RNK
21st March 2007, 19:11
I think most of us are well aware of the usual propaganda cited by most racists and white nationalists when they talk about the "criminal nature of non-whites". Statistics, numbers and facts are often used to back up their claims. To them, this is enough. Unfortunately, properly analysing these "facts" requires more than simply repeating numbers. It requires a deeper analysis of the social atmosphere concerning these figures.
Inparticular, it must be stressed that crime and class are usually unavoidably linked. One need only observe the goings on of the planet to realize that the level of criminal violence escalates the poorer the country or region. Whether it is analyzing a particular neighbourhood in the United States, or analysing an entire continent such as Africa, crime and class -- or rather, crime and poverty, are inseperable.
It may be true that, on average, African-Americans are more prone to commit a crime than whites; it is also true, however, that on average, more African-Americans live either on the edges of, or deep in, poverty. But this fact in and of itself is meaningless without addressing the social impacts of this fact.
Poverty is a damning condition. It changes you, it can sometimes twist your perceptions, and no matter where you go or what you do it weighs on you like a ball and chain. Whether you are out with friends and find yourself unable to pay for yourself at a bar or movie theatre, or whether you're at home calling up friends and family to borrow some money so you can buy groceries, the rammifications are unavoidable. I should know. I live with this every day.
It is no secret that most blacks are born into lower-class families. It is a social condition that has been passed down for generations, ever since slavery was abolished; despite the destruction of that barbaric practice, blacks have continued to be subjected to discrimination and social segregation. Even today, most young blacks have parents who remember the personal experience of society's racism; seeing the "NO NEGROS" signs in restaurant and shop windows; being heckled and scorned openly in public; having to go to seperate schools where the quality of education was always sub-standard. Remember, it was only 50 years ago that Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give her seat up to whites. Yes, arrested; for a black person, refusing the demands of a white person was an act of civil disobedience. It wasn't open slavery, but it was damned close.
Even today, discrimination still exists. It exists in the workplace, in courtrooms, and in jails. For blacks, and most other minorities, discrimination is unavoidable; even in the safety of their own home, discrimination on television, in the media and entertainment industries, is still apparent. How many of the criminals featured on Cops every Saturday night are blacks? Most, if not all. Black criminals have more entertainment value than whites; it perpetuates the discrimination, even if unconsciously, by playing into the fears most whites still have. Though ironically, America's Most Wanted, which airs after Cops, is chalk-full (excuse the pun) of white criminals.
So imagine what it must be like to exist in a world where you know everyone is watching you, and judging you, based simply on how you look. When you ride the subway, people change seats, and you find yourself with an empty seat next to you despite a fully-packed train. Imagine walking into a convenience store and being watched like a hawk by a nervous white clerk who's convinced, simply by your skin colour, that you're going to try to either pocket something or shove a gun in his face. And imagine being interviewed for a job by a person who thinks you're nothing but an uneducated thug. And imagine that every cop that drives by is checking you out specifically, and will often pull you over simply because you're black. It happens. Hell, it happens to me. I'm white, by the way, but I've experienced, to a small degree, this type of discrimination, based on the way I dress and act. Many people have told me that I look like a "drug dealer" because I have horribly messy hair, an unshaven face, and dark circles under my eyes. Many have told me that I look "intimidating" because I am rather large, always walk slightly hunched, and rarely look people in the eye. Many have told me that I look like a violent person because I usually wear black baggy clothes. Of course, they aren't aware of the fact that I have dark circles under my eyes because I have insomnia; that I walk hunched and rarely look at people because I'm a very shy person; and that I wear dark baggy clothes because I feel it hides the fact that I'm overweight better. None of this matters. Most people have it in their heads to connect how I look and act with what they've previously seen on television, and thusly, I am judged according to how I look, and not who I am. The same goes for blacks, except paramount; I atleast have the good graces to have white skin. If I dressed the same way and was a black man,
