Newtown shooting: Focusing on young black men in hoodies while ignoring young white men with Glocks
Veteran teacher Bob Fecho, now a reading education professor at the University of Georgia, writes about young men, violence and guns in the wake of the Newtown shooting:
I am a white male. I’ve been in education for nearly 40 years and for 24 of those years I taught in three different secondary schools in Philadelphia. The students in all those schools came from working class and working poor black families.
When I would tell other whites who I’d meet casually—a taxi driver or a sales clerk, for example—where I worked, I’d hear anything from the coded “It must be hard teaching them kids” to the bald “You should get a medal for teaching there.” I suspect they imagined a school running amok, with fights breaking out daily, gangs terrorizing teachers, and mayhem rampant. Such was never the case.
Instead, I would see how the young men I taught were frequently vilified in local media, how black on white crime was plastered across the 11 o’clock news, despite its low occurrence rate relative to other crime. My students would tell me about policemen who would pat them down merely for standing on a street corner, about store clerks who followed them from the moment they entered a store until the moment they left, and about whites who, when seeing them approaching, would cross the street.
In America, we seem to live in fear of black males.
On Dec. 14, a white male killed 27 victims — most of them children — in a school in Connecticut. In July of this year, a white male murdered 12 people and injured 58 more in a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. Before that, U. S. Representative Gabby Giffords and 18 other people were shot by a white male. Six of them died, including a child and a federal judge.
Mother Jones magazine, in a report on mass shootings in the United States, indicated that since 1982 there have been at least 62 such shootings. The magazine went on to report that 43 of the killers were white males. Of the remaining 19 shooters, fewer than 10 were African American.
Rather than avoiding black males in hoodies, it would seem to be wiser to keep white males from carrying Glocks.
Yet we don’t.
In fact, we continue to make it easy for white males, and anyone else with the ready cash to buy weapons that facilitate such mass and random violence.
And it’s the randomness that is especially troubling. When I taught high school in Philadelphia, there would be fights from time to time. You put 2,000 adolescents in a relatively small space and there will be fights. But the violence was always focused. Someone disrespected someone’s mama or made moves on someone’s girlfriend. The offended sought the offender and the incident rarely spread beyond that.
But mass shooters—who are overwhelmingly white males—might start with an intended victim but then it becomes killing for killing’s sake. Anyone is a target. Anyone is free game. You turn a corner at the wrong time or open the wrong door and you’re a victim.
And curiously, we white males might be the greatest danger to ourselves. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide rates for white males 24-64 are far higher than any other combination of gender and race, except for Native American males. And the rates for older white males, those beyond 64 years of age, skyrocket.
The suicide method of choice tends to be guns. A Harvard Public School of Health Study showed that suicide rates trended higher in states with high rates of gun ownership and lower in states with lower rates of gun ownership.
We as a nation see the statistics. We wring our hands over the wasted lives. We send money to the families of victims. Yet a U.S. Congress that before the last election was in the neighborhood of 85 percent white and 83 percent male continues to drag its feet on any kind of substantive and pervasive gun control legislation. And we, the voters, let them.
Worse, we allow different standards to exist. If 43 of 62 mass shootings had been perpetrated by black males or Latinos, particularly if whites had been the targeted victims, I can only imagine the punitive legislation, the mandated sentences, the investigative commissions, and the building of even more and larger prisons that would have occurred. We would see these murders as some form of collective uprising that needed to be quelled.
But because white males commit the wide majority of these horrendous crimes, we choose to view them as isolated incidents —sad and tragic— but isolated, nonetheless. We refuse to acknowledge that we as a society create the easy access to weapons of widespread violence and the alienation that often leads to the use of such weapons. We continue to shirk our responsibility in terms of how we facilitate the purchasing of weapons of mass violence and how we ignore the needs of those so alienated that they resort to the use of such weapons.
As one white male to all the others, we need to look in the mirror; we have to begin seeing the realities around us. Whether we are carrying semiautomatic weapons, access keys for electronic voting machines, or legislative briefs in the halls of the U.S. Capitol Building, we provide the American people with far more to fear than any minority in this country.
