Undercover in White America: Why Black Rage is Conscious, Justified, and Long Overdue

The logic of Black rebellion is lost on much of the privileged white population and the corporate media, which perceive Black rage as irrational. However, the Black response to white supremacy “is not ‘senseless’ or ‘visceral’; it is the product of a life full of experiences that have tried to beat them down to their knees.”

“I wanted revenge on those racist bullies who had joyfully traumatized a pair of 9-year-old boys walking to the store.”

On a crisp, Fall evening in 1992, while I was a freshman at a SUNY (State University of New York) school, the campus erupted after a white, male student assaulted a black, female student. Being an associate of the African American Student Union Body Association (AASUBA) at the time, I attended an emergency meeting that was called in order to discuss the incident and consider potential responses. The meeting ensued, but there was little discussion. Instead, the room was a hotbed of rage. As one of only two white students among over fifty members and associates, some of the fury was directed at me, literally. I understood why; because I felt the rage myself.

As an 18-year-old overflowing with testosterone-ridden angst, I wanted to find the perpetrator and exact justice on him and anyone else who stood by him. I didn't care to hear an explanation. I had already spent years "undercover in white America," where I had been privy to the ignorant hatefulness and pervasive racism that filled casual interactions in living rooms and at dinner tables. It was ugly. It was nauseating. I had seen enough in my life – as well as during my few months on campus – to convince me this assault had to be racially motivated. I didn't need questions asked and answered. Deep down, I already knew. And the fact that this man had targeted a woman only made it that more infuriating.

Had an outsider witnessed what took place in that small conference room, as the few suggestions for a calm and calculated response were quickly drowned out by thundering and profanity-laced calls for violence, they would have likely disregarded or minimized it as "senseless" and "visceral" rage. As I stood there, consumed by the moment, feeling the blood boiling in my veins as my entire body was shaking, my own reaction seemed visceral. I could have nearly fooled myself. But I didn't; and it wasn't. Rather, it was the consummation of a series of life events that had left bubbles of emotional fury within me, all of which had been waiting to boil over. As I stood there with my fists clenched, memories flooded my brain.

I immediately recalled the time when my best friend and I were randomly targeted and bullied by a pack of strangers as we walked to the store. The pushing and shoving we experienced were bad enough; however, those physical acts were dwarfed by a slew of racial epithets that were thrown at my friend (who happened to be Black), each one making my gut wrench as I observed the callous and almost entertaining nature in which they were delivered as my friend's eyes swelled with tears. We were 9 years old. The bullies were much older. We were far outnumbered and much too scared to even consider retaliating. Instead, we both cried as the pack walked away in a celebratory zeal. I would come to realize much later on that this interaction probably was not as random as I had once thought.

“It was the consummation of a series of life events that had left bubbles of emotional fury within me, all of which had been waiting to boil over.”

I recalled the nights I had stayed up late, as an intensely curious 12-year-old, watching a PBS documentary called Eyes on the Prize. I remembered the trance I found myself in while watching Martin Luther King, Jr.'s powerful oratories. I recalled the delightful pride that coursed through my body as I watched Malcolm X put television personalities and interviewers in their place. But, mostly, I thought of the rage that consumed me while I watched rabid racists – both civilian and police – abuse, intimidate, and humiliate Black folks. This rage became internalized as I could not help but see the pack of bullies who had confronted me and my friend years earlier.

I recalled an incident that had occurred only a few months prior, as friends and I were pulled over in a parking lot by two police cars that had come to a screeching halt in front of us. As the three officers exited the vehicles nervously with weapons drawn, the five of us in the car simultaneously instructed one another to show our hands in a feverish instinct of self-preservation. We had done nothing wrong, but that didn't matter. The officers proceeded to order us from the car, inspect the car, and question us. Eventually, we were allowed to leave – with only an explanation that "someone had made a complaint." Two of the passengers in the car that night were Black. There is no question in my mind that had we all been white, the incident would have never taken place. Had we all been white, those guns would have never left their respective holsters. And had we all been Black, and this had occurred in St. Louis – or any metropolitan area in the U.S. for that matter – one or all of us may have been shot dead that night, with no explanation or recourse to follow.

