White fear of Black men

[MrScorpio]

Bonnie Berman Cushing

I have been devoted to a white anti-racist path for close to a dozen years, but I still stiffen with fear and a state of heightened awareness when I find myself alone on a darkened street with one or more Black men nearby.

As a dedicated student of anti-racist facts and principles I know intellectually that white people are five times more likely to be attacked by another white person than by a Black one and that two-thirds of the rapes committed in our country are by white men. I am aware that the vast majority of corporate criminals are white and that most of our politicians who have declared war – bringing death and destruction to millions – also have the same skin color as I do. My own experience includes a mugging at gunpoint and a date rape – both at the hands of white men. And yet I have never found myself anxiously responding to a white male or males on an evening walk the way I do in the presence of Black men. Why, exactly, is that?

I believe there are several reasons for this disturbing phenomenon and that it certainly isn’t limited only to me, but also to most (if not all) white folks – and many people of color as well. History, psychology and media all play a significant role. The myth of the predatory Black man stands on the shoulders of centuries of stories and images shared from one generation to the next, sometimes directly and sometimes in coded messaging (such as admonishments to lock the car in certain neighborhoods or clutch your pocketbook closely on certain elevators and streets). Our collective fear of the Black man has a rich and detailed history, one that by this time has practically been encoded in our national DNA.

A Black woman, writing under the name M. Gibson, expressed this truth succinctly in a comment on a blog site shortly after a police officer killed Oscar Grant in Oakland, California:

As a nation we seem to have very short memories. Fear of the black man just didn’t start overnight, and it didn’t just happen during the course of our lifetime; like any singularity it has to have a beginning. Its origin has been embedded in this nation’s consciousness since the Nat Turner revolt; a pathological fear that the oppressed will one day rise up and inflict vengeance upon the oppressor.

http://euroamerican.org/wordpress/index.php/2013/03/10/white-fear-of-black-men/

[handmade34]

1. a wise history professor

of mine, after class one day, without much comment, handed me a well worn copy of "The Strange Career of Jim Crow" I have since put it on my Kindle and just started to reread it the other night...




"What we are witnessing today is no accident"

Having served as the national scapegoat in the reconciliation and reunion of North and South," writes Woodward, "the Negro was now pressed into service as a sectional scapegoat in the reconciliation of estranged white classes and the reunion of the Solid South. The bitter violence and blood-letting recriminations of the campaigns between white conservatives and white radicals in the 'nineties had opened wounds that could not be healed by ordinary political nostrums and free-silver slogans. The only formula powerful enough to accomplish that was the magical formula of white supremacy, applied without stint and without any of the old conservative reservations of paternalism, without deference to any lingering resistance of Northern liberalism, or any fear of further check from a defunct Southern Populism." (82-83) In effect, African-Americans became a sacrifice to perpetuate the white man's peace.

http://www.kevincmurphy.com/woodward.html

The fear that black people would become too wealthy or accomplished was what caused early twentieth century southern whites to strategically lynch some of the most accomplished black families, the ones who owned a horse and buggy or a nice suit jacket... White fear has systematically and by design demolished and suppressed black wealth, mobility, and familial progress for over three centuries. What we are witnessing today is no accident.

http://watercoolerconvos.com/2014/08/10/white-fear-the-single-greatest-killer-of-black-people-in-the-us/

Why did Jim Crow become entrenched in the 1890s? The third-party Populist uprising of that decade threatened conservative Democratic rule in the South. Many of those blacks who could still vote, and the number was considerable, joined the Populist insurgency. To check this political rebellion and prevent blacks from wielding the balance of power in close elections, southern Democrats appealed to white solidarity to defeat the Populists, whipped up anti-Negro sentiment, disfranchised African Americans, and imposed strict de jure (by law) segregation.

[daleanime]

6. And my reading list grows longer......

Thanks a lot.

[handmade34]

10. glad to have offered it to you...