We can continue in this self-destructive vein or we can re-envision a more compassionate and safer world. I suggest we take the initiative and do the latter. If not, as the last election suggested, all who aren’t white males will not so gently shove us out of the way.
Banning weapons of mass violence and seeking greater support for the families of children and young adults struggling with depression and alienation would be a good place to start.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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213 comments Add your comment
Will
December 21st, 2012
4:49 am
If you are going to target stereotypes, which I am in your boat for doing so, keep in mind for the handful of shooters like this, the crimes that “black men in hoodies” commit are of an entirely different nature. They happen everyday, not a handful of times a year. They happen as part of daily life, not after a tormented soul stews and stews for years and years until he snaps. These murders that happen randomly, happen on streets just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, or looking at someone the wrong way. Kids standing on their front porch, sitting on a park bench, or even a man in a parked car. Chicago, for one, has had one of it’s more deadly years, and this is daily life — no one is declared “insane” or “alone” for those crimes. If they get away with it, they are back to life and texting like it’s any other day. THAT is insanity.
Beverly Fraud
December 21st, 2012
5:13 am
Two points stand out.
But the violence was always focused. Someone disrespected someone’s mama or made moves on someone’s girlfriend. The offended sought the offender and the incident rarely spread beyond that.
But mass shooters—who are overwhelmingly white males—might start with an intended victim but then it becomes killing for killing’s sake. Anyone is a target. Anyone is free game. You turn a corner at the wrong time or open the wrong door and you’re a victim.
Notwithstanding the fact that there is indeed collateral damage in inner city violence, there is a large measure of truth to the fact that mass shooters seem intent upon collecting as much collateral damage as possible. Goes back to the alienation factor and how to address that.
Ronin
December 21st, 2012
5:25 am
Interesting article.
However, it’s written by a liberal educator that hates guns and sees them as well as fellow whites as the problem.
A closer look should be given to mental health and the over prescribing of SSRI’s (selective serotonin reuptate inhibitors) by the medical community. As far as whites committing more of these crimes? Yes, they make up a larger percentage of the population. However, from a percentage standpoint, blacks commit a far greater number of gun related crimes. The crimes they comment are usually a crime of opportunity (Georgia Tech students). With the motive being liberating your personal property from your possession rather than killing you, as police departments put far greater resources on a case to catch a murder suspect vs. someone who took your $15,000.00 Rolex. If white or black and they steal your watch vs. killing you, they are a lower profile target.
In both cases, the issues start at home. Lack of parenting or poor parenting.
What I find interesting is that many people (including Mr. Fecho) always have to make this an issue of race, or find a statistic to make a political point. It ALWAYS happens. Why should a reading education professor process superior knowledge on this or any subject vs. a psychiatrist or any other mental healthcare worker or criminal investigator. The fact is, he doesn’t. This man has a liberal political opinion with an axe to grind about guns.
Many of these so called white crimes occur at government school zones, which are off limits to even those with state concealed carry permits. A recent post by the AJC from the college presidents of Georgia stated that they were opposed to any legislation that would allow citizens/students to carry, with a state license, a concealed firearm on a college campus. Given that city and school police are not able to cover all areas of the campus, one would have to ask, what do they fear?
The obvious answer is that it’s the student or citizen that is lawfully authorized to carry a concealed weapon in most other areas of the state. School shootings are not an uncommon event, shooters while, in my opinion are mentally ill, see this as a “political” crime of opportunity. They have a venue to do the most damage with the least opposition. Yet you have the college presidents, administrators and teachers lining up to support an illogical position because of political ideology.
So, going forward, new concealed weapons permits holders should not only be subject to a background check but must also pass a proficiency test, with class time and range time. We offer the same training to law enforcement, we can do a mini version for those who wish to carry concealed firearms in the State of Georgia, including county schools and state colleges.
The police are there to enforce the laws, but are not able to protect you at all times. The second amendment gives the individual this right to bear arms and protect themselves.
