http://www.hendersondispatch.com/articles/...tters/let01.txt
Self-inflicted wounds black community's biggest threat
To the editor:
“Black on black crime is the No. 1 threat to the black community. Black on black crime is racist!” There I said it. The use of the words racism and racist appears to be the only way to light a fire under our civil rights organizations and community activists to move them into action.
We all saw how quickly they mobilized their forces in response to allegations by a black woman (of questionable credibility) of a rape by white lacrosse players who attended Duke University. I always wondered if the response and subsequent “demands for justice” would have been the same if the rape allegations were against Black men from, let's say, North Carolina Central University? Why? Because, those civil rights organizations habitually don't respond to situations involving black-on-black crime. We saw their lack of response to the murder of a retired school teacher by a black male in Raleigh. He successfully avoided his rightful death sentence for life in prison. What about our concern for the rights of his victim? She wasn't born into this world to die in such a horrific way.
Why are black victims more valuable when attacked by whites? Are black victims attacked by other blacks less traumatized? Are they “less dead” when murdered by other blacks? Yes, those are ridiculous questions, but not as ridiculous as the perceived lack of self-respect when our community leaders fail to pursue and hold those people accountable inside our communities who are preying upon us. According to research, blacks are more than seven times more likely to be assaulted by other blacks.
So, our primary threats are no longer white men/women dressed in white hoods or unprofessional law enforcement officers. That primary threat now looks a lot like me (us) and is at times wearing another “hoodie.”
I attended Tuesday's NAACP meeting, and I didn't hear anything about black-on-black crime and its impacts on our community's quality of life. Maybe Rev. Dr. Barber, president, NC-NAACP, will address this topic during the February dinner ... but I doubt it.
Let me re-emphasize my point: back-on-black crime is a lack of self-respect. Why should others respect us when we don't respect ourselves?
“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
Elwood K. Johnson,
Henderson
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/st...2005669,00.html
snip
'It's deeply embedded in our culture,' added Lucy Dalglish from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. 'When the state takes someone into custody, the press must be able to ask questions.' When I said it wasn't deeply embedded in our culture and asked what practical benefits removing reporting restrictions brought, she cited the sensational Duke University case. You might remember that a district attorney accused three rich and white members of the university's lacrosse team of the bestial rape of a black stripper they had hired to perform for them. The DA said that he had 'no doubt' that the charge was true. If DNA evidence didn't confirm that the suspects were guilty, that didn't matter. They may have used condoms, he speculated, because 'probably an exotic dancer would not be your first choice for unprotected sex'.
The grubby god who watches over journalists couldn't have come up with a better story for the American hacks. It hit all the tensions in American society about class, race, a pornographic culture and violence and, best of all, a crusading DA was going to put them right. Except that the accused and their families stopped him by doing what they could never do in Britain. They went to the media and showed that the DA's case was tendentious and sloppy. It now looks like the one punishment that will result is the swift execution of his career.
snip
He ain't speakin "truth to power"; he's written the plain truth. God Bless him!
Why are black victims more valuable when attacked by whites? Are black victims attacked by other blacks less traumatized? Are they “less dead” when murdered by other blacks? Yes, those are ridiculous questions, but not as ridiculous as the perceived lack of self-respect when our community leaders fail to pursue and hold those people accountable inside our communities who are preying upon us. According to research, blacks are more than seven times more likely to be assaulted by other blacks