Last edited Mon Nov 17, 2014, 12:44 PM - Edit history (1)

"The Strange Career of Jim Crow" should be required reading for ALL US citizens! ...and now "The New Jim Crow" should be as well. Edit to add article from Daily KOS posted today

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/11/16/1344692/-How-the-racists-of-the-South-have-ruled-this-nation-from-the-very-beginning?detail=email#








http://www.npr.org/2012/01/16/145175694/legal-scholar-jim-crow-still-exists-in-america

[Mr Dixon]

32. Wow

Going to download this tonight

[7962]

2. She should complete her second paragraph with the rest of the facts.

Whites are far more likely to be attacked by other whites, just as blacks are far more likely to be attacked by other blacks. However, when the crime is mixed race, whites are 7 times more likely to be killed by blacks than the number of blacks killed by whites. Hence, her feelings are prejudiced by her knowledge, just as many blacks have the exact same feeling. Its not racism to have those fears. Jesse Jackson said some time ago how bad it made him feel to feel relieved to know people coming up behind him on the street were white. Its a shame, but its true.
I wonder how those numbers change if you include unwarranted POLICE attacks on blacks. Since they're never called "crimes". In a way, its worse because everyone should be able to trust the police. Although from stories I've seen in the past few weeks, its seems police have been trying to spread their brutality around more equally quite a bit
Now her comments about white collar criminals is also true. There are a lot of bankers, etc, that should be in jail. I dont know why our Justice Dept has been so slack going after them for more than just a "fine". But someone robbing you from afar doesnt put you in fear for your life. It certainly pisses you off though.

[brush]

3. I don't know about you, but I certainly fear those white male mass killers

Aurora, Sandy Hook, Santa Barbara — maybe you and Jesse should rethink who to fear coming up behind you.

[7962]

12. Whites also seem to have a corner on the pedophile crime as well.

For whatever reason.

[daleanime]

4. Don't assume take what some one is telling you....

is what you want to hear. Fear is not reasonable.

[JustAnotherGen]

9. n/s

To get to the more sensational conclusion, the article considers interracial homicide as a percentage of total homicides. And indeed, measured that way the "rate" of interracial murder has gone up. But it's an odd way to measure. The vast, vast majority of murders are intraracial. And, as noted, those murders have been dropping considerably. The interracial murder rate has been dropping, too. According to the Scripps Howard review, the raw number of black-on-white and white-on-black murders combined was about the same in 2010 as it was in the early 1980s. But the United States population has grown considerably in that time, from 227 million in 1980, to 315 million today. So if you measure it the way all other crime is measured, the interracial murder rate has dropped, not increased.

It is true that the rate of interracial crime hasn't dropped nearly as much as intraracial crime. Why might that be? Believe it or not, the news here is encouraging, too.

We aren't seeing the same rate of progress with interracial killings as we're seeing in the overall murder rate because the country is becoming more integrated. That's a good thing. You're much more likely to be killed over someone you know than by a stranger. So as blacks and whites are increasingly living together and interacting, there are more opportunities for feuds over money, love, and whatever other sorts of quarrels lead to violence. This, too, is suggested in the data: "In the 1980s, about 47 percent of white-on-black killings occurred between people who were strangers. That figure dropped to 40 percent since 2000." So not only is the rate of interracial killing going down, the rate of interracial killing among strangers -- murders more likely to be brought about by raw racism -- is dropping even faster.

The Scripps Howard piece also takes a regional approach: "Contrary to popular stereotypes, interracial killings are relatively rare in rural Deep South states, occurring at a rate well below the national average. Several crime experts agreed this rise reflects increasing social contact between Americans of different races occurring in many, but not all, communities."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/24/black-america-2013_n_3639934.html

[7962]

11. Notice the fallacy of the "war on blacks" is also mentioned in the article.

Bottom line seems to be, be careful who you associate with and where you live. Especially the former.

[JustAnotherGen]

13. Yep

I wouldn't want to live in some place like - Jasper TX ya know!