I recalled stories my mother had just recently shared with me regarding the underlying racism she experienced at her workplace, much of which she suspected was directed at her son (me) and his best friend – the pair that often stopped in to visit her. Racist pictures being pinned up on display in the break room; the whispers of racist jokes being delivered as she walked by; the stares of ridicule and intimidation that she caught from time to time – all products of a reactionary and racist judgment of something as innocent as her son's friendship with another boy. This was in the late-1980s, not the 1960s.

On that Fall night in 1992, as news of this assault spread through campus, those recollections in me boiled over. I wanted revenge. I wanted revenge on those racist bullies who had joyfully traumatized a pair of 9-year-old boys walking to the store. I wanted revenge on those racist southerners who had brazenly spilled food on the heads of Black students sitting at the Greensboro Woolworth's lunch counter. I wanted revenge on the Chicago racist who hurled a rock at Dr. King, hitting him on the head. I wanted revenge on Bull Connor and his sadistic police forces that attacked courageous and non-violent protesters with dogs and high-powered water hoses. I wanted revenge on those cops who recklessly pulled their guns on a car full of teenagers that were doing no wrong. I wanted revenge on my mother's coworkers for subjecting her to their hateful ignorance. This was my chance to exact that revenge, in one fell swoop.

“I am allowed the privilege to hide in my white skin, protected from any real consequences.”

The white man who had chosen to assault a black woman on campus that night was the physical embodiment of this ugly history that filled me with rage. It was not "visceral." It was not "senseless." It was long overdue. Yet, it was merely the product of a series of observations and experiences made and lived by a white male growing up in a mostly-white, small town. Over the course of 18 years, these experiences had been few and far between, yet still forged a conscious anger in me. One can easily presume that these experiences which shaped my rage are hardly comparable to those lived by Black Americans on a daily basis, for years at a time, at an intense rate, and of which have a real impact on the course of a life. Despite the rage that fills me, I still have the option to choose to ignore it, or at the very least tuck it aside from time to time. I am allowed the privilege to hide in my white skin, protected from any real consequences. My experiences do not prevent me from getting a job or suitable apartment. They do not attract unfair treatment from police, judges, and juries. They do not restrict opportunities and resources. And they do not draw suspicious stares, the sound of car doors locking as I walk by, or the constant harassment of store employees.

I am still "undercover in White America." Citizens in Ferguson, Missouri are not. And their rage is not "senseless" or "visceral"; it is the product of a life full of experiences that have tried to beat them down to their knees; that have attempted to "keep them in their place"; that have yearned to make them feel inferior; that have fought to dehumanize them, their families, and their children. Like most Black Americans, their collective rage is conscious, justified, and long overdue.

Colin Jenkins is an interdisciplinary researcher and writer with a B.A. in Historical Studies and M.A. in Social Policy. He is founder, editor and Social Economics Department chair at the Hampton Institute, and has been published on Truthout, Common Dreams, Dissident Voice, Black Agenda Report, Popular Resistance, and in Z Magazine. His academic work includes concentrations in Community & Government, African American Studies, and Political Economy, with focuses on Marxian and Anarchist analyses. He is the author of A Fatal Agenda: The Social, Economic and Democratic Consequences of Neoliberalism; and has a second book, The Dusk of Democracy: America's Failed Experiment with Self-Determination, scheduled for publication in 2014.

Year of Stats	Race of Victims	Total	White Offenders	Black Offenders	Unknown & other
2012	White	3,128	2,614	431	83
	Black	2,648	193	2,412	43
2011	White	3,172	2,630	448	94
	Black	2,695	193	2,447	55
2010	White	3,327	2,777	447	103
	Black	2,720	218	2,459	43
2009	White	3,518	2,963	454	101
	Black	2,867	209	2,604	54
2008	White	3,643	3,036	504	103
	Black	3,024	230	2,722	72
2007	White	3,587	2,918	566	103
	Black	3,221	245	2,905	71
2006	White	3,709	3,026	573	110
	Black	3,303	208	3,034	61
2005	White	3,785	3,150	516	119
	Black	3,289	230	2,984	75
2004	White	3,727	3,123	522	85
	Black	3,067	228	2,784	55
1995	White	4,954	4,124	699	131
	Black	4,764	281	4,422	61

more on my reply #61 -- whoever typed that stuff needs to look at some facts.

