A Sad but Illuminating Conversation on Race w/ a Young Black Witness to a Murder

It was easier for him to blame the phantom of white racism than to connect the dots with cultural worship of gun violence among black youth!

I hired a young black guy to help me with some work this week. He was having a bad day as the weekend before he watched as an acquaintance died in front of him from gunshot wounds.

He blamed white racists on the Police and ambulance for being so slow to respond though it's unlikely they could have saved the fatally injured man who suffered multiple gun shots including a shot to the head.

I pointed out that it wasn't a white man who pulled the trigger nor likely sold the gun. I then asked why do so many black men kill other black men. He looked at me like I was from the Moon. He didn't understand the question.

I pointed out that 90% of the murders of black men were by other black men. It's not my opinion, it's a fact from FBI crime statistics.

It's an older graphic but the rates haven't changed much:

My young acquaintance refused to accept these facts. Instead he pointed to television images of whites marching in Charlottesville, Virginia as proof that whites want to kill blacks. It didn't help when I pointed out that no blacks died in Charlottesville as a result of those protests.

I came back to the question of why young black men are killing other black men. He refused to discuss it and instead insisted on turning up his music. That's where it got revealing. The rap music that he was playing was mostly about shooting other black men for one reason or another. 

He was unable to absorb how this cultural factor glorifying gun murder might be a factor. Far easier to blame some far off phantom of white racists. But before we left the conversation I made it clear again that it wasn't white people pulling the trigger.

Today, Saturday, my acquaintance will attend the funeral. He seemed more concerned with what he will wear than why this was happening.

Those who are selling young blacks a tale of racial grievance and ignoring the obvious cultural factor are to blame for the genocide we see in places like Chicago and even the small black communities around the country. There are some in the black community who are aware of the true nature of the problem, but sadly, many are not. They are easily distracted by the siren song of white racism. So, the slaughter will continue.

Thank you NFL players for totally missing the point. But then, you're only doing what you were told!