It all adds up to a very miserable, and very interesting, experience. Despite the obvious hardships that social segregation causes, many who experience this embrace this discrimination, and even perpetuate it. Fired by the knowledge that they will forever be judged as being a violent criminal, many find solice in living that judgement out; they'll purposely act intimidating and violent, take on a very aggressive in-your-face attitude, dress like the stereotypical hoodlum, and listen to violent music. When a minority culture is segregated from the society they live in, they tend to further that segregation and in it find common kinship with themselves. The most obvious example of this is in Native Americans. Their segregation is perpetuated both by white society and now by their own culture, which has turned that external segregation into an internal one. Today, North Americans are nothing but a myth for the average white; a people seen on television, depicted either as spiritual nature-lovers, gambling addicts, welfare-leechers or, now, pioneers in curing arthritis. Ask whites when the last time they actually met or saw a Native in person, and most won't be able to tell you. In Canada, where I live, this is a massive problem. Despite the fact that there are about half a dozen Native reserves in the immediate area of my city, actually seeing them in the city is a rare occasion; the majority of the time that I do see them, they are either young street kids begging for change, or middle-aged drug abusers propositioning me for sex. As in the case of African-Americans, taken at face value, this paints the picture that the majority of Natives are nothing but criminals, drug-addicts, drunks and prostitutes. But by examining the social context of it, it's easy to see that this isn't the case; they are this way because that is the only way some of them can be based on the lot they've been given in life. When you have access only to sub-standard education, are segregated to live on a reserve where the best job you can get is either washing dishes or living off welfare, where the majority of society judges you as being a druggy, then there isn't exactly room to advance beyond that. If you're born to poor parents, who themselves were born to poor parents, how well-off do you think you'd be? When the best job you can get is working at McDonalds, how exactly is your family going to pay for a decent post-secondary education? How is your family lineage ever going to break out of those poverty chains to actually achieve a solid living in this society? It's an uphill battle, and while it is true that occasionally a family can break out, for the vast majority, even thinking about it is ludicrous.
So how does this impact crime? How do you go from being segregated from society and forced into poverty, to being a criminal? First of all, as I already said, being poor means more than missing out on some of the quirks of life. It's a social condition that bears heavily on one's pscyhe. It makes you desperate. Some more than others. I myself frequently think about snatching someone's purse, or holding someone up, or shoplifting. Fortunately, I haven't shoplifted or stolen anything since I was 13, and I don't plan to (although I do plan on expropriating the criminal wealth of the rich in order to spread their capital to all -- but that's not stealing. That's taking back what rightfully belongs to everyone.). But many people do plan to. Many people can't take the social and economic pressure of it, so they decide to go and hold up a liquor store, and then use the money to buy some food. In some cases, poverty also leads to drug use. I can connect with this as well. I don't think I have to explain the calming effect drug use has when you're tense and anxious. There is such thing as going overboard, though, as is the case with almost all drug users, regardless of race.
So yes, statistically, african-americans are more prone to crime. But it has nothing to do with the failing of their "race", or for some genetic reason. Crime is a social condition directly related to poverty (there are exceptions, of course; rich people certainly aren't immune to being criminals -- but we're talking about "street"-level crime, not the systematic murder of 100,000 civilians in some country on the other side of the world), and poverty is something that african-americans have had to deal with for centuries.
So, as a message to all racists and other ignorant people, I challenge you; before mindlessly adopting statistics and figures, try and analyse the social context behind them. Try and think about what kind of person you'd be, and what kind of life you'd live, if you were subjected to the conditions that minorities are. Imagine being born into a culture that has lived on the fringes of mainstream society; imagine never being given a chance to prove yourself "worthy" of that society; imagine the weight that young minorities have to deal with when they come to the realization, at a very early age, that for the rest of their lives they will be judged based on simply being black, or latino, or arab. Almost all of us know what it was like being picked on and made fun of in the schoolyard for wearing the same clothes you wore yesterday, or for having a silly-looking haircut, or for your carefully-packed lunches complete with little heart-shaped pieces of chocolate included by your mother. We all know it. We all felt it. Now imagine that it wasn't just the kids in the schoolyard picking on you and making fun of you. Imagine it was all of society. Imagine being a young impressionable kid who watches his entire race being stereotyped as criminals, drug-dealers, prostitutes and hooligans. How do you think you'd turn out?
Note: I really had to get this off of my chest. My wife is black, and she's had to deal with this type of discrimination her entire life. I can't count how many times I've had to hold her and console her while she's in tears; I can't count how many times I haven't been able to answer her when she asks why people hate her because of something she can't control. What's more, we have a child together.
I don't think I'll "change any minds" with what I've wrote. And that doesn't matter. What matters is that I've had enough of it. This ranting is the culmination of my last attempts to deal with this issue with words. If I so much as catch a hint of racism in anyone, anywhere, at any time, they will feel the vengeance of every tear I've had to wipe from my wife's face. I will not let my child be exposed to the arrogant discrimination of people who want him to hate himself for being born.
