Rape as unjustified justification for racist violence

National Post ^ | June 19, 2015 | Jamelle Bouie

[rickmichaels]

Amid his Wednesday night rampage at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina—killing nine people—21-year-old Dylann Storm Roof reportedly told churchgoers, “You rape our women, and you're taking over our country, and you have to go.”

Of the assertions in that statement, it’s the first that has a long, deadly history. In the late 19th century, rape was a frequent justification for racist violence. “To palliate this record … and excuse some of the most heinous crimes that ever stained the history of a country,” wrote journalist Ida B. Wells-Barnett on lynchings in her pamphlet Southern Horrors, “the South is shielding itself behind the plausible screen of defending the honor of its women.” Indeed, Wells points to a host of Southern newspapers that defended “lynch’s law” with reference to an alleged epidemic of black-on-white rape. In one editorial, published by theMemphis Daily Commercial, editors declared, “The commission of this crime grows more frequent every year,” and, “There is no longer a restraint upon the brute passion of the Negro.”

As Wells-Barnett would show, however, there was no substance to the charge. “The world knows that the crime of rape was unknown during four years of civil war, when the white women of the South were at the mercy of the race which is all at once charged with being a bestial one,” she writes. In reality, these accusations of rape were often covers for consensual—and taboo—relationships between black men and white women. “Whites could not countenance the idea of a white woman desiring sex with a Negro, thus any physical relationship between a white woman and a black man had, by definition, to be an unwanted assault,” writes historian Philip Dray, describing Wells-Barnett’s argument in his book At the Hands of Persons Unknown: The Lynching of Black America.

[4rcane]

If its black on white crime or muslim on west the Left will seriously examine their grievance as legitimate reason for violence. They are considered “brave and courageous”

[Soul of the South]

There is no justification for racist violence. There is also no justification for liberals ignoring the fact that black on white violence is much more common in the United States than white on black violence. Until the national dialogue on race acknowledges black racism exists and contributes to the problem, there will be no solution.

[Paulie]

I’ve long heard that the original black panthers themselves used rape accusations in the late 60’s- early 70’s as an excuse for racial violence.

But that was okay, I guess.

[Sherman Logan]

It is probable that many, even most, of the rape accusations in the Jim Crow South were untrue. However, it is illogical to assume, as the article does, that every single one was false.

The article also glides carefully past the statistics from today showing that black rape of white women is far, far more common than white men raping black women, a crime that almost doesn’t exist.

[Islander7]

Jamelle Bouie is a Knobler Fellow at The Nation Institute and a Writing Fellow for The American Prospect magazine in Washington D.C. His speciality is US politics—with a focus on parties, elections and campaign finance—and his work has appeared at The Washington Independent, CNN.com, and Ta-Nehisi Coates' blog at the Atlantic, in addition to regular blogging and analysis at The Prospect. He is a recent graduate of the University of Virginia, and lives in Washington D.C, though his heart remains in Charlottesville, VA.

[Islander7]

Jamelle Bouie is a Knobler Fellow at The Nation Institute and a Writing Fellow for The American Prospect magazine in Washington D.C. His speciality is US politics—with a focus on parties, elections and campaign finance—and his work has appeared at The Washington Independent, CNN.com, and Ta-Nehisi Coates' blog at the Atlantic, in addition to regular blogging and analysis at The Prospect. He is a recent graduate of the University of Virginia, and lives in Washington D.C, though his heart remains in Charlottesville, VA.

[ought-six]

Maybe he should tell that to Channon Christian’s family.

[Ancient Man]

See: South Africa.

[EEGator]

I thought Gary Coleman died...

[Popman]

The article also glides carefully past the statistics from today showing that black rape of white women is far, far more common than white men raping black women, a crime that almost doesn’t exist.

From the article: The truth, however, is that his fear—of black power and of black sexuality—belongs to America as much as it does the South.

This "author" must wake up every morning and think it's the 1930's...

The reality is in the 21 st century black males do rape white women, by the 10's of thousands. The FBI stats will back that number up..

I'm sure a certain percentage of the allegations are to cover up a pregnancy, an adultery or fornication, but the vast majority are simply a crime of rape...