I had already spent years "undercover in white America," where I had been privy to the ignorant hatefulness and pervasive racism that filled casual interactions in living rooms and at dinner tables. It was ugly. It was nauseating. I had seen enough in my life – as well as during my few months on campus – to convince me this assault had to be racially motivated . . .

Holder says: U.S. a 'nation of cowards' on race discussions

Cowards? Like afraid to continue releasing Department of Justice interracial crime data that the race-grievance industry would otherwise have to 'splain?

The Dept of Just Us beginning 2009 no longer releases the data contained in Table 42 (Crimes of violence) in DoJ National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) -- emphasis on survey; to wit, these are not police reports they are annual surveys of crime victims.

This was a survey of victims of crime from which data for the whole population are extrapolated. Table 42 showed interracial crime. If anyone can find Table 42 data for the Obama-Holder years please link to it. I already have the FBI tables of actual police reports showing arrests and homicides by race during the Obama years.

Table 42 (Crimes of violence) in DoJ National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) no more. A little too much racial honesty, I guess, when it came to violence, rape and sex crimes. Just to emphasize again.. the Criminal Victimization in the United States, [YYYY] Statistical Tables are not police records they are annual surveys of crime victims.

I believe that Hispanic gang bangers are considered white.

Table 42: "Percent distribution of single-offender victimizations, by type of crime, race of victim, and perceived race of offender" Criminal Victimization in the United States, [YYYY] Statistical Tables

Table 42: "Percent distribution of single-offender victimizations, by type of crime, race of victim, and perceived race of offender"