Inparticular, it must be stressed that crime and class are usually unavoidably linked. One need only observe the goings on of the planet to realize that the level of criminal violence escalates the poorer the country or region. Whether it is analyzing a particular neighbourhood in the United States, or analysing an entire continent such as Africa, crime and class -- or rather, crime and poverty, are inseperable.
It may be true that, on average, African-Americans are more prone to commit a crime than whites; it is also true, however, that on average, more African-Americans live either on the edges of, or deep in, poverty. But this fact in and of itself is meaningless without addressing the social impacts of this fact.
Poverty is a damning condition. It changes you, it can sometimes twist your perceptions, and no matter where you go or what you do it weighs on you like a ball and chain. Whether you are out with friends and find yourself unable to pay for yourself at a bar or movie theatre, or whether you're at home calling up friends and family to borrow some money so you can buy groceries, the rammifications are unavoidable. I should know. I live with this every day.
It is no secret that most blacks are born into lower-class families. It is a social condition that has been passed down for generations, ever since slavery was abolished; despite the destruction of that barbaric practice, blacks have continued to be subjected to discrimination and social segregation. Even today, most young blacks have parents who remember the personal experience of society's racism; seeing the "NO NEGROS" signs in restaurant and shop windows; being heckled and scorned openly in public; having to go to seperate schools where the quality of education was always sub-standard. Remember, it was only 50 years ago that Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give her seat up to whites. Yes, arrested; for a black person, refusing the demands of a white person was an act of civil disobedience. It wasn't open slavery, but it was damned close.
Even today, discrimination still exists. It exists in the workplace, in courtrooms, and in jails. For blacks, and most other minorities, discrimination is unavoidable; even in the safety of their own home, discrimination on television, in the media and entertainment industries, is still apparent. How many of the criminals featured on Cops every Saturday night are blacks? Most, if not all. Black criminals have more entertainment value than whites; it perpetuates the discrimination, even if unconsciously, by playing into the fears most whites still have. Though ironically, America's Most Wanted, which airs after Cops, is chalk-full (excuse the pun) of white criminals.
So imagine what it must be like to exist in a world where you know everyone is watching you, and judging you, based simply on how you look. When you ride the subway, people change seats, and you find yourself with an empty seat next to you despite a fully-packed train. Imagine walking into a convenience store and being watched like a hawk by a nervous white clerk who's convinced, simply by your skin colour, that you're going to try to either pocket something or shove a gun in his face. And imagine being interviewed for a job by a person who thinks you're nothing but an uneducated thug. And imagine that every cop that drives by is checking you out specifically, and will often pull you over simply because you're black. It happens. Hell, it happens to me. I'm white, by the way, but I've experienced, to a small degree, this type of discrimination, based on the way I dress and act. Many people have told me that I look like a "drug dealer" because I have horribly messy hair, an unshaven face, and dark circles under my eyes. Many have told me that I look "intimidating" because I am rather large, always walk slightly hunched, and rarely look people in the eye. Many have told me that I look like a violent person because I usually wear black baggy clothes. Of course, they aren't aware of the fact that I have dark circles under my eyes because I have insomnia; that I walk hunched and rarely look at people because I'm a very shy person; and that I wear dark baggy clothes because I feel it hides the fact that I'm overweight better. None of this matters. Most people have it in their heads to connect how I look and act with what they've previously seen on television, and thusly, I am judged according to how I look, and not who I am. The same goes for blacks, except paramount; I atleast have the good graces to have white skin. If I dressed the same way and was a black man,
It all adds up to a very miserable, and very interesting, experience. Despite the obvious hardships that social segregation causes, many who experience this embrace this discrimination, and even perpetuate it. Fired by the knowledge that they will forever be judged as being a violent criminal, many find solice in living that judgement out; they'll purposely act intimidating and violent, take on a very aggressive in-your-face attitude, dress like the stereotypical hoodlum, and listen to violent music. When a minority culture is segregated from the society they live in, they tend to further that segregation and in it find common kinship with themselves. The most obvious example of this is in Native Americans. Their segregation is perpetuated both by white society and now by their own culture, which has turned that external segregation into an internal one. Today, North Americans are nothing but a myth for the average white; a people seen on television, depicted either as spiritual nature-lovers, gambling