Davka
Senior Member
...because all lives matter.
Whenever there is a new story in the news about a black man dying at the hands of (usually white) police, there is a rush to dissect this specific incident and explain why it's not a case of racism. There are a couple of huge problems with this reaction: first, it is an attempt to generalize from a single incident to the culture as a whole. Critics seem to think that if they can prove that racism was not a factor in this one specific killing, this proves that there is no endemic problem involving white cops and black victims in America. However, since the plural of anecdote is not evidence, we know that this approach is fatally flawed.
Secondly, the hyper-focus on (whatever the latest high-profile incident happens to be) comes across as an attempt to minimize the thousands of incidents which occur across the country every single day. If the "problem" is simply Ferguson, or Trayvon Martin, or Ismaaiyl Brinsley, then there is no institutionalized racism in America, it's just a series of isolated incidents. Unfortunately, any objective study of economic, policing, and social trends nationwide tell a very different story.
Example: Wealth distribution in America is heavily divided along racial lines, and this divide has gotten even worse since the Great Recession. In today's America, Whites have $13 in wealth for every $1 that blacks have, according to the Pew research center.
Another classic misdirection is sounded regularly on FOX news: "What about black-on-black crime?" Well, what about it? Black-on-black crime is a real thing. But the underlying reason that black people are more likely to be killed by other black people is simple: In today's segregated America, people are most likely to be victimized by those they live and work near. 84% of all white homicide victims are killed by white people, but we don't hear cries of "what about white-on-white crime?" This is a non-issue, a red herring.
The core message that is diluted and drowned out by all this reactionary chatter is a simple one: Black lives matter, because all lives matter. The current Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind non-approach to segregation, racial ghettos, racially-centered poverty, and so on allows white Americans to avoid the uncomfortable fact that black lives are regularly treated as less valuable than white lives. It is long past time to stop nit-picking over details, or arguing about whether or not Trayvon Martin “had it coming,” and take a good, hard look at racial inequality in America.
Black lives matter, because all lives matter. If any group is relegated to the status of second-class citizen, we all suffer for it. Our very humanity is at stake. Instead of throwing political bias at every new killing, we need to discuss the underlying issues of poverty, segregation, and unconscious racial bias. It’s time to stop arguing over who did what when, and start talking about how we can fix this mess.
Whenever there is a new story in the news about a black man dying at the hands of (usually white) police, there is a rush to dissect this specific incident and explain why it's not a case of racism. There are a couple of huge problems with this reaction: first, it is an attempt to generalize from a single incident to the culture as a whole. Critics seem to think that if they can prove that racism was not a factor in this one specific killing, this proves that there is no endemic problem involving white cops and black victims in America. However, since the plural of anecdote is not evidence, we know that this approach is fatally flawed.
Secondly, the hyper-focus on (whatever the latest high-profile incident happens to be) comes across as an attempt to minimize the thousands of incidents which occur across the country every single day. If the "problem" is simply Ferguson, or Trayvon Martin, or Ismaaiyl Brinsley, then there is no institutionalized racism in America, it's just a series of isolated incidents. Unfortunately, any objective study of economic, policing, and social trends nationwide tell a very different story.
Example: Wealth distribution in America is heavily divided along racial lines, and this divide has gotten even worse since the Great Recession. In today's America, Whites have $13 in wealth for every $1 that blacks have, according to the Pew research center.
Another classic misdirection is sounded regularly on FOX news: "What about black-on-black crime?" Well, what about it? Black-on-black crime is a real thing. But the underlying reason that black people are more likely to be killed by other black people is simple: In today's segregated America, people are most likely to be victimized by those they live and work near. 84% of all white homicide victims are killed by white people, but we don't hear cries of "what about white-on-white crime?" This is a non-issue, a red herring.
The core message that is diluted and drowned out by all this reactionary chatter is a simple one: Black lives matter, because all lives matter. The current Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind non-approach to segregation, racial ghettos, racially-centered poverty, and so on allows white Americans to avoid the uncomfortable fact that black lives are regularly treated as less valuable than white lives. It is long past time to stop nit-picking over details, or arguing about whether or not Trayvon Martin “had it coming,” and take a good, hard look at racial inequality in America.
Black lives matter, because all lives matter. If any group is relegated to the status of second-class citizen, we all suffer for it. Our very humanity is at stake. Instead of throwing political bias at every new killing, we need to discuss the underlying issues of poverty, segregation, and unconscious racial bias. It’s time to stop arguing over who did what when, and start talking about how we can fix this mess.