George P Burdell
December 21st, 2012
5:54 am
During the same time period researched by Mother Jones, 274,252 blacks committed murders. To focus on 62 mass murders and ignore the larger numbers is a “crime” in itself. It’s also not really a racial issue. During that same period 238,203 whites and 11,822 people of other races committed murders. The focus needs to be on the culture of violence that pervades our society. I’m curious about how long ago the quoted writer taught in Philadelphia, which in 2011 ranked #1 in the nation in homicides. Maybe things have changed in the old neighborhood.
Lee
December 21st, 2012
6:01 am
I Googled “self-loathing white guy” and Bob Fecho’s picture came up. lol
I see the ultra-liberal, politically correct AJC and Maureen are continuing with their anti-gun diatribe. Maureen, you really want to discuss race and crime? Really? OK
Crime Rates:
Blacks are seven times more likely than people of other races to commit murder, and eight times more likely to commit robbery.
When blacks commit crimes of violence, they are nearly three times more likely than non-blacks to use a gun, and more than twice as likely to use a knife.
Hispanics commit violent crimes at roughly three times the white rate, and Asians commit violent crimes at about one quarter the white rate.
The single best indicator of violent crime levels in an area is the percentage of the population that is black and Hispanic.
Interracial Crime:
Of the nearly 770,000 violent interracial crimes committed every year involving blacks and whites, blacks commit 85 percent and whites commit 15 percent.
Blacks commit more violent crime against whites than against blacks. Forty-five percent of their victims are white, 43 percent are black, and 10 percent are Hispanic. When whites commit violent crime, only three percent of their victims are black.
Blacks are an estimated 39 times more likely to commit a violent crime against a white than vice versa, and 136 times more likely to commit robbery.
Blacks are 2.25 times more likely to commit officially-designated hate crimes against whites than vice versa.
Gangs:
Only 10 percent of youth gang members are white.
Hispanics are 19 times more likely than whites to be members of youth gangs. Blacks are 15 times more likely, and Asians are nine times more likely.
————————————–
And don’t forget the most heinous crimes in modern history occurred when a bunch of Arab Muslims armed with nothing more than box cutters took over several jet airliners and crashed them into buildings.
Joel
December 21st, 2012
6:15 am
Great writing here. Just add a bunch of unrelated statistics that don’t really lead to any conclusions, put in some vague racial statements and voila! you’ve got an essay about nothing. People will continue to be amazed that more white males commit mass shootings that black males. I can’t imagine that happening in a country where white males vastly outnumber black males!
Selective analysis
December 21st, 2012
6:17 am
Well, I agree with the letter writer that mass shootings are the white man’s burden; did the letter writer want to do any further analysis of the percentage of population most likely to commit crimes with handguns, have single-parent families, or live on government subsistence (the latter two correlate strongly to prevalence for future criminal behavior)? Seriously, anyone that wants to point the finger at one race needs to just admit that the woodpile isn’t any neater on the other side.
Chris
December 21st, 2012
6:39 am
Seriously Lee, not sure if your link was meant to be sarcastic but you clearly negate your rational viewpoint when you post it.
Cindy Lutenbacher
December 21st, 2012
6:47 am
Lee, will you give the source for your stats?
GB
December 21st, 2012
6:54 am
It is difficult to believe this man is serious. The mass killings, however horrible they may be, are spit in the ocean. Maybe 100 deaths or so in a bad, bad year. This is out of something like 10,000 gun homicides per year in the US. About three-quarters of the dead are black males, and the vast, vast majority of the killers are also black males.
As to the media focusing on black on white crime – NONSENSE.
First, black on white crime is not rare. It is commonplace. Most violent crime is not interracial in character, but of the crimes with perps of one race and vics of another, the vast majority have black attackers and white victims. And the media often go to risible lengths to conceal inconvenient facts. (How many times have we read about the gender of a suspect, his height, the color of his clothes and getaway car, but not his race?)
Read today’s paper. Look at the local crimes being reported. The home invasions. The rapes. The murders. The bodies being found. See where they occur. Read between the lines a bit if the paper doesn’t include some pertinent facts. The AJC isn’t reporting selectively on these crimes because it wants to create a false impression about black males. It is reporting on them because they are happening.