*Posted in AA Group - If offended Please Move on. That's the place of a very famous Hate Crime*

[7962]

15. No, I wouldnt either.

I'm happy that those mongrels got the death penalty; hopefully they'll see the needle soon.
But if you're gonna cite an article, you cant just pick a piece of it you like, you have to consider the whole thing. It is what it is and the numbers are what they are. I'm sure you dont like it, neither do I. As another poster pointed out, whites commit most of the mass killings. I stated that they also are most of the pedophiles. I dont like it, but I cant deny it either.

[JustAnotherGen]

25. I can do whatever I want

I'm a group host. Considered the whole thing.

It's like when we got into it re Fulton County a few weeks ago - you can't deny white flight there - or in Detroit.

[7962]

26. Oh I dont deny it happened yrs ago. But now they're moving back.

I guess the "fear" isnt what it used to be! As a matter of fact, in Atlanta the fear is among the power structure worrying that they may not be able to run everything forever. Look back at the Atl mayoral elections a few years ago and what was made public there when it looked like a white woman might win. But where I live there are no all black or white neighborhoods. I doubt theres even a whole street thats all one or the other.

[Mr Dixon]

33. Agreed

I avoid the south in general Just saying

[JustAnotherGen]

14. Check out the Blacks Are Magic Unicorns article

Bluetires posted it -

http://www.democraticunderground.com/11879640

[7962]

16. funny how they mention the "angry black female"

When we usually hear about the "angry white male" around every election cycle!

[JustAnotherGen]

17. She's a stereotype

We hear her and are fed here 24 * 7 365.

White guys have it easy. They only have to take the punch during election cycles.

Check out the book Sister Citizen - it clearly illustrates how the 'Angry Black Female' has been used for 100 years by society (out side of politics) to beat up emotionally and spiritiually on black women.

She goes hand in hand with Sapphire . . .


Not at all to be confused with a tragic mulatto.

Oh wait - is that? OH - oh my . . .

[brush]

18. This reminds me of Eldrige Cleaver's writings on the super masculine black male

You're probably familiar with his book "Soul on Ice" in which Cleaver talks about how white men had tamed the white woman into a weak-minded, weak-bodied, delicate sexpot on a pedestal, and in turn labelled the black woman a strong, self-reliant Amazon and deposited her in the kitchen like Aunt Jemima. He labeled himself the omnipotent administrator and boss, while black men were thought of as super-masculine menials with great brawn and magical sexual prowess — to be used only on black women however, while he himself could continue to use black women for his pleasure while keeping the white woman on her pedestal.

These writings are from the 60s and predate the women's movement and the decline in the fortunes of many white men but the memes of the magical sexuality of black men and the sexual allure of black women by many white men persists.

Here's a link:

http://books.google.com/books?id=55o1AcFCX1oC&pg=PA170&lpg=PA170&dq=eldridge+cleaver+and+super+masculine+black+male&source=bl&ots=Pz2KpFmQCP&sig=fXh7y3Cgk73YQZFP22gfIK71quA&hl=en&sa=X&ei=SR9qVO7QE8u4ogS2hYDwCQ&ved=0CE8Q6AEwDA#v=onepage&q=eldridge%20cleaver%20and%20super%20masculine%20black%20male&f=false

[JustAnotherGen]

19. Very familiar with Cleaver!

See my post below this -

http://www.amazon.com/Sister-Citizen-Shame-Stereotypes-America/dp/0300188188


Harris-Perry brings it into this century.

The best thing she does which grows on prior work in the area is the evolution of 'Mammy' to 'Welfare Queen'. But 'Mammy' could only exist as long as Slavery By Any Other name was around - just as The New Jim Crow 'concept' and incarceration rates lend hand to the Welfare Queen.

[7962]

20. "Delicate"? He hasnt met my ex-wife.

[brush]

21. Uh-oh! At least she's your ex. nt

[Number23]

23. That is one HELL of a read

It is in parts gripping, terrifying, illuminating and funny as hell all at the same time.

[JustAnotherGen]

24. ITA

Goes back to that guy tat got all of those recs for that awful thread when the Cheerios commercial came out two summers ago. He got the boot - but he obviously had bought into the status quo.

