Unfortunately, there are many whites in rural, Midwestern America whose only exposure to blacks are depictions on television (which even in the black produced shows aimed at a black audience) depict blacks as either criminals or buffoons. The exceptions were few and far between The old Cosby Show (the new one depicts the title character as clownish, albeit a good and decent man) and even Star Trek (Deep Space 9) showed strong, intelligent, decent black men and women. For the most part, you get "The Parkers" and "Martin". Not exactly accurate depictions of black Americans. The other exposure is video footage of riots. These thugs (and that is what they are) do not reflect most blacks, yet, that is the image that many whites retain. The whole "gangsta" rap thing makes it worse. Listen to the songs...many are about violence. They are about rape, murder, the videos glorify the "gangsta" culture. Of course whites who have no real contacts with blacks are going to come away with the mistaken impression that blacks, as a whole, are like that. Especially when it is the popular culture produced by blacks themselves that reinforces that opinion!
When I was a young child, my neighborhood school closed. I was bused to a school in a predominately black neighborhood. The racial mix was close to equal, with whites being a slight minority, and for the first time, I was exposed to blacks on a large scale. I was scared at first, because I had seen depictions of blacks as violent. I saw the news footage of the Black Panthers as it was happening. But you know what? I was wrong. I learned that, yes, there were some thugs among blacks, just as there are among whites, but most were exactly like me. I found growing up that most blacks I came in contact with were good decent people. Most that I have contact with as an adult are good, decent, hardworking men and women with the same dreams, the same hopes and the same fears that I have. Although there are times when I fail, I try to not make judgments based on how someone looks. I try to raise my daughter to see past what's on the outside. I don't make an issue of it with her. She has been around blacks and other ethnicities since she was three and doesn't see any difference...to her the different skin is no more than the different color of eyes or hair; it doesn't matter and it shouldn't.
This article, I fear, is just as guilty of depicting a false image of blacks as the old TV cop shows of the 70s and the gangsta crap of today (crap was a typo, but it works for me!) The "victimhood" in the black community sees the flag as racist or oppressive; most blacks don't; never did, never will. Of those 6,000 killed in the attacks, many were black. The blacks of America aren't angry that blacks died; they are angry that AMERICANS died. They are angry that America was attacked. Black, white, brown, yellow, it doesn't matter. The events of September 11 awoke a patriotism that had fallen silent in many Americans. There are many whites that never hung a flag on their house prior to September 11. Many of those, just like their black brothers, are waving the flag today; they do it because they love America. They do it because they love the freedom and opportunities offered by America. They just never realized how much until someone tried to take it away.
I won't pretend that every black person is a flag-waving, hard-working, moral citizen but nor are we all drug-addled, semi-literate, lawbreaking cretins.