[demosthenes the elder]

I'm sorry if I am misunderstanding the meat of this subdebate, but I find it surprising that anyone would exclusively associate the phrase "word is bond" with any specific subculture, black, white, or other.
"My word is my bond" is an ethos I was raised to honor and emulate. I am white.
If I am misunderstanding something, please explain.

[SauronOfMordor]

I'm sorry if I am misunderstanding the meat of this subdebate, but I find it surprising that anyone would exclusively associate the phrase "word is bond" with any specific subculture, black, white, or other. "My word is my bond" is an ethos I was raised to honor and emulate.

Exactly. "My word is my bond" is a commonly-used expression. The phrase the sniper used is "Word is Bond" (sniper had it in quotes, with first and last word capitalized), a subtly-different wording which is used in Nation of Islam literature, eg: this reference

Lesson number one, question number 11 says:
HAVE YOU NOT LEARNED THAT YOUR WORD SHALL BE BOND REGARDLESS OF WHOM OR WHAT?
A. YES. MY WORD IS BOND AND BOND IS LIFE AND I WILL GIVE MY LIFE BEFORE MY WORD SHALL FAIL. </blockquote