Year of Stats		Race of Victims	% White Offenders	% Black Offenders	% Not known & other
1995	Crimes of violence
	6,016,200	White	72.3 %	18.1 %	9.6 %
	1,035,740	Black	12.4	82.3	5.2 *
	Completed violence
	1,570,790	White	74.6	15.8	9.6
	399,170	Black	9.4	87.7	2.8 *
	Attempted/threatened violence
	4,445,410	White	71.4	18.9	9.6
	636,570	Black	14.3	78.9	6.8 *
Year of Stats		Race of Victims	% White Offenders	% Black Offenders	% Not known & other
1996	Crimes of violence
	5,758,340	White	71.0 %	17.6 %	11.4 %
	985,020	Black	12.2	78.3	9.6 *
	Completed violence
	1,490,970	White	71.8	17.6	10.6
	359,250	Black	10.1	82.3	7.7 *
	Attempted/threatened violence
	4,267,370	White	70.7	17.6	11.7
	625,770	Black	13.4	76.0	10.5 *
Year of Stats		Race of Victims	% White Offenders	% Black Offenders	% Not known & other
1997	Crimes of violence
	5,549,410	White	71.5 %	15.9 %	12.6 %
	1,000,780	Black	10.5	78.6	10.8 *
	Completed violence
	1,585,350	White	72.4	16.0	11.6
	329,800	Black	5.4 *	85.1	9.5 *
	Attempted/threatened violence
	3,964,070	White	71.2	15.9	13.0
	670,980	Black	13.0	75.5	11.5 *
Year of Stats		Race of Victims	% White Offenders	% Black Offenders	% Not known & other
1998	Crimes of violence
	5,295,480	White	74.8 %	14.0 %	11.2 %
	854,450	Black	16.1	76.1	7.8 *
	Completed violence
	1,546,430	White	76.9	11.2	11.9
	278,460	Black	10.4	78.2	11.4 *
	Attempted/threatened violence
	3,749,050	White	74.0	15.1	11.0
	575,990	Black	18.9	75.1	6.0 *
Year of Stats		Race of Victims	% White Offenders	% Black Offenders	% Not known & other
1999	Crimes of violence
	4,760,930	White	74.5 %	13.8 %	11.7 %
	867,150	Black	10.5	80.0	9.5
	Completed violence
	1,372,770	White	73.9	14.4	11.6
	292,790	Black	2.8 *	86.5	10.7 *
	Attempted/threatened violence
	3,388,160	White	74.8	13.5	11.7
	574,360	Black	14.4	76.8	8.9 *
Year of Stats		Race of Victims	% White Offenders	% Black Offenders	% Not known & other
2000	Crimes of violence
	4,120,110	White	73.1 %	14.7 %	12.2 %
	702,850	Black	12.6	81.9	5.5 *
	Completed violence
	1,263,820	White	71.6	14.3	14.1 *
	220,880	Black	6.3 *	92.2	1.5 *
	Attempted/threatened violence
	2,856,290	White	73.8	14.8	11.4
	481,970	Black	15.5	77.2	7.3 *
Year of Stats		Race of Victims	% White Offenders	% Black Offenders	% Not known & other
2001	Crimes of violence
	3,661,770	White	74.7 %	14.4 %	10.9 %
	660,720	Black	10.7	83.1	6.3
	Completed violence
	1,069,400	White	72.3	18.0	9.7
	214,810	Black	6.0 *	87.5	6.5
	Attempted/threatened violence
	2,592,370	White	75.7	12.9	11.4
	445,910	Black	13.0	80.9	6.1 *
Year of Stats		Race of Victims	% White Offenders	% Black Offenders	% Not known & other
2002	Crimes of violence
	3,427,980	White	72.6 %	13.6 %	13.7 %
	617,970	Black	16.2	74.5	9.3 *
	Completed violence
	1,056,610	White	71.8	15.4	12.9 %
	186,240	Black	8.6 *	84.6	6.7 *
	Attempted/threatened violence
	2,371,370	White	73.0	12.8	14.1 *
	431,730	Black	19.5	70.1	10.4 *
Year of Stats		Race of Victims	% White Offenders	% Black Offenders	% Not known & other
2003	Crimes of violence
	3,283,030	White	72.9 %	12.1 %	15.0 %
	556,140	Black	12.0	74.8	13.2
	Completed violence
	879,830	White	71.4	13.4	15.2
	190,170	Black	8.3 *	77.3	14.4 *
	Attempted/threatened violence
	2,403,210	White	73.5	11.6	14.9
	365,970	Black	14.0	73.5	12.6 *
Year of Stats		Race of Victims	% White Offenders	% Black Offenders	% Not known & other
2004	Crimes of violence
	3,382,920	White	52.7 %	9.6 %	37.7
	559,130	Black	10.8	73.6	15.6
	Completed violence
	1,052,650	White	57.9	8.8	33.2
	222,910	Black	7.3 *	78.8	14.0
	Attempted/threatened violence
	2,330,270	White	50.3	10.0	39.6
	336,230	Black	13.2	70.2	16.6 *
Year of Stats		Race of Victims	% White Offenders	% Black Offenders	% Not known & other
2005	Crimes of violence
	3,201,320	White	49.0 %	13.5 %	37.5 %
	507,210	Black	10.4	63.5	26.1 *
	Completed violence
	916,130	White	51.2	14.3	34.5
	192,040	Black	4.7 *	69.7	25.6 *
	Attempted/threatened violence
	2,285,190	White	48.1	13.2	38.8
	315,170	Black	13.9	59.7	26.4 *
Year of Stats		Race of Victims	% White Offenders	% Black Offenders	% Not known & other
2006	Crimes of violence
	3,699,360	White	69.3 %	13.0 %	17.7 %
	719,880	Black	11.5	74.8	13.7
	Completed violence
	1,057,920	White	65.2	19.2	15.6
	299,970	Black	9.5 *	80.1	10.4 *
	Attempted/threatened violence
	2,641,450	White	70.9	10.5	18.6
	419,920	Black	12.9	71.0	16.0 *
Year of Stats		Race of Victims	% White Offenders	% Black Offenders	% Not known & other
2007	Crimes of violence
	3,262,660	White	68.0 %	13.3 %	18.7 %
	562,470	Black	9.9	72.8	17.2 *
	Completed violence
	916,170	White	70.5	13.4	16.2
	171,460	Black	1.5 *	84.6	13.9 *
	Attempted/threatened violence
	2,346,480	White	67.1	13.2	19.6
	391,010	Black	13.7	67.7	18.7 *
Year of Stats		Race of Victims	% White Offenders	% Black Offenders	% Not known & other
2008	Crimes of violence
	2,788,600	White	67.4	15.4	17.1
	570,550	Black	15.9	64.7	19.5
	Completed violence
	706,540	White	67.8	19.4	12.9 *
	210,740	Black	14.5 *	66.5	19.0 *
	Attempted/threatened violence
	2,082,050	White	67.3	14.1	18.7
	359,800	Black	16.8	63.6	19.7 *

*0.0 Estimate is based on 10 or fewer sample cases.
Percentage may not equal 100% due to rounding.