Sugar Plum Fairies
December 21st, 2012
6:54 am
Seriously? Can we drop the political correctness and have an honest discussion about the glorification of guns in the poor black community?
Atticus Joad
December 21st, 2012
6:55 am
Ronin has a valid point about the writer’s experiences 16 years or so ago in public schools. That’s just a little less than my total years of experience, in rural and suburban schools, and the culture/climate changes have been staggering. Another reason why professors of education and most teacher education programs are worthless.
Grob Hahn
December 21st, 2012
7:05 am
Yet another racist perspective on mental health and guns. These mass killings by lone white maniacs are far more rare than inner-city gang shootings. And most of those are being metted out by, of all things, young black guys in hoodies. This “article” you are quoting is an absolute distortion of the facts to satisfy an obvious agenda. I would think as an educator you could leave your bias at home Maureen. This time you didn’t and in the process have made your own position a great deal more obvious. While I think you should be ashamed for being a self-hating racist, I know that’s not possible with leftists. After all, they are NEVER wrong. Right?
Grobbbbbbbbbbbbb
Cindy Lutenbacher
December 21st, 2012
7:15 am
I would like the ad hominem attacks to stop. Let’s try to talk about the issue.
Timmy
December 21st, 2012
7:21 am
Surely you are not suggesting that there are not major problems in urban school districts. Take a look at Chicago. How many young Black males have been killed over the last 6 months? Far more that were kill in Connecticut. Does that mean we forget one an focus on the other? Of course not! However, to say America faces a great theat from young White males is a complete non-sense.
Berny
December 21st, 2012
7:48 am
Although many of you raise great points, you all missed his. Stop being so afraid of the truth. Just as the inner city violence committed by young black males (Chicago) needs to be addressed, the horrific violence perpetrated by the young white males (Auroro, Newtown) must also be addressed. But sadly, we’re not there yet.
Lee
December 21st, 2012
7:48 am
@Cindy, re the source of the above stats:
http://www.colorofcrime.com/colorofcrime2005.pdf
A 27 page compilation of crime statistics obtained from sources such as the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program, the Dept of Justice Uniform Crime Statistics, and the National Crime Victimization Survey.
bu2
December 21st, 2012
7:57 am
The writer brings up his self-loathing white bashing. I appreciate the tone of the posters so far who are reciting facts, not anti-black racist rants. The writer almost seems to want to bring out the racists, which seems to be the purpose, not to promote any meaningful dialogue.
There is a deeper issue than controlling guns or improving mental health, but too many people are trying to push their agenda rather than solving the problem, which isn’t that easy. We have a society that is much more violent than it should be.
Burroughston Broch
December 21st, 2012
7:57 am
I recently read 446 school age children have been shot in Chicago in 2012, and 62 have died. The national news media, including the AJC, ignores these deaths, even though their number is three times the Newtown tragedy.
While I have not done the research, I wager that most of them died at the hands of a black murderer than a white murderer..
Dr. Proud Black Man
December 21st, 2012
8:00 am
A better article would have been about white WWI and WWII. The greatest crimes EVER committed against humanity by white people. Lee would you care to post some stats on the lives lost due to white instigated wars?
bu2
December 21st, 2012
8:01 am
The rudeness of the younger generations that gets promoted by the anonymity of the internet could make this violence problem worse. I get disturbed when our President denigrates his opponents simply because they have different views. Tolerance of diversity in skin color is promoted, but tolerance of diversity in thought is discouraged. That isn’t promising for people solving issues peacefully. It demonizes and dehumanizes those who think different.
Wilbur
December 21st, 2012
8:01 am
Nonsense like this might wash in some circles but seems strangely divorced from reality and mired instead in a ideologically driven view of the world.
Aquagirl
December 21st, 2012
8:02 am
I would like the ad hominem attacks to stop. Let’s try to talk about the issue.
