A few days ago I came across a post on Facebook talking about the recent shooting of Sylville Smith in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In the article, the victim was described as a thug, something that really resonated with me. After commenting that the use of the word “thug” to describe the Black victim was stereotypical and harmful, the original poster retorted by posting a condescending screenshot of the dictionary definition of the word. The definition was “a violent criminal,” however this word is only ever used to describe Blacks. Really, Google Image search "thug" and count how many non-Black people you see on the first page because it's not going to take you long.
The word was never used to describe Olympic gold medalist Ryan Lochte, after he lied to the public about a mugging that was instead, him damaging property at a gas station in Rio de Janeiro after a party (mean while Gabby Douglas gets criticized for breathing in the wrong direction). It was never used to describe Austin Harrouff, a 19 year old who stabbed a couple to death and proceeded to eat the face of the male victim. Instead, he was described as a “Frat-boy” and a “teen,” adjectives that give him a more human and relatable look. Thug was never used to describe Brock Turner, who raped an unconscious woman at Stanford. Even the original photo used in the media showed him in suit smiling, contrary to the pictures often shown of Black men in the media.
(For example: I googled Brock Turner and Sylville Smith and chose the 3rd image of both and these were the results)
Additionally, the word was used to describe Black rioters during the Freddie Gray Protests in Baltimore. Thug, however, was not used to describe the rioters in San Francisco in 2014 after the Giants won the World Series. The rioters who celebrated the Denver Broncos winning the Super Bowl in 1999 were labled as “hell-bent on causing trouble,” by the spokesman for the mayor, not thugs. This just proves that there is an incredible double standard when using the word. Honestly, close your eyes and imagine the person that the word makes you think of, it’s probably someone who is Black. It’s just like when you think of the word terrorist: most people sadly and inaccurately think of someone who is either a) Muslim or b) of Middle Eastern decent which couldn’t be farther from the truth. In fact, most of the terrorist attacks committed on U.S soil are by White males (64%).
This brings into light how Blacks are often criticized for bringing race into everything, when in fact, race has a large factor into the daily occurrences in our lives. With the case of Ryan Lochte, for example, many people have brought up the fact that because of his White privilege he was able to come out of the situation with out much criticism. Others, however, failed to see that and were insulted that his race was brought into it. From that, Black people were judged for “always bringing race into every situation.” It’s hard to tell a group of people who were enslaved for centuries, segregated from others, and treated as sub-humans for the entire history of this country that race issues no longer exist and are no longer a HUGE factor into a lot of events (i.e arrests, politics, etc.) .
From this, it’s clear to see that people are often represented in different ways in the media due to their race. Blacks (and other minorities) are given harsher adjectives, making them seem more severe while Whites are given more compassionate adjectives so they seem more human and their actions are more forgivable.
