Hello again, FRiend.
I understand your concerns but it spills over into more than just cases which have been ‘solved’ more or less.
My issue is in almost every place I’ve lived, they report breathlessly on a rape or robbery and then when it’s time to go into suspect description, they’ll talk about the guy’s hat (like that can’t be changed,) clothing, height, facial hair, eye color but they won’t mention race-—UNLESS it’s a white guy.
This is a great disservice to a community and to innocent people. In some cases, with a little detail, we might be able to catch some of these people but because of their withholding of the race (be the man Asian or white or black or Hispanic) they are taking away a key element in identification. Combine that with height, facial hair and maybe a sketch, and it COULD help someone who knows the person to put 2 and 2 together and turn him in.
But instead they’d rather censor that information than assist the citizenry.
As for coverage of these crimes, I’m mixed race as you may remember and I think there’s still a great deal of racism towards blacks in this country BUT one thing I believe is that the truth is the truth. That means that if they make the Byrd killing national news for several news cycles, it’s only fair if they do the same in other cases. It doesn’t mean EVERY case should be dissected in such a manner but there should be some ATTEMPT at balance.
One thing I have noticed is that the kidnapping and rape of that black woman in West Va. seems to have been slightly underreported based on previous experiences. I don’t know if it’s because she wasn’t as sympathetic or wasn’t killed or what. Maybe the media would rather just underreport everything than give ‘fair’ front page coverage.
I’d argue that the one-sided focus on white racism has actually strengthened black and Latino racism and contributed greatly to anti-white violence but also racism and violence between blacks/hispanics/asians as this form is rarely talked about and thus never positively addressed (except maybe after the LA riots in 92.)
Nice post. Your candor about your prespective is refreshing and courageous.
Remind me if I’m ever being an ass to you on one of these type threads...they get pretty heated sometimes and my memory ain’t what it used to be.
I think I will condense my response to you and Karliner in the interests of brevity.
This whole racial vortex has puzzled me since I was a little child of eight years old and my mom’s next door neighbor went into an absolute rage when my mom referred to her black housekeeper as a “cleaning lady”.You NEVER refer to a “colored”woman as a lady,Mrs Ruff spit out.
Then came a whole array of racist relatives and peers who warned me that”niggers will kick your ass”.They were lazy,violent,and lusted after white girls.Funny,though,how all the people kicking my ass and making my life miserable were WHITE.Hmm,lets see now.Could someone be lying to me?
Then came the Sixties,college and the world of work.Gee,some of these”niggers”were actually smarter than ME.And some of them actually invited me into their homes,churches and social clubs.Some of them actually treated me as a human being.Why weren’t THESE black people ever mentioned in my younger days?
Then onto New Orleans and teaching at an all black school in the Ninth Ward.Funny that 95% of the kids treated me very well and showed me love and respect.The knuckleheads were there too but you find them anywhere.I loved the music,the energy and the feeling that here were some people who truly appreciated the absurdity of the human condition.
That was over 30 years ago,Now its a different time.Rap music and the destruction of the black family has diluted the quality of life and taken a real sad toll on black culture.I no longer socialize among blacks or anyone else for that matter.I used to go to parties and hear the O’Jays and Maze.Go to the disco and hear the smooth grooves of Chic and Evelyn King.Engage in passionate but loving debates on politics and social issues.
But now its all about Little Wayne and Ciara and God knows who else talking about bitches,blunts and mack daddys.I am not feeling it anymore.Played out,baby.
So I still venture out most days to our crumbling school system and encounter Chardae,Devonte, Lakeisha and Akeem.They gravitate to me because I know the little subtleties of black speech and demeanor.I show sincere interest in them and they know that I am not some dumb out of the loop square honky who is totally lame.And I know that underneath all the hyphy bravado and shit talking are a bunch of scared to death little kids who are basically raising themselves out there.
And I don’t play the liberal permissiveness game.I call them on their BS.I call them on their vulgar language and warped media instilled values.And sometimes I go ghetto on their asses and cuss them out in front of God and the entire world.
Sometimes they get mad as hell at me.But they know I love them.In spite of themselves.Yet getting back to the subject at hand,if any of them EVER pulled off a caper like the one in Knoxville,then Y’all can burn in Hell and take Souljah Boy,The Cash Money Boys and Little Kim right along with ya.