I Just Want To Know

While the sexual recriminations  about powerful politicians and superstar media talking heads appear daily in our social media  and mainstream news outlets, I had more than one inquiry as to people who want to know where is the outrage when minorities are being shot down almost daily in American streets. From a recent Facebook post I read, “While I agree with what’s being said about the sexual harassment situations.  (All caps from here)..Where are  these types of condemnations when it comes to Black men and women being shot down in the streets.  Where is this type of quick action with the firing of police officers who kill black people in the street, like they just fired Charlie Rose within days of the allegation against him. Where is the kind of outrage from these news people like the ones here when it comes to killing Black men and women by the police. I just want to know.”  The short answer is there is plenty of outrage, however outrage does not create laws, politicians do. Not only is there outrage here in the US, but there is worldwide outrage.  First there are a couple things we have to cover which contributes to the lack of support for black deaths at the hands of the government. I recently read an article that so poignantly says it better than than I can, “I rest so much easier at night knowing my son was killed by another black man than a white man.” The first myth: African Americans don’t care about black on black crime. So although we have a lot of people decrying police brutality, not nearly as many are speaking out against black on black crime. If black lives matter so much, they wonder, then why isn’t there more outrage when a black person pulls the trigger and guns another black person down in the street. Accordingly right-wing activist and news media they say that blacks only get outraged when a black is killed by the establishment and that the agitators real aim is not to ensure justice  but to get a platform from which to speak by taking advantage of an incendiary situation. Secondly, Black folks are not only the victims of police brutality, but also of crime. The two are the reciprocal of the same thing. Black are the victim of black on black crime just as often as they are the victims of white collar crimes, whose economic toll on our people rises to the hundreds of billions of dollars. Finally, the myth that black on black crime is unique to us. This is one that most of us know. This is going to be short and sweet. Blacks are likely to kill other blacks and whites are likely to kill other white. There are plenty studies on it, but personally, I think it has something to do with the segregation thing. The other thing we need to talk about is do black women have a harder time dealing with and reporting sexual assault than white women? Again the short answer is yes. According to a post in the “LA Times,” The narrative around sexual violence largely focuses around straight, white women. So if you don’t really fall into that category, you don’t really have as much knowledge about sexual violence against your particular community.” I tend to agree with this based on “secondly.” There are so many answers to I just want to know, but I think my answer at the beginning of this article is the real answer you are looking for, outrage does not create laws, politicians do.