“We’re literally hunted every day.”
And how many black kids are murdered by other black kids every day? No problemo I guess
I am not going to deal with the details of THIS specific case people are talking about today (i.e., the shooting ofthe shooting of Ahmaud Arberry) because I do not YET know enough about it, pending a trial. But let’s talk about what Lebron James believes — that widespread racism persists in the USA against blacks.
I believe that racism exists on all sides, and I reject the idea that you can only be racist when you are part of the ruling majority. Racism is a condition of the heart, and everyone can fall prey to it.
Having said that, I do believe that, while the term “systemic racism” may not fully apply to America today, the term “system unfairness” certainly does apply.
Let’s get real...
When people may ask ‘what did the Black guy do’? As opposed to ‘why was the black man’s life taken’...it may be because of the high criminality statistics of Blacks. Especially Black males. The statistics are horrible.
Black on White Crime far exceeds White on Black crime in almost every area of criminal prosecution such as armed robbery, rape, murder. The state of Maryland has 75% Black incarceration! 1 in 4 Death row inmates are Black. And than you incredulously wonder why people are asking ‘What did the Black guy do’??”
A Pew Research poll released in April 2019 pointed out that, despite a decrease in the number of blacks imprisoned in America, “At the end of 2017, federal and state prisons in the United States held about 475,900 inmates who were black and 436,500 who were white – a difference of 39,400.”
Yet there are roughly 5 white Americans for every black American, meaning that, all things being equal, there would be 436,500 whites in prison and 87,300 blacks. Why the extreme discrepancy, one that was even worse 10 years ago?
We could go down the line, from crime rates to median incomes of families and more, and the discrepancy between white Americans and black Americans remains the same. (To repeat: I write this without feeling guilt. I’m simply getting to an important point.)
So, when it comes to median incomes, in 2018, white American families averaged $70,642; black American families averaged $41,361. (Interestingly, Asian American families averaged over $80,000 per year.) How then do we explain this disparity?
For me, it boils down to one question: Do you believe that blacks are inherently inferior to whites (or Asians or others)? Do you believe they are, by nature, not as smart, or more prone to violence, or lazier, or more promiscuous?
If your answer is no (and I surely hope it is no; otherwise, you are a racist), then there’s only one other answer: something is wrong with our system (or, put another way, we have still not fully recovered from our racist past).
This doesn’t mean that the vast majority of whites are trying to keep blacks down. Or are inherently racist. Or want to maintain “white supremacy.” (I’m sure some do; I’m contending the vast majority don’t.)
I’m simply saying that when someone like Lebron James speak of systemic racism (or, at the least, systemic injustice), they’re not making it up. Their life experience informs them.
Unfortunately, the race baiters and the extremists in groups like Black Lives Matter often obscure our vision, as do the social theorists pushing their theories of intersectionality. It’s easy to react against their positions, many of which are equally destructive.
And I understand the argument that, in some cases, there is a reason that policemen (of all colors and ethnicities) are quick to profile a young black male as a potential crime suspect.
The question is why is that young black male more likely to be a criminal? Why was his family life so broken? Why did he have so many odds to overcome growing up in the inner city?
Let’s honestly try to answer that question and try to work hard to solve that problem first.