“The poor, of whatever color, do not trust the law and certainly have no reason so, and God knows we didn't. ‘If you must call a cop,’ we said in those days, ‘for God's sake, make sure it's a white one.’ We did not feel that the cops were protecting us, for we knew too much about the reasons for the kinds of crimes committed in the ghetto; but we feared black cops even more than white cops, because the black cop had to work so much harder--on your head--to prove to himself and his colleagues that he was not like all the other niggers.”--James Baldwin
"But on the other hand without a gun they can't get none, but please don't let it be a black and a white one, cuz they'll slam you down to the street top black police showin' out for the white cop." --Ice Cube.
Thank you, Laura. Those 700 words may just be simplistic enough to open the eyes of anyone who is willing to try to understand.
But I want to point out that we are all treating Tyre Nichols as a 2 dimensional object. I invite you to look at Tyre Nichols photographs to get more of a feel for him as a 3 dimensional human being:
I don't know for a fact but I have the impression that Tyre Nichols was a gentle soul (maybe my just stereotype of people with artistic aspirations). If he was, then the five cops who beat him to death may have been beating to death the vulnerability that they thought they had beaten out of themselves, in order to survive as men, and Black men, and cops compelled to prove themselves in police culture.
Once as a teen in the 1960's, I was walking across 125th street, Harlem, N.Y.C., not far from where I lived, to a track meet on Randall's island. I was accosted by a tall, stately man wearing a neat a suit, brimmed hat and long overcoat. He was distributing a newspaper called "Muhammad Speaks,” produced by the Nation of Islam, a black Muslim organization. He carried a bundle of the newspapers under his arm. He said: “What you doin’ here? Get off the train at the wrong stop?” I had not taken the train and was not there by mistake, but I was “white,” and lived nearby across the invisible boundary between the Upper West Side and Harlem.
It did not matter that I was friendly with members of the SNCC, a student organization that spread word of what was going on down South and solicited support for that work from up the North. Or that I had traveled as a very young person to Washington, D.C., to hear Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., deliver the “I have a dream” speech. Nation of Islam people were for separation, given the unspeakable horrors of slavery and the systemic racism it has given birth to. I think I understood the resentment and defensiveness the man may have felt at my “intrusion.” From my side I had been judged and condemned in the eyes of this man, who knew nothing about me other than skin tone and the history behind us both, and it hurt. I understood a scintilla of the hurts, resentments and angers that a victim from across boundary of historic and systemic racism might feel.
Another terrific essay. I understand that blacks can be part of the systemic racism in America, but since my degree is in neither political science nor lesbian dance theory, I couldn’t properly express it as I read comments from people like Matt Walsh. Thank you for laying it out clearly.
Small correction, in the first paragraph after the 700 word section, I think the word “is” is missing from this sentence, “...but individual responsibility one of the deepest American assumptions out there.”
It's very weird to me that everyone acts like they've never heard of black people perpetrating racism against black people before. It's a black comedy trope. Everyone got the joke with Uncle Ruckus from the Boondocks. Everyone got the joke with Samuel L Jackson's Stephen character in Django Unchained (yes, Tarantino is white, but it's an example basically everyone saw). The Brothers Brothers skits from In Living Color always killed. I could list plenty more, but you get my drift, this isn't unfamiliar territory. Somehow when confronted with a real world example though, people act like it came from an alien planet.
In the most common usage of the term, 'racism' is a synonym for 'pattern recognition.'
The idea that widespread perception that Black people tend to be more dangerous is some 'assumption' passed down through the generations - rather than a result of honest observation of reality - is unfathomably stupid, and a good example of the complete and absolute intellectual bankruptcy that totally defines the modern left.
Imagine you're a veteran cop. For 20 years, you've dealt with the worst of society. With violent and criminal people. You've seen what different people are arrested for, and how various people react when arrested. If you have a functioning human brain, you will have noticed patterns through this. It's inevitable; the only way to avoid this is to actively sabotage a fundamental faculty of your mind.
Do you suppose the ideas a police officer will have will be shaped more by 'social assumption,' or by what they have personally observed and experienced during 1000s of days on the job?
More broadly, significantly higher levels of Black violent crime is strongly supported by a wide variety of types of empirical evidence - from victim statements, homicide victim statistics, killers of police officers, as well as arrest stats. The idea that belief in this rests on 'social assumptions' instead of all this evidence is frankly mindblowing. It's the sort of thing that future historians will look back and ponder in bafflement 'how could people have ever believed such nonsense?'
The modern left has incorporated fundamental and profound dishonesty and dogmatism about everything in any way related to race as core to their brand. It's hard to express how harmful this is. It appeals to the most unthinking and simpleminded people in society, and as a result that's what the Democratic base has become
I'm not saying that is the case with the Tyre Nichols case. Neither you nor I know every detail about why these five Black cops brutally beat this innocent Black man and then neglected to provide him medical care. As they say, 'if your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.' If you only understand the world through this absurdly reductionist and dogmatic 'systemic racism' lens, you'll seek to explain every complex phenomena with it. And as a result, your understanding will always range from incomplete to totally incorrect.
