No Moral Outrage?

We have had several episodes in the news lately about Black kids killing White people. Each of the stories had an obvious racial element to them and yet there hasn’t been one tenth of the moral outrage we saw in the Zimmerman case –and the racial element in that case was incidental at best. Why is that?

In one case three kids simply drove up behind and young man and shot him dead “because they were bored”. But one of the perpetrators, a black teenager, has a violent record and has made highly racial comments in the past, including online. 

In another case an 80+ year old man was sitting in his car when he was viciously attacked, robbed and beaten to death by two young black teenagers.  

In a third case an employee of Homeland Security, a Black man, has been found to be the head of a radical racist group complete with a web site that openly promotes revolution and the killing of white people.

In still another case a young black man shot a white woman in the leg and then shot her little baby between the eyes.

These cases are so heinous and violent they are hard to believe.

If the situations had been different and victims had been black and the perpetrators had been white the outcry would have been deafening. Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson would have gone to the scenes and lead protests. Riots would have broken out in Oakland and other cities across the country. 

But there has been no such reaction. No condemnation of the violence by leaders of the black community. Why is that? By their omission of outrage they are implying that it is different when Black people participate in racially motivated violence towards Whites or Hispanics or Asians.

It is a double standard. It is pure, unadulterated hypocrisy. And it is wrong.

If we want to defeat racism in this country we need to have an honest and open debate. That debate must be completely absent of this attitude. All sides must be willing to admit bad behavior, take responsibility and be willing to do the hard things necessary and to call out people in their communities for racially based comments or actions. And White leaders must get over the “guilt complex” they have developed and be willing to cry out when these atrocities are perpetrated by people of any color. 

Equality will be achieved when everyone is treated equally and violent actions are not ignored or excused because the people responsible are members of a racial minority. It will not improve until the Black Community is willing to condemn, not excuse, Blacks who commit violence. When Muslims are willing to condemn, not excuse, Muslims who commit violence. When Whites condemn, not excuse, Whites who commit violence. When Hispanics condemn, not excuse, Hispanics who commit violence. And when Asians condemn, not excuse, Asians who commit violence. 

What we desperately need right now are leaders from every community who are willing to speak out and say the things no one wants to hear but everyone needs to hear.

 

 Live Long and Prosper...