addicts, welfare-leechers or, now, pioneers in curing arthritis. Ask whites when the last time they actually met or saw a Native in person, and most won't be able to tell you. In Canada, where I live, this is a massive problem. Despite the fact that there are about half a dozen Native reserves in the immediate area of my city, actually seeing them in the city is a rare occasion; the majority of the time that I do see them, they are either young street kids begging for change, or middle-aged drug abusers propositioning me for sex. As in the case of African-Americans, taken at face value, this paints the picture that the majority of Natives are nothing but criminals, drug-addicts, drunks and prostitutes. But by examining the social context of it, it's easy to see that this isn't the case; they are this way because that is the only way some of them can be based on the lot they've been given in life. When you have access only to sub-standard education, are segregated to live on a reserve where the best job you can get is either washing dishes or living off welfare, where the majority of society judges you as being a druggy, then there isn't exactly room to advance beyond that. If you're born to poor parents, who themselves were born to poor parents, how well-off do you think you'd be? When the best job you can get is working at McDonalds, how exactly is your family going to pay for a decent post-secondary education? How is your family lineage ever going to break out of those poverty chains to actually achieve a solid living in this society? It's an uphill battle, and while it is true that occasionally a family can break out, for the vast majority, even thinking about it is ludicrous.
So how does this impact crime? How do you go from being segregated from society and forced into poverty, to being a criminal? First of all, as I already said, being poor means more than missing out on some of the quirks of life. It's a social condition that bears heavily on one's pscyhe. It makes you desperate. Some more than others. I myself frequently think about snatching someone's purse, or holding someone up, or shoplifting. Fortunately, I haven't shoplifted or stolen anything since I was 13, and I don't plan to (although I do plan on expropriating the criminal wealth of the rich in order to spread their capital to all -- but that's not stealing. That's taking back what rightfully belongs to everyone.). But many people do plan to. Many people can't take the social and economic pressure of it, so they decide to go and hold up a liquor store, and then use the money to buy some food. In some cases, poverty also leads to drug use. I can connect with this as well. I don't think I have to explain the calming effect drug use has when you're tense and anxious. There is such thing as going overboard, though, as is the case with almost all drug users, regardless of race.
So yes, statistically, african-americans are more prone to crime. But it has nothing to do with the failing of their "race", or for some genetic reason. Crime is a social condition directly related to poverty (there are exceptions, of course; rich people certainly aren't immune to being criminals -- but we're talking about "street"-level crime, not the systematic murder of 100,000 civilians in some country on the other side of the world), and poverty is something that african-americans have had to deal with for centuries.
So, as a message to all racists and other ignorant people, I challenge you; before mindlessly adopting statistics and figures, try and analyse the social context behind them. Try and think about what kind of person you'd be, and what kind of life you'd live, if you were subjected to the conditions that minorities are. Imagine being born into a culture that has lived on the fringes of mainstream society; imagine never being given a chance to prove yourself "worthy" of that society; imagine the weight that young minorities have to deal with when they come to the realization, at a very early age, that for the rest of their lives they will be judged based on simply being black, or latino, or arab. Almost all of us know what it was like being picked on and made fun of in the schoolyard for wearing the same clothes you wore yesterday, or for having a silly-looking haircut, or for your carefully-packed lunches complete with little heart-shaped pieces of chocolate included by your mother. We all know it. We all felt it. Now imagine that it wasn't just the kids in the schoolyard picking on you and making fun of you. Imagine it was all of society. Imagine being a young impressionable kid who watches his entire race being stereotyped as criminals, drug-dealers, prostitutes and hooligans. How do you think you'd turn out?
Note: I really had to get this off of my chest. My wife is black, and she's had to deal with this type of discrimination her entire life. I can't count how many times I've had to hold her and console her while she's in tears; I can't count how many times I haven't been able to answer her when she asks why people hate her because of something she can't control. What's more, we have a child together.
I don't think I'll "change any minds" with what I've wrote. And that doesn't matter. What matters is that I've had enough of it. This ranting is the culmination of my last attempts to deal with this issue with words. If I so much as catch a hint of racism in anyone, anywhere, at any time, they will feel the vengeance of every tear I've had to wipe from my wife's face. I will not let my child be exposed to the arrogant discrimination of people who want him to hate himself for being born.