Don’t Ignore Race in Christopher Lane’s Murder

[littlelauren86]

Don’t Ignore Race in Christopher Lane’s Murder
The association of young black men with violence doesn't come out of thin air

Comments

[ladypolitik]

There's a lot wrong with this article.

Yep, all of them being John McWhorter.

[meadowphoenix]

He believes the continuing oppression of black people is because we're angry about being oppressed and we play the victim. He's black himself.

[roseofjuly]

Losing the Race: Self-Sabotage in Black America.I had to read this as part of the honors program at my college.* McWhorter is a linguist, yet he deemed himself expert enough to write this book (possibly because he's a black person with a PhD, no other reason). His three-fold argument is that racism is over and black people use "victimology", separatism, and anti-intellectualism to sabotage ourselves and hold us down. We're always crying that we're victims without examining our own role in our own oppression; we're focused on staying separate from white people and maintaining our own culture rather than trying to assimilate with whitey; and we don't like school and smart people things. According to McWhorter, if we would just get over ourselves and start acting more like white people, all of our problems would disappear and we'd be All Better

[compost75]

Chris Hayes did a brilliant takedown of rightwing white attempts to paint themselves as the REAL victims of racism, especially regarding this case

http://video.msnbc.msn.com/all-in-/52823605#52823605

[sesmo]

Let me guess, the author is white.

[the_physicist]

MTE

[meadowphoenix]

He's not. He's black. His contempt for other black people is well-documented however.

[lozbabie]

RIP Chris. I met him at a tournament a number of years back and he was the nicest person. A complete waste of a life.

[littlelauren86]

Wow, I'm sorry to hear that.

I agree, this was a horrible crime. I'm upset they've turned this into a black vs. white thing when you know it has no business here. They've taken America's major gun problem and made it into a "3 black guys" problem.

[lozbabie]

Baseball/softball world is very small in Australia. I was dating a guy at the time who guested a tournament in Victoria with Chris's club.

And agreed on the gun problems America has. Itt disgusting and if Sandy Hook didn't change anything, nothing will.

[littlelauren86]

And agreed on the gun problems America has. Itt disgusting and if Sandy Hook didn't change anything, nothing will.

Oh, I know. The entire thing just makes me sick to my stomach.

[soundczech]

This is kind of tangential, but I've been kind of horrified that these kids names and photos have been all over the Australian media. What they did was really horrible, but there's a reason it's illegal to publish the identities of minors who commit crimes in Oz - because we should protect children, no matter what awful things they do. For the first few days they were anonymous, like usual, but suddenly they were everywhere and I don't understand why.

[lied_ohne_worte]

I've seen them in online articles here in Germany, too - at least the photos, not the names. And with German cases, that too wouldn't be possible (not just if minors were concerned, but with adults too; we have a high-profile neo-Nazi trial right now where only one of the three accused is identified by full name and is pictured unblurred). I suppose the press would really like to publish such information all the time, so they jump at the opportunity of doing so when they get material from a country where the laws are more lenient.

[lozbabie]

Realistically they're all over the American media. The Australian media not publishing doesn't mean Australians wouldn't be able to find the pictures.

[soundczech]

Even though I know they're all over the US media, I still kind of wish the Australian media would hold up the principle - I know that's idealistic of me, but I think it's a good law and it should be respected.