A Profile in Justice: Race and Hatred in the Windy City
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Politics and Activism

A Profile in Justice: Race and Hatred in the Windy City

An Appalling Attack on Chicago's North Side Forces a Closer Look at Racism in America

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A Profile in Justice: Race and Hatred in the Windy City
BET

We need to have an honest discussion about race. Some people might not like me for what I have to say about this, which is why it needs to be said all the more.

On Tuesday January 3rd, four Chicago residents abducted and tortured a man. They shouted racial slurs at the man, disparaged his mental capacities (police later stated that the victim was indeed mentally handicapped), verbally abused the man’s political sentiments, slapped him, punched him, tore his clothing, and cut off parts of his hair and scalp with a knife.

Admit it, you haven’t heard this story before, have you?

The primary reason for that is because the assailants were black and the victim was white.

Now before one side of the aisle or the other gets worked up over this claim, let’s take a look at the facts of the matter.

The facts are that in an initial statement, Chicago Area North Detective Commander Kevin Duffin questioned, “whether this is sincere or just stupid ranting and raving”.

The facts are that Bernie Sanders’ former press secretary, Symone Sanders (no relation) stated live on CNN just after news of the attack broke that, “we cannot callously go about classifying things as a hate crime”.

Am I being nit-picky? Absolutely. Sanders herself prefaced her statement by saying the attack was unjustified and “sickening”. But the fact of the matter is that the primary reaction from the mainstream media after this attack was not for the well-being of the victim, but that we should not be too quick to judgement of the perpetrators.

Granted, I agree with Ms. Sanders and Commander Duffin to a degree. How, you ask? Well, as a law-abiding citizen I firmly believe in the concept of due process, and maintaining the American principal of innocence until proven guilty. And while the evidence is extremely damning against the four individuals charged (identified as Jordan Hill, Tesfaye Cooper, Brittany Covington, and Tanishia Covington) they deserve every right to a fair, free, and impartial trial.

What I do not agree with is the double-standard that Ms. Sanders and her contemporaries set by urging us to not “callously classify.”

Was it callous classification that damned George Zimmerman when he defended himself against Trayvon Martin? Was it callous classification that drove Darren Wilson out of town when he defended himself against Michael Brown? Was it callous classification when a University of Virginia fraternity was suspended because of a hoax rape allegation?

Ms. Sanders would say of course not. The charges that she and her liberal counterparts levied then were not rash judgments or attempts at character assassination, but righteous rallying cries to battle against the racism, sexism, and every other “-ism” that is eminent in American society. So what if Zimmerman, Wilson, and Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity were ultimately vindicated? They’re merely casualties in the slow and persistent march of social justice. The march for the “greater good."

The issue here is not one of justice (the four individuals have been charged with a variety of crimes, including hate crimes and have been denounced by every level of public figure) but rather of the perception of justice. To Symone Sanders, justice is the absolution of black men and women because they cannot be held responsible for their own actions while white men and women are crucified for the slightest of missteps, real or imagined.

It is high time that someone stood up and said that this line of thinking (pardon the language) is absolute horseshit.

I will acknowledge the historical variant. Historically, blacks have had to face an incredibly greater number of challenges than whites, regardless of what ethnic background those whites come from. Abduction. Slavery. Forced migration. Rape. Lynching. Disenfranchisement. Tenant farming. Sharecropping. Jim Crow. The list goes on. African Americans have been subjugated to a horrendous standard of treatment throughout American history.

But incredible progress has been made since the 1960s. Standards of living have risen for black Americans. Political acceptance and participation has shot up so much so as to climax with the election of a black man as President of the United States. Is this perfect representation? No. Do all black Americans live in harmony and sing kumbaya? Hell no. But, in the words of Orlando Patterson, a Harvard University sociologist, America is now the “least racist” white-majority society in the world. And Orlando Patterson is black.

So when I hear Symone Sanders talk about dealing with these perpetrators gently or I read an NPR article questioning the validity of the racism apparent in this case I can’t help but scoff at the double-standard. Of course it is possible to be racist towards a white person. Of course the concerns of white Americans are just as valid and of just as much concern as black Americans. That’s the principle of equality isn’t it? Of course, what Symone Sanders and her peers want isn’t equality, but power; political power and cultural power apportioned through the status of victimhood. That speaks to the fallacy perhaps inherent in the concept of hate crime itself, but such is a discussion for another time.

It is fitting, I think that I write these final words on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. This was a disgusting attack inflicted by one human being on another and that alone should be enough to warrant our scorn. That it was a racially motivated attack is an ambiguous modifier that should not be dwelled on, but cannot be denied. Yes, NPR. Yes, Symone Sanders. These assailants are racists, and racist in a much more tangible or profound way than that which you’ve accused the right-wing of being for so long. The color of their skin does not absolve them, just as it did not absolve the Klansmen, neo-Nazis, or other hate-mongers that preceded them and those who persist to this day.

That is the true definition of racial equality. That is the Dream.

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