Oh, but then we couldn’t dismiss incidents like the one in Sandy Hook as unavoidable and unimportant, and the white man writing about it as “self-loathing.” Clearly this is a reason to talk about violence by African-Americans. Plus, we can buy 8 more sweet guns in case one of those scary black guys walks through our neighborhood with Skittles and iced tea.
bu2
December 21st, 2012
8:04 am
@Dr. Proud Black Man
I think the Japanese really started WWII. They were fighting in Asia before the war in Europe started.
homeschooler
December 21st, 2012
8:04 am
Berny, I was just going to ask “What is his point”. He seems to care so much about the black community does he not read the statistics on the number of black children accidentally or purposefully killed by guns? I don’t know the statistics but I’m pretty sure there are more black mommas celebrating Christmas this year without their children than mothers of white school shooting victims. Is he not angry that so much focus is put on the little white children who died. We had 4 children shot in Atlanta in the past couple of months. Four babies just laying in their beds.. Thankfully only one died but I’m sure Chicago, Detroit, LA etc…are filled with cases of deaths of children and teens by gunfire but yet some say we are ignoring that and focusing on the white crime. Obviously both need attention and both are getting attention I’m just playing devils advocate and I think Mr Fecho makes a ridiculous point. I’m still going to be on guard if someone who looks like a gang member (regardless of race) approaches me on the street vs. a young man who is dressed appropriately and carries himself like he cares about himself. And the next time a school shooting happens (just like this time) I’m going to say to myself “I bet the shooter was a young white intelligent kid who played video games and kept to himself”. BOTH need attention and both are getting attention but I’d say the white guys are getting more attention. So, again, what’s his point?
My husband read a comment about school shootings from a girl in an inner city school who said “we never had to worry about school shootings. There were always two or three officers patrolling the halls and we had so many gang members anyone who thought of shooting up our school knew that some of the kids were packing so they never would have tried”. Interesting perspective.
D
December 21st, 2012
8:13 am
“we provide the American people with far more to fear than any minority in this country.”
Better cross the street if you see a white person.
Lee
December 21st, 2012
8:18 am
From the FBI profilers:
“On television and the silver screen, serial killers are usually white males and dysfunctional loners who really want to get caught. Or, they’re super-intelligent monsters who frustrate law enforcement at every turn.
According to a new publication from our National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime—entitled Serial Murder: Multi-Disciplinary Perspectives for Investigators—serial killers are much different in real life.
2. Serial killers are not all white males: the racial diversification of serial killers generally mirrors the overall U.S. population.”
http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2008/july/serialmurder_070708
One caveat – the above was in reference to “serial killers”, a different classification than “mass murderers”
AnonMom
December 21st, 2012
8:20 am
Hitler was white and set up gas chambers to murder millions… but that’s not our current issue. As I’ve posted elsewhere, I would really like to see more attention paid to the fact that many of these white guys who have done these shootings have been “coddled” since childhood and have not been given ‘coping’ mechanisms — this really ties into the mental health issues — some are not avoidable and that ties into the need for America to perhaps return to having facilities that we need to use and this is a tough subject — I don’t have these answers — other answers are needing to return to a society favors 2 parent homes that actually parent kids; kids who learn to fail at a young age -e.g. learn how to lose during a soccer game; a basketball game etc without a parent blowing coaches heads off or ump’s being chewed out and winners being recognized and strong players being recognized for skills rather than for who they know — kids need to learn to appreciate their own strengths and to accept and overcome weakness and barriers. I think this dovetails into stopping social promotion — I don’t think this helps anyone and leads to these issues. I think we need to stop medicating so many of our males and start teaching them — coping skills for life and academic skills for success.
GB
December 21st, 2012
8:21 am
Burroughston Broch
It is unlikely that you would find anyone foolish or ill-informed enough to make the wager. You may hope to find someone like Fecho who let’s ideology blind him to facts.
AnonMom
December 21st, 2012
8:21 am
sorry — I don’t mean my 2nd sentence to be so definitive –I’m wondering about these facts not certain but guessing based on age….
GB
December 21st, 2012
8:23 am
Dr. Proud Black Man
Well done! Excellent technique. Faced with unpleasant facts and irrefutable logic, you….CHANGE THE SUBJECT!