“The poor, of whatever color, do not trust the law and certainly have no reason so, and God knows we didn't. ‘If you must call a cop,’ we said in those days, ‘for God's sake, make sure it's a white one.’ We did not feel that the cops were protecting us, for we knew too much about the reasons for the kinds of crimes committed in the ghetto; but we feared black cops even more than white cops, because the black cop had to work so much harder--on your head--to prove to himself and his colleagues that he was not like all the other niggers.”--James Baldwin
Nothing changes
"But on the other hand without a gun they can't get none, but please don't let it be a black and a white one, cuz they'll slam you down to the street top black police showin' out for the white cop." --Ice Cube.
Thank you, Laura. Those 700 words may just be simplistic enough to open the eyes of anyone who is willing to try to understand.
But I want to point out that we are all treating Tyre Nichols as a 2 dimensional object. I invite you to look at Tyre Nichols photographs to get more of a feel for him as a 3 dimensional human being:
https://thiscaliforniakid2.wixsite.com/tnicholsphotography
I don't know for a fact but I have the impression that Tyre Nichols was a gentle soul (maybe my just stereotype of people with artistic aspirations). If he was, then the five cops who beat him to death may have been beating to death the vulnerability that they thought they had beaten out of themselves, in order to survive as men, and Black men, and cops compelled to prove themselves in police culture.
Once as a teen in the 1960's, I was walking across 125th street, Harlem, N.Y.C., not far from where I lived, to a track meet on Randall's island. I was accosted by a tall, stately man wearing a neat a suit, brimmed hat and long overcoat. He was distributing a newspaper called "Muhammad Speaks,” produced by the Nation of Islam, a black Muslim organization. He carried a bundle of the newspapers under his arm. He said: “What you doin’ here? Get off the train at the wrong stop?” I had not taken the train and was not there by mistake, but I was “white,” and lived nearby across the invisible boundary between the Upper West Side and Harlem.
It did not matter that I was friendly with members of the SNCC, a student organization that spread word of what was going on down South and solicited support for that work from up the North. Or that I had traveled as a very young person to Washington, D.C., to hear Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., deliver the “I have a dream” speech. Nation of Islam people were for separation, given the unspeakable horrors of slavery and the systemic racism it has given birth to. I think I understood the resentment and defensiveness the man may have felt at my “intrusion.” From my side I had been judged and condemned in the eyes of this man, who knew nothing about me other than skin tone and the history behind us both, and it hurt. I understood a scintilla of the hurts, resentments and angers that a victim from across boundary of historic and systemic racism might feel.
That was a fine undergrad thesis, you put out. Whew!
Another terrific essay. I understand that blacks can be part of the systemic racism in America, but since my degree is in neither political science nor lesbian dance theory, I couldn’t properly express it as I read comments from people like Matt Walsh. Thank you for laying it out clearly.
Small correction, in the first paragraph after the 700 word section, I think the word “is” is missing from this sentence, “...but individual responsibility one of the deepest American assumptions out there.”
Thank you -- fixing it now!
It's very weird to me that everyone acts like they've never heard of black people perpetrating racism against black people before. It's a black comedy trope. Everyone got the joke with Uncle Ruckus from the Boondocks. Everyone got the joke with Samuel L Jackson's Stephen character in Django Unchained (yes, Tarantino is white, but it's an example basically everyone saw). The Brothers Brothers skits from In Living Color always killed. I could list plenty more, but you get my drift, this isn't unfamiliar territory. Somehow when confronted with a real world example though, people act like it came from an alien planet.
In the most common usage of the term, 'racism' is a synonym for 'pattern recognition.'
The idea that widespread perception that Black people tend to be more dangerous is some 'assumption' passed down through the generations - rather than a result of honest observation of reality - is unfathomably stupid, and a good example of the complete and absolute intellectual bankruptcy that totally defines the modern left.
Imagine you're a veteran cop. For 20 years, you've dealt with the worst of society. With violent and criminal people. You've seen what different people are arrested for, and how various people react when arrested. If you have a functioning human brain, you will have noticed patterns through this. It's inevitable; the only way to avoid this is to actively sabotage a fundamental faculty of your mind.
Do you suppose the ideas a police officer will have will be shaped more by 'social assumption,' or by what they have personally observed and experienced during 1000s of days on the job?
More broadly, significantly higher levels of Black violent crime is strongly supported by a wide variety of types of empirical evidence - from victim statements, homicide victim statistics, killers of police officers, as well as arrest stats. The idea that belief in this rests on 'social assumptions' instead of all this evidence is frankly mindblowing. It's the sort of thing that future historians will look back and ponder in bafflement 'how could people have ever believed such nonsense?'
The modern left has incorporated fundamental and profound dishonesty and dogmatism about everything in any way related to race as core to their brand. It's hard to express how harmful this is. It appeals to the most unthinking and simpleminded people in society, and as a result that's what the Democratic base has become
I'm not saying that is the case with the Tyre Nichols case. Neither you nor I know every detail about why these five Black cops brutally beat this innocent Black man and then neglected to provide him medical care. As they say, 'if your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.' If you only understand the world through this absurdly reductionist and dogmatic 'systemic racism' lens, you'll seek to explain every complex phenomena with it. And as a result, your understanding will always range from incomplete to totally incorrect.