1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Doesn't look that different but I'm thinking whites outnumber blacks at least 6-to-1 and there's that factor of the all important white Hispanic gang bangers.

RE: "Look up the rates at which white men rape black women vs the opposite. Hint: According to police reports in 2005, more than 37,000 white women were raped by black men whereas 0 black women were raped by white men."

Done. But..

not police reports. See below.

Holder says: U.S. a 'nation of cowards' on race discussions

Cowards? Like afraid to continue releasing Department of Justice interracial crime data that the Freedom Road Socialist Organization would otherwise have to 'splain?

This was a survey of victims of crime from which data for the whole population are extrapolated. Table 42 showed interracial crime. If anyone can find Table 42 data for the Obama-Holder years please link to it. I already have the FBI tables of actual police reports showing arrests and homicides by race during the Obama years.

A little too much racial honesty, I guess, when it came to rape and sex crimes. Just to emphasize again.. the Criminal Victimization in the United States, [YYYY] Statistical Tables are not police records they are annual surveys of crime victims.

And the pattern of white on black "Rape/Sexual assault" seems odd perhaps one reason is the victim identified the offender as Hispanic not knowing correct description was white Hispanic.

Couldn't Holder's DoJ, et al explain the odd pattern instead of suppressing the data? If that is what they did. Seems like it to me. Maybe the pattern is real.

Table 42: "Percent distribution of single-offender victimizations, by type of crime, race of victim, and perceived race of offender"
"Rape/Sexual assault"

Year of Stats	Total Rape/ Sexual assault	Race of Victims	% White Offenders	% Black Offenders	% Not known & other
1995	255,260	White	78.7	15.3
	38,330	Black	7.9 *	92.1
1996	216,710	White	82.2	8.8 *
	44,890	Black	13.5 *	80.2	6.3 *
1997	234,800	White	74.8	8.0 *
	43,890	Black	0.0 *	93.7	6.3 *
1998	225,330	White	77.2	9.9 *
	47,430	Black	7.2 *	68.9	23.9 *
1999	274,020	White	79.4	7.3 *
	67,890	Black	0.0 *	79.3	20.7 *
2000	199,360	White	81.5	7.0
	33,780	Black	7.0	79.7	13.3
2001	183,160	White	71.3	17.1
	29,980	Black	13.4	65.5	21.1
2002	134,140	White	76.0	13.1
	59,490	Black	14.2	85.8
2003	131,030	White	57.9	15.5
	24,010	Black	0.0 *	87.9	12.1
2004	139,900	White	65.1	8.3
	39,300	Black	0.0 *	89.8	10.2
2005	111,590	White	44.5	33.6
	36,620	Black	0.0 *	100.0
2006	194,270	White	50.6	16.7
	17,920	Black	0.0 *	43.0	57.0
2007	185,430	White	75.5	7.6
	12,780	Black	0.0 *	100.0
2008	117,640	White	74.9	16.4
	46,580	Black	0.0 *	74.8	25.2

*0.0 Estimate is based on 10 or fewer sample cases
May not sum to 100.0 % due to rounding

My emphasis

1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Criminal Victimization in the United States, [YYYY] Statistical Tables

"Black people, at least Americans, have a sixth sense when it comes to racism. Even when it’s not overt. We can detect it, even when they’re smiling and shaking your hand. A psychic vibration of arrogance, hostility and perceived superiority. It radiates off them like a stench. But you don’t smell it with your nose, you smell it with your soul. Not all white people are like that, of course. But there is that element. The backstabbers. The Snakes.

Every black person reading this knows exactly what I’m talking about. And most white people are totally clueless. They just don’t get it."

If "getting it" means I'm expected to tiptoe around you because you have a chip on your shoulder the size of a redwood tree, then no, I'll never "get it." Nor do I care.

It sounds like you need to get your mind off looking for racism and live your life; when you're always looking around the corner expecting to find something, there it will be.

You "sixth sense" about racism, detecting it when it isn't overt, well, there's a word for that. It's called "imagination." It isn't there.

The most overt display of racism I've seen lately was from a black woman. Her kid slammed his car door into mine, and when I brought it to her attention, she replied, "You just a white bitch."

There's your "stench". I smell it coming from you, as well. I hope one day you can manage to overcome your racism.

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