from the young women last week. The situation makes me very angry!! But the coverage is absent when it is a black person.
Again, while we are underrepresented in newsrooms and TV producer sweing circles--you don't see BET or TVone with in depth coverage of our pain over young girls getting kidnapped or murdered. Ditto on Darfur. Dead white girls mean ratings in Peoria and the suburbs. Where BET to start this, would we watch? No, we'd we wanting to see the new BET show on Poker or the next Tyler Perry bullshit flick.
We have a terrible disease that goes hand in hand with the mental illness and sociopathy of thugs--denial. Which is why I would offer Norplant and a $500 check in community clinics and MANDATORY vascetomies to convicts (plus a year off their sentence). Then you'd see how many activists start to screaming!
I'll offer this to Mr. Morton. Maybe he'll make me head of the Public Health Service. Hell I'd bet even Barack would at least think about it...
Maybe it would help if the sellers of youth culture stopped glorifying violent black men and their bling mentality.
As to priviledging media coverage by race that is not the point with Eve. It's the fact that there are so few young people like her now who give their lives to others, everyone race excluded since she is known to have worked in Cuba and Africa, this was a remarkable person.
I can't tell if things are getting worse or are we more aware of these crimes?
I heard about the Memphis case and I was speechless. I can't put into words how I feel.
field: This is your best post that i've read.
I was on another blog saying that America has become increasingly de-sensitized to abhorrent behavior, and that, a group of young people have to die on a college campus by a crazy person before we become outraged. And a lot of them better be white. Then you blog about these three incidents, suggesting you haven't become de-sensitized and that something is deeply wrong with us who are not. Though the subject matter is sad, I deeply appreciate you saying it.
For this timely reminder, thanks, bro.
I repeat: Norplant and vascetomies.
No one wants to devote the thought to the combined law enforcement, courts/treatment, social services/education and culture change aspects, but our people shout to the rooftops when you mention literally stopping this mindset in the womb...
I feel no pain for a race that has rapped,murdered & enslaved people for hundreds of years.No such thing as an innocent white person.It's probally pretty liberating to kill some one whom looks like your oppressor.when skinheads kill us,were is the out cry?If your eyes tear up for these privoledged pink & pale ladies.you just remeber all that strange fruit hanging in those trees back in the day.most of you will die running from crackers.not this nigger here!fuck those girls
When I lived in the evilbig city, I could care less if some scummies whacked each other. Make your choice and then live, or not, with it. Basketball "heroes" and rap "artists" tended to get nailed because they were in the lifestyle. Too bad, so sad. There are plenty of law-abiding folk that left the streets after dark to avoid being killed and I felt kinship with them.
Look at the contrast between the whole life ahead college student and loser Mcloser Dummy. That's what sells the story.
Mold
Why are we surprised that whites might "build a wall" ? Dont most of the poor residents of these neighborhoods want out of the 'hood too? Why should we chide whites when we ourselves hate this enviornment?
I lived in east st louis and celebrate the day I moved. How can we fault whites for fearing our young men? We are in denial people.
How many of you had that feeling in your stomach when you heard of these brutal senseless killings...... you hoped.. but you knew who the suspect would be. Young and black..fatherless.. same thing as always.
If there are people expecting the worse from us, we never seem to disappoint them. Sad sad sad
Some of the comments on this blog are sickening. Some of you actually believe that our people have some sort of mental disorder? WTF. So Blacks have some sort of genetic mutation that makes us more susceptible to commiting crimes than other races is what I am getting from all of you people. I swear, I would believe that some of you people hated our race.
TLW
I just thought about this .Frantz Fanon said something about the colonized mind. We are mentally disturbed. On the back cover of Towards the African Revolution it said only violence can clean you from colonialism. Now this is a Psycologist saying this.Damn, before he died he was in CIA protection at Walter Reed hospital.The way he said to get to the colonized mind was through the music. When Public Enemy came out all they spoke of was "my 98", "my uzi weighs a ton", then he put knowledge into his music. Now I'm not trying to say subliminally put this into their music , I'm sying subliminally put this into everything they do . You do this for all races of kids. Make a thug someone who DON'T KILL PEOPLE.In other words flip the scrip on them.H.Rap Brown even said it violence is American as cherry pie(he meant apple).
So Blacks have some sort of genetic mutation that makes us more susceptible to commiting crimes than other races is what I am getting from all of you people. I swear, I would believe that some of you people hated our race.
No, not a genetic mutation.
A whole ethnic group of people whose history for the last five hundred years has been one of enslavement, murder, oppression, and just generally getting fucked over.
Remember, the biggest reason (after, of course, looking the wrong way at a white woman) black men have been lynched was because they were hard-working and successful. And that's just the last hundred years!
Its not genetic, not by any stretch; and I don't think anyone here in the Fields believes that.
But a mental problem? After what our people have been through, why the fuck wouldn't we have mental problems?
Side-bar comment: We seem also to be so thoroughly enamored with Jesus-- you can't turn on a television without some black entertainer "first givin' thangs to Gaaaawwwwd."