Dr. Proud Black Man
December 21st, 2012
8:23 am
@bu2
Weren’t the Japanese given honorary Aryan status by Corporal Shicklegruber?
Kim
December 21st, 2012
8:24 am
Well, my agenda is…alienation
Maybe, thats why i see it repeated in the article..THREE times
almost too much for a short piece
Dr. Proud Black Man
December 21st, 2012
8:25 am
@GB
No, just questioning why “you people” always seem to get a pass on the horrific crimes committed against mankind.
GB
December 21st, 2012
8:26 am
Aquagirl
More ideology blinding someone to harsh reality. Tell you what. I have an idea. Go for a walk tonight. Say 9:00 pm. Metropolitan Parkway or Cumming? You decide.
indigo
December 21st, 2012
8:27 am
“In America, we seem to live in fear of black males”.
Yes we do. And for good reason. For every white shooter, there seem to be at least 7 to 10 black ones.
Jesse Jackson once told of an incident when he was walking down a street and heard footsteps behind him. When he turned around and saw it was a white man, he was relieved.
Georgia
December 21st, 2012
8:28 am
This is becoming torture. Race? 10 of 62 is one sixth. The proportions are within a reasonable approximation of the proportions in the larger population. It’s an American problem. One of our biggest problems. It ranks up there with racism, but racism beats it hands down. I’ve had enough of politicizing this tragedy. Hasn’t anyone any respect for the dead? The price of freedom is death. Thats what we know. That’s what makes America work. Freedom is bought and paid for everyday. and boy, are we free.
Jameson
December 21st, 2012
8:30 am
MD should should visit the darker side of social networking. AAs are outraged that white guys get so much of the media’s attention while inner-city blacks die every day at the point of a gun.
Jack ®
December 21st, 2012
8:32 am
I respect Ms Downey’s choice of material: But I didn’t get past the heading to know she was presenting another liberal apology for being white. The culture has enhanced our natural instincts to survive and when we encounter what we perceive as danger, we react in an absolutely normal way. It might have been Cosby– I’m not certain– but a black notable said he was always relieved to know that someone walking behind him was white. The good teacher is welcome to his stats, but I’m not impressed.
Lee
December 21st, 2012
8:35 am
@Argosy Guy, interesting that you bring up genocide. Top 5:
1. Mao Zedong: 34-63 million
2. Stalin: 23-60 million
3. Hitler: 6 million
4. Hideki Tojo: 5 million
5. Pol Pot: 2.5 million
http://justontop.blogspot.com/2011/11/top-5-worst-genocides-in-history.html
Cindy Lutenbacher
December 21st, 2012
8:42 am
Just one more word from a white person to other white people: facing up to racism is the opposite of self-loathing.
Dr. Proud Black Man
December 21st, 2012
8:42 am
@lee
Thanks for proving my point. What was YOUR point?
10:10 am
December 21st, 2012
8:48 am
An obstinate disregard of crime statistics, and the fact that violent crime is far more common (per 1,000 residents) in the inner city than elsewhere, is beyond misleading—it’s criminally negligent.
Using Newtown as a red herring adds to Mr. Fecho’s shame.
indigo
December 21st, 2012
8:48 am
Cindy – 8:42
And, facing up to the racial realities of violence in America is seeing things as they really are and not as you would like them to be.
Private Citizen
December 21st, 2012
8:53 am
White people commit their crimes using the “coward from the skies” technique.
Attentive Parent/Invisible Serfs Collar
December 21st, 2012
8:55 am
This is yet another attempt to divert attention from the innovative transformative psychological emphasis of the middle and high school programs of so many of these shooters. Where what the school or district is intending to do in the classroom is changing the values, beliefs, and principles of the student in ways that frequently run 180 degrees from the mind and values the student brought from home.
http://www.invisibleserfscollar.com/do-you-live-in-a-district-piloting-deep-and-continual-personal-change-in-the-individual-student/ may sound like a graphic title but it is lifted from an aspirational document. What they intend to do in the classroom. Written months ago when I was merely worried that there would be another tragedy because the common factors involved in so many of the previous tragedies were being nationalized via things like Positive School Climate and Moral and Performance Competency with odd requirements in practice.