[Number23]

27. Interracial dating/marriage is just one of many, many, many, MANY topics that DU does not do well

[kwassa]

28. I used to see Eldridge Cleaver at church.

Early '90s, church in Santa Monica. He looked much older than he was, and walked with a cane. He was still hitting on the choir director, who did not appreciate it.

According to his Wiki bio, he had become a conservative Republican and a Morman, and this church was neither.

What a strange life.

[brush]

30. A repug and a Morman, that is a strange life . . .

considering his past in the Black Panther Party and the time spent in Cuba and Algeria.

Sounds like a soul who doesn't know who he is yet at an advanced age — sad.

[noiretextatique]

31. it is only a fallacy to the ignorant

that war has been raging since this slavery. it is reflected in targeted laws, higher arrest and conviction rates, and longer sentences. among other things.

[1StrongBlackMan]

29. The Seven Times figure that you cite ...

has been debunked, debunked and debunked again, yet it persists ... largely because of the level of numeric illiteracy in America (i.e., we look at raw numbers and try to draw conclusions). {ETA: I mean no offense, but since you cite to the numbers, I have to assume this group}

Here are some highlights (but I recommend reading the full piece ... if nothing else, you will gain a lesson in the understanding of numbers):

Despite claims by right-wingers (both mainstream and overtly white supremacist) that violent crime by African-Americans is out of control — and that blacks are criminally victimizing whites at massive and disproportionate rates — the facts say otherwise. As I show in the below analysis:

* Only about 1 percent of African Americans — and no more than 2 percent of black males — will commit a violent crime in a given year;

* Even though there are more black-on-white interracial crimes than white-on-black interracial crimes, this fact is not evidence of anti-white racial targeting by black offenders. Rather, it is completely explained by two factors having nothing to do with anti-white bias: namely, the general differences in rates of criminal offending, and the rates at which whites and blacks encounter one another (and thus, have the opportunity to victimize one another). Once these two factors are “controlled for” in social science terms, the actual rates of black-on-white crime are lower than random chance would predict;

* No more than 0.7 percent (seven-tenths of one percent) of African Americans will commit a violent crime against a white person in a given year, and fewer than 0.3 (three-tenths of one percent) of whites will be victimized by a black person in a given year;

* Whites are 6 times as likely to be murdered by another white person as by a black person; and overall, the percentage of white Americans who will be murdered by a black offender in a given year is only 2/10,000ths of 1 percent (0.0002). This means that only 1 in every 500,000 white people will be murdered by a black person in a given year. Although the numbers of black-on-white homicides are higher than the reverse (447 to 218 in 2010), the 218 black victims of white murderers is actually a higher percentage of the black population interracially killed than the 447 white victims of black murderers as a percentage of the white population. In fact, any given black person is 2.75 times as likely to be murdered by a white person as any given white person is to be murdered by an African American.

http://www.timwise.org/2013/08/race-crime-and-statistical-malpractice-how-the-right-manipulates-white-fear-with-bogus-data/

[daleanime]

5. K&R....

[JustAnotherGen]

7. Funny who shows up

To make it all about black folks really truly being vicious.

Totally ignored back here - until they find a way to land a punch.

[marble falls]

8. The last paragraph says it all.

[randys1]

22. Why would any Black American want to kill a white American?

There simply isnt anything in our history, whether that be a very long time ago


(insert photo of lynching here, I did that once and my post was hidden, imagine that, on DU)

or recent history

(insert photo of witch doctor Obama or story about Michael Brown or any number of other young Black males being shot by non Black people)

Surely it doesnt have anything to do with things like interstate cross checking of names preventing minorities from voting or in Florida in 2000 when Katherine Harris illegally dumped 90,000 AA from the voting rolls, would it?

Cant be about how Black people are followed around stores while white people arent or Black people unable to get a cab in a city or an apartment.

Nope, not saying of these things warrant shooting white people, but I can assure you if the roles were reversed there would be a whole lotta shooting going on...