So, I heard about the Alton Sterling shooting today and I'm getting a bit bored of people constantly saying that because black people commit crimes against/kill other black people is an excuse for police officers to accost us and often murder us in cold blood. So, here's a few problems with this statement, apart from the fact that it enables racism and is straight-up victim blaming : 1. Black people don't really kill other black people because they are black. Much like white people don't really kill other white people because they are white. 2. How many times have you heard someone say "But what about White on White crime? What about Asian on Asian crime? What about Hispanic on Hispanic crime?" 3. Now we all know how fast a black person in America goes to jail these days I.E. they are in there a lot longer than a white person for the exact same crime. So, when black people do commit crimes against each other, they are in jail quicker than you can say "YOU'RE CREATING DIVISION!", a line often uttered by people who are angry at those who dare to even whisper the word "racism" or "inequality." 4. At what point did anyone say "all black people are innocent and are incapable of violating the law?" 5. People of the same ethnicity committing crimes against each other isn't specific to the black community, and yet the only time this is bought up is when police brutality cases involving black civilians come about, and this is why I think this is a racist statement. 6. The fact that a community has its own issues and struggles does not give anyone, let alone a police officer(s) with toxic judgement permission to demonise and murder members of said community. 7. Here's an analogy. If a woman has sex, does that mean she is now the property of any man that desires her? Is she now stripped of the right to defend herself if she is raped? Just something that was bugging me, I'm not American but things seem to be getting worse and worse over there, and it's depressing to see people actually justifying abhorrent behaviour like this and blaming the victim for the actions of others, actions that are often motivated by prejudice. I'm tired of people saying "Well maybe if he wasn't acting like a thug, he'd still be alive." Are people honestly saying that a 12 year old boy deserved to die because a police officer thought he was "a thug?" Is this what people count as rational thought these days? Rest in peace Alton Sterling, you deserved better.
I think the thing is that black people in the US decry police violence (and rightly so) but many are ambivalent to the daily crimes of black people killing other black people over stupid shit. White people are quick to point out that fact too. But people also seem to forget all the white trash scum who perpetrate the same white on white wife beating child molesting bullshit. Different crimes same story.
That and there are marches against black on black crime but how often are they on the mainstream news? Not much.
I agree with you. I'm sick of hearing about "black on black" crime. There is a crap ton of white on white crime but they don't go to jail for that or get killed for it....... It's racism.
I just think color of skin should be entirely removed from legal things it just causes problems you can even get yourself out of jury duty by saying your racist against whatever the race of the person being tried is
Black people kill more black people because black people tend to live and work around more black people than others. It's statistically more likely you'll commit a crime against people you live, know, or work around.
That's true as well that most violent crime happens within ones own racial group. It's the same with white people. The issue we face is the broken criminal justice system that disproportionately targets black people (especially black men). There are plenty of crimes between white people that aren't reported or aren't taken to the point of being murdered by the cops.
I agree and I support Black Lives Matter. I was reading some things trying to find some backing for something else I thought I read which was something like young black men are 21 times more likely to be killed by cops than young white men and I found someone arguing well that's based on just a small sample size involving urban areas and I was like, "Why involve parts of Montana where NO ONE lives?" These are the numbers for where these killings are most likely to happen. There's no point in dragging in the areas where nothing happens because there are only cows and coyotes living there. That may sound flippant but even if we adjust the 21 times figure (if I do have that right) it's still disproportionate. It's hard for me as a white person to look at what's happening and say black people aren't being targeted. I don't know the reasons beyond the simplest imaginable one and that's systemic racism, but whenever someone on my FB is like "You don't want your kids shot by cops, teach them to obey cops" and they're not taking into account black men and youth killed while HELPLESS or even while trying to comply with cop commands... it really sickens me. And since when is summary execution the answer? Someone posted something like, "If I fight back, I'm killed, if I run, I'm killed, if I obey I'm killed." It's also totally insane the disproportionate numbers in the prison populations in the US. There are too many people already in there, but if you have the money for lawyers and protection, you are in much better shape. A lot of young urban men do not have these things and DAs love to show they're "tough on crime" by jacking these kids up in showcase trials. There's also the bogus "War on Drugs," which is nothing less than a War on the Poor. The top, richest people rarely get taken down but the prisons are bulging with low-level people so low in the chain they had no one to trade when they got pinched. Add in the prison-for-profit industry and you've got a living, breathing democracy that makes bank on putting its most vulnerable people in prison. And things like the recent news lead me to believe prison is the best case scenario for a lot of people. That is HORRIFYING.
Just gonna say one thing Often is not often as you think it is. Often is rare. Rare is often. Anyhow my views on this are gonna seem offensive so I won't add anything else
I agree it's a very disingenuous statement, just as disingenuous as people who proclaim "all lives matter". It's not born out of actually caring about violence, it's born out of a need to act as if racism doesn't exist or that there could not be a disproportionate rate of racist violence against black people. In general these "what about x" questions are complete bullshit.
I go immediately and see this Falcon Heights thing. Even when you comply. Even when you TELL them what you're doing and what you have just as they always ask. POP POP POP POP.
Not to mention it's "safer" to attack someone of your own ethnicity when you're a racial minority, since it receives less attention from mainstream news sources, and the like.
As stated earlier....im white. I live in a largely white community. Odds are if i were to go on a killing spree (please dont take this literally, im a vegetarian, i wony even kill animals to feed myself let alone a multiple human beings lol), there will be an extremely small chance that ill kill someone of the opposite race because all thats around is a similar race. I bet you eskimo on eskimo crime is rampant in eskimo villages compared to eskimo on Australian crime in eskimo villages.
I'm white. Were I to be a victim of violence I am statistically by far most likely to be the victim of white on white violence. Nobody seems inclined to talk about the scourge of white on white violence though. Wonder why?