I suspect that in the same way people with mental/emotional difficulties will self-medicate with booze or powder, many of us self medicate with "JEEEEEEEEEzus."
(Don't be offended; Allah knows what an irreverent mufuggah I am and He loves me for it.)
Auburn University is a financial windfall for that part of Alabama. The recruitment of (weatlthy) kids from out of state is a big part of it.
Somehow, I don't think the ghettos of Birmingham and Mobile are recruiting people.
Some of you actually believe that our people have some sort of mental disorder? WTF.
So anonymous, let me get this straight.
Are you saying you don't think someone who shoots another human being in the face, and then robs them of their ATM card, and then empties out their bank account meets the definition of abhorrent, anti-social behavior?
WTF is right.
Christopher Chambers,
"...Tyler Perry bullshit flick"...
I thought I was the only one. Thank you very much!
Field,
I'm one of those anonymous readers who lurk almost everyday on your site and just took the time today to write to thank you.
Also wanted to point out that on your side bar, the story about the KKK supporting the O man. That is a copy of a photo which appeared in a British site called The Daily Squib, you can check it at http://dailysquib.co.uk/
It is just a joke with the Brits sense of humor, a little on the wacky side.
Keep up the good writing and keep your attitude, I do appreciate reading regularly.
makaii
in the very near future KKK-type Death Squads will begin shooting young Black Males in the street...
We will of course respond by marching and singing "Ole Negro Spirituals"...
and demanding that the "guvmint" save us...
the FBI crime statistics related to Black on White Crimes are Fucking Embarassing...
we look like damn fools...
like a Goddamn Tarzan movie...
B'wana...save us B'wana...
B'wana...save us from the Klan...
B'wana...save us from Ourselves...
As if we don't have enough ignorant Negroes that we have to refrain from apologizing for their dumb asses, these three products of egg recepticles and sperm donors are making it hard for everyone else.
I'm sick of seeing shades of Willie Horton. I know I'm a Christian, but these fools make me want to campaign to throw the doggone switch to stick that needle in their arms.
They should be sent to the gas chambers they used to have on Alcatraz. Dang...
What's up Field?
You nailed this one my brotha. So much too say so little space to deliver it in. First things first these Negroes who committed these crimes are some sick bastards. A as someone who chronicles history and the history of racism I can attest there has some been some ghastly shit done to black folks world wide not just here in the U.S. Yet, no thinking and sane person can justify acts of violence against innocent people who were trying to make something meaningful out of their existence in life. The same goes for Stepha Henry or the young lady at Jackson State. The double standard in the news coverage is staggering but not surprising. What is it gonna take for these domestic terroists (I do mean these thugs) 'Ray Ray an nem' to stop fucking up their lives and ending other folks lives. They are some mofo domestic terrorists who will call you a sellout and a Uncle Tom for trying to get somewhere in this existence we have here on earth. They will tell you ain't like them or have not lived their life. Or they blame the white man, but that shit ain't gonna fly when you out robbin and killin folks fools. Hell if I had given into racism and my circumstances I would have perished along time ago. Yet, becasue I know who I am as a man, black man, and a human being I REFUSE to give racism power to steal my dreams while at the same time stay ready wherever and whenever to defend me and mines, and stand up for my race. Whatever these mofos refuse to do right. I once had a teacher, and I ain't talking about no damn schoolteacher, professor but old man who knew history as a layman tell me "I love my race, but hate my people" I asked what do you mean by that? His response keep living young man and watch your people and you will understand. Hey Field I now understand everyday of my life as I hate racism, institutional racism and black ignorance and stupidity.
Yo Field, you alluded to this and I have both a question and I think an answer.
Why is our community in this state of upheaval and progress at the same time?
We live in a time when to critique the black community means you air dirty laundry. So we remain quiet. To critique the community as Cosby did, while offering no solutions is wrong headed, yet he got part of it right. Which was the critique. The problem is how we handle public discussion in the black community and the larger mainstream. When you critique the black community, Republicans and right wringers take the critique and have a field day, so know one wants to cosign with some damn racists. What I am really saying is there is no public space for discourse that stands outside conservative or defending the actions of fools. Plurality of viewpoints in our community cannot be expressed without attachments to labels liberal, conservative, blaming the victim, victimology or any other title. There is no room for people like you Field Negro and most of the commentators on your blog. That is why your blog remains vital to the marketplace of ideas.
Peace
"in the very near future KKK-type Death Squads will begin shooting young Black Males in the street..."
Some folks will tell you that those days are already here.
"Auburn University is a financial windfall for that part of Alabama. The recruitment of (weatlthy) kids from out of state is a big part of it.
Somehow, I don't think the ghettos of Birmingham and Mobile are recruiting people."
Ok anon.6:02PM, because these people don't mean money for the state their lives are worth less?
"Side-bar comment: We seem also to be so thoroughly enamored with Jesus-- you can't turn on a television without some black entertainer "first givin' thangs to Gaaaawwwwd."
I suspect that in the same way people with mental/emotional difficulties will self-medicate with booze or powder, many of us self medicate with "JEEEEEEEEEzus."