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

The article made a serious tactical mistake by not considering the obvious extrapolation:

“Is racist violence justification for racist violence?”

It isn’t racism that causes black Americans to *butcher* other black Americans at a ridiculous rate. As someone recently observed, was black America a country, it would have a higher rate of violence per capita than any other country in the world.

And when black Americans carry out their violence against *any* other ethnic group, they invariably scream hate-filled racist epithets at them while doing so. Often this violence is mob-based, their victims being outnumbered, and the effort is far more to injure or even kill than robbery or other motive. Pure, unbridled racial hate from black Americans against other Americans.

Right now, there is a grand experiment in progress. Some black Americans have railed at and attacked the police trying to protect them from the vicious and violent in their own communities. After getting a lot of grief from the people they are protecting, the police are giving up, and allowing the violent blacks to carry out violence in their own communities unchecked.

But this needs extrapolation as well. Some in the political left no longer want the police or courts to inhibit, arrest, or imprison the criminally violent offenders. But as with most things, they have not considered the consequences of doing so.

On the first day of the Rodney King riot, blacks invaded the Korean area and robbed and looted stores, while assaulting people. By the second day, had any rioter so much set foot in the Korean area, they would have been shot on sight.

Now imagine that extrapolated to the rest of the country. People of any other ethnic group see a group of young black men hanging out in their neighborhood, and an armed group of people will approach them and tell them to leave and not return.

Is this racism? Certainly. However, it also exhibits courtesy. If you wish to leave in peace, you may do so. If you refuse, we will kill you on the spot.

And yes, the people with guns will be white, for the most part. But they will also be Hispanic and Asian, two groups who admit to having zero “racial guilt” about black people.

[Sherman Logan]

To be utterly fair, the “tens of thousands” number is for the infamous category of “rape or sexual assault,” which was arrived at intentionally to make the extent of sexual violence seem more than it is.

It is as if we discussed the hundreds of thousands of cases per year of “murder and aggravated assault.”

[samtheman]

Rape is a justification for violent retribution. But it should be retribution against the rapist, not against his racial group. None of the victims of the church shooting were rapists. The article engages in and encourages race-based thinking, which is one of he cornerstones of liberal thought.

[Chainmail]

Ping for later.

[a fool in paradise]

It’s ridiculous to look for any justifications for his actions within his manifesto.

His actions were indefensible.

The left will use his arguments to condemn others.

And as far as gun control, from what I heard on radio last night, he was a felon and couldn’t buy a gun. Allegedly his father bought him the gun (knowing he couldn’t) which is also a felony (and wouldn’t be stopped by background checks).

[Sherman Logan]

As someone recently observed, was black America a country, it would have a higher rate of violence per capita than any other country in the world.

Not sure this is true. My rough calculations are based on: approximately 7000 murders by black people in 2014, population of 37M.

By my calculation that comes out to a rate of about 19 per 100,000.

Meanwhile, Honduras has a murder rate of 90 per 100,000.

There are 31 countries with a rate above 19, so "black America" would be #32.

Interestingly, the US Virgin Islands are #3, at 52.6.

However, it's entirely possible I bleeped up the calculation. If so, corrections appreciated.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate

[Kozak]

According to the FBI 2013 crime statistics there were 14000 Black on White Rapes. White on Black were statistically zero.

Excuse for mass murder? No.
But real problem. Yes.

[Kozak]

"Though blacks are outnumbered 5-to-1 in the population by whites, they commit eight times as many crimes against whites as the reverse. By those 2007 numbers, a black male was 40 times as likely to assault a white person as the reverse."

http://www.amren.com/news/2013/07/black-americas-real-problem-isnt-white-racism/

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

That is just homicides. I said black violence. Annual violence:

MURDER
White:4,382 = 1.77 per 100k.
Black:4,498 = 11.83 per 100k.

RAPE
White:10,990 = 4.45 per 100k.
Black:5,428 = 1,428 per 100k.

ROBBERY
White:41,962 = 17 per 100k.
Black:56,948 = 150 per 100k.

AGG. ASSUALT
White:208,081 = 84 per 100k.
Black:112,325 = 295 per 100k.

OVERALL VIOLENT CRIME
White:265,754 = 107 per 100k.
Black:179,636 =473 per 100k.