I will start this with something I say very often.
Americans from the Civil Rights Era are still alive today. Just last night, my mother talked to my daughter about how things were following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, which occurred in 1968.
The Civil Rights Era was needed to fight against the racism and segregation that existed at that time. Without even knowing what took place, anyone with good sense could easily realize that not everyone would be on board with Civil Rights.
To state it plainly…racists continued to be racists.
As is the case in so many other areas, people pass on their views and beliefs to the next generation. There is no reason to believe that it would not be the case as far as future generations learning from parents and grandparents that Blacks are inferior to whites. So along with people still being alive from the Civil Rights Era, their kids and grandchildren are here as well, still believing and expressing in all kinds of ways that white people are superior to Blacks.
When it comes to racism, I’ve noticed that there are the following types of people:
- Those who will fight and stop at nothing to combat racism
- Those who know racism is a problem, but keep quiet about it
- Those who know racism is a problem, but *other* issues are worse to them
- Those who know racism is a problem, but “America is still better than other countries”
- Those who claim racism is not a problem
- Those who are straight-up racist and have no problems demonstrating it
- Those who claim not to be racist because they “have Black friends”
- Those who indirectly admit that racism is a problem, but Blacks are to blame for it in one way or another
I’ll mainly address that last one.
There are quite a few reasons certain white people blame racism on Blacks. I’ve heard things like, “Blacks keep racism alive by talking about it” and “How come no one says anything about Black-on-Black crime?” But I am going to focus on one in which many mention the absence of Black fathers.
The belief here is that young Black men would not end up in situations with the law enforcement or racists in general if their fathers were present. That’s interesting.
Trayvon Martin was murdered in 2013. His father, Tracy Martin, was present in his life.
Along with this, let’s quickly look at convicted rapist Brock Turner, who received that conviction in 2016. In that case, his father was not only present, but argued that his son shouldn’t spend years in jail for “20 minutes of action.”
Brock Turner, not surprisingly, is white. He served six months.
Dylann Roof, the white man who murdered nine Black churchgoers in a South Carolina church in 2015 had a present father who actually provided him with the gun that he used for the slayings. Not only that, but he was taken to Burger King after his arrest.
Whether or not you see those as viable examples, look at the *present* fathers who existed here.
While it is true that absent fathers IS an issue in the Black community, what we are to believe is that this is the reason for racism, especially coming from law enforcement. That makes no sense. So racism is okay or acceptable because someone doesn’t have a present father?
The response to this is usually something like, “If Black kids had present fathers, then they would have more respect for the police.” Here’s the problem with that statement.
Police and other law enforcement are trained to disarm and otherwise deal with the most hardened of criminals, yet way too many buckle under the pressure of dealing with a Black person, even a teen, who doesn’t even have a gun.
An absent father is the reason for this? That a policeman or woman cannot handle the training they received? That he or she was taught to be racist? That he or she decided to abuse their power knowing that a huge portion of the population will excuse them no matter what?
I’m 42 years old. My father was in and out of our lives as children. I have respect for authority. However, if a racist policeman decides to murder me because he’s “having a bad day” or whatever whitewashed bullshit people want to come up with to excuse it, does any of that even matter?
No way people would assume I *didn’t have a father* right? The same people who feel they are *better* than me solely because of my skin color would surely have the maturity to learn my childhood before making a determination, right?
The last I checked, someone not having a father isn’t exactly his or her fault. Right? I mean, this would mean that anything that happened to them should be allowed or we could just blame them for not having an active father, right?
I’m not obtuse to the fact that we do have a number of issues within the Black community as again, lack of active fathers is one. But this narrative that we should just deal with racist behaviors or that the racism *isn’t that bad*, OR that it always falls on Blacks, is nonsense.
There are so many instances in which it seems easier to blame the recipient of negative behavior than to address the behavior itself. It shifts all responsibility from the person responsible for that behavior. How many times have we seen this?
Somebody breaks into your house? You should have locked your door. Sexual assault and/or rape? Too many to list. Police murder you? You should have complied, ya know…whether the cop is racist or not.
Then again, here is what I believe. Certain white people feel it is better to blame something that cannot be immediately fixed, that way, the blame can continue indefinitely. How long would it take before fathers are no longer absent in the Black community? How would anybody know? It’s just like the whole “Black-on-Black crime” nonsense.
In short, we have to totally eliminate all the stereotypical issues society knows us for before racism is addressed. Other grown adults, including those who are trained professionals can continue treat Blacks as less than human, all because we have completely unrelated issues within ourselves.
Imagine that. The same race of people who consider themselves as *superior* to another race and view them as less than human also expect that race to have their lives completely together before they, as the “superior” race, can learn to behave themselves.
Sounds about white.
People's Court 