Amend brother Renko Amen :)
thinkabout it, thanks for the kind words fam. And yes, folks will always be free to come to the fields and drop knowledge. And if people have a problem with it [the fields]they will go to one of the other blogs where they are more comfortable. Isn't A-mery-ca great?
"I love my race, but hate my people" I love the explanation for that quote. That man had some knowledge.
"... Plurality of viewpoints in our community cannot be expressed without attachments to labels liberal, conservative, blaming the victim, victimology or any other title..."
Yes but keep giving your viewpoints, and I will keep giving mine. F**k labels!
Look, the motherfuckers ain't killing people with chainsaws . .................
If we to stupid to stop the flow of guns to motherfuckers who should not have them then - then shame on us . .............................
And gated communities won't save our asses either . Do you all know how close we game to some nutjob lighting up this year's Superbowl ?
It would have looked like Iraq had his plan gone off . What stopped it ? He changed his mind -the nut decided not to mow down fans outside the stadium -as planned .
The meadia won't even cover gun deaths as a national issue anymore.
If you want to know how bad this country on gun deaths - set up a google alert to track gun deaths and shooting weekly - its esay to do - and you will be amazed how many people get shot in this country every day - it is fucking unbelievable !
They haven't ever cared about us.. and the atrocities that they committed against us is in full effect.
The breaking up of our cultures and language so that we have no connection with one another. Everytime we try to come up with something that will bring us together (Ebonics and Kwanzaa) we're ridiculed for not wanting to be apart of The good ole US of A.
I agree with Phil in that this country is mentally fuk'd up. Look everywhere you can see it...
it will be a hard road won when and if we as a people can come together and solve these problems... and I also agree with Mes Deus Cents that the Afrospear is a very very good start in something we as a people can share within our community.
Since these degenerates will kill white women knowing damn well that the penalties are going to be harsher due to racial bias in the criminal justice system, they've probably already killed several black people.
FN we live in a world of fatheless punks. They should allow child abuse. Someone didn't get they azzwhomped when they were young. The problem with these kids, they have no accountability. They don't realize the effects of their dumbazz crimes. They should bring the belt back in the class room, grocery store, and church. You act up, BAM! Right cross the head with the bible. Now when they grow up in the back of they mind, man I better not do this. I might get knock out by Sista Patterson, Thankya Jeeezus, himojuoimojojlemreorellmhao(speaking in toungue).
Firstly, sympathies to all the families and friends affected by these tragic events. My opinion as a non-American;I think American news media is crap. There is nothing but absolute rubbish going round the waves and this is fueled by propaganda and ignorance. The news about the killing of white people makes people watch their rubbish, thats the bottom line. If it were the other way round the news would cover that.
Sadly news media doesn't report the truth but only reports what people want to see and create empty headlines.I'm pretty certain that people will disagree with my comments; but just compare American media to BBC World or CNN International(not CNN America)
We need to find a way to blame George Bush and Ronald Regan for this. Dont blame the people who murder or the people who covered it. Lets concentrate on the real problem. George Bush pulled the trigger.
Yeah. Thats It.
Field, if I hadn't known you were in Philly, I'd have thought you were my favorite columnist, Barry Saunders. From his essay about the Chapel Hill case, "Don't Let the Evil Divide Us":
The people suspected in her death are black, but they represent all black people about as much as Timothy McVeigh or those Columbine killers represent all white people -- which is to say not at all.
Evil is not race-specific. . .
. . .If they represent anything, they represent our failure as a society, but mostly as a black society, to adequately address the problem of young black dudes who've seemingly bought into the predatory gangsta lifestyle romanticized in some rap music and videos.
Don't look at me like that. It's no secret that a disproportionately high percentage of crimes is committed by young black males. That's something we all have an obligation to address because, guess what, they sometimes venture forth from their own blighted neighborhoods into idealized slices of heaven such as Chapel Hill. . .
. . .Eve Carson won't get to fulfill the promise her past only hinted at, but her legacy would be tarnished if ultimate blame for her death were attributed to anyone but the misanthrope who actually pulled the trigger.
I hate to say it, but most murder victims aren't going to be on the news because the vast majority are expendable, marginal, themselves criminal, and flirting with danger, i.e., drug addicts, prostitutes, rival drug dealers, etc. The reason robbery-homicide and serial killers are often scary to people of both races is that they're so unpredictable and random. If either of these pretty white girls had been killed by her husband, I doubt it would be in the papers either (unless there was a weird angle, like the preagnant and missing Laci Peterson). That said, it's too bad that blacks who kill little black girls and black kids going to school and decent people living in black neighborhoods are not the subject of more rage. But there's a reason: black leaders would rather chase phantoms like the nooses of Jena or the unusual white murderers in Jasper than the daily self-inflicted killing of black on black.
Also, remember for all those murder stats, blacks make up 12% of the population. For them to do so many homicides, it's very disproportionate. It's something like 7X the white homicide rate. Not good for blacks or whites who are victimized, but the excuse-making and phantom racism excuses are totally counter-productive. How about some people gettin' mad at all this bullshit rap music glamorizing it.
Post a Comment