The psychological emphasis is not news to a UGA ed prof. They have had a Center for Learning and Teaching for years and the multimillion dollar funding grant in 2002 was at the time the largest research grant in UGA history. In any department or school.
I have mentioned that the psychological emphasis and theories and practices being introduced into the classroom are based on the work of Soviet psychologists. That’s both in the early 70s UNESCO report I wrote about last week. What I don’t believe I have ever explained on this site but would be relevant to what a UGA faculty member would know about the psychological purpose is a great deal of the Russian translations were arranged by UGA Ed Prof Jeremy Kilpatrick. He worked with Chicago prof Izaak Wirszup to arrange for these works to be translated into English as part of the work being conducted on behalf of the Psychology of Mathematics Education (PME) group. Jeremy was also the Principal Investigator on the original $33 million and change PRISM grant that pushed Georgia into piloting performance standards generally and the poorly understood integrated mathematics in particular.
The constructivist math involved in that grant is also part of the Standards for Teaching and Learning created in Chicago in the early 90s. President Obama, by the way, as well as the publication Ed Week, have referred to those Standards for Teaching and Learning as the real common core. They mandate that the emphasis be on the student and changing them, instead of academic content.
By the way I found all that about the Standards for Teaching and Learning and how they are what constitutes Best Practice and what the intentions are following up on what was going on in the San Diego high school attended by the Aurora theatre killer.
And knowing all this breaks my heart. But not nearly as much as ignoring all these common factors would.
Now let me get back to reading Bill Spady describing his also implicated Future Empowerment transformative paradigm. The one that describes the learning community obligation that mirrors precisely what Avossa has Fulton implementing right now.
bootney farnsworth
December 21st, 2012
8:57 am
I know the point of this blog is to promote comment, but ….
this stupid article and many of the comments which follow it set us back about 20 years.
Dr. Proud Black Man
December 21st, 2012
9:00 am
@bootney
Facts are always right but your OPINION is never wrong.
Whirled Peas
December 21st, 2012
9:00 am
If you are concerned about violence, there is much more violence occurring in black neighborhoods then there is in schools, but it does not fit the agenda of the left to talk about it.
Stop the racism here
December 21st, 2012
9:02 am
I also teach in a majority black school with far fewer fights than the media would have you believe. We teachers joke that if we want Fox to show up to cover our band concert we should report a fight in the parking lot. I am sad for my kids who live in horrible circumstances. I am ever sadder reading all the racism in these comments. This teacher isn’t pretending there is not black crime. He is saying we are ignoring these angry young white men in these mass shootings.
Lexi
December 21st, 2012
9:03 am
Any statistic on which group kills and maims more people in any given year?
Mike
December 21st, 2012
9:03 am
My friend who taught at Jonesboro High for 25 years has told me some stories about daily life in that school that were bad. He says the police were called to their school every week to deal with some out of control situation. So his story does not math up well with the guy who was in a similar situation in Philadelphia.
I live in a rural north Ga. county that is 99% white and guess what? We have almost zero violent crime.
My retired teacher friend lives here now too.
indigo
December 21st, 2012
9:05 am
bootney
You need to spend less time here and more time on your homeschooling lessions.
Too Blessed
December 21st, 2012
9:05 am
Point blank the stats are there so u see it for yourself people, it is what it is, blacks do more “black on black crime” I stay in the city and read about it everyday..More blacks committing senseless crimes is very true, but when “whites” jump on the other hand- they go crazy and kill everybody.. Its been said over and over people, it is what it is, although it shouldn’t be acceptable
Ga Tech Rules
December 21st, 2012
9:06 am
I believe the Virginia Tech shooter was Asian, the shooter in Alabama was a female professor, the shooter at Fort Hood a Muslim of Arab ethnicity, and the list goes on. Perhaps the mass killings cited above were so horrendous because the white males were capable of planning and executing their plans, as opossed to the crook in a hoodie robbing a store and at the last minute deciding to kill all the witnesses. Odd how the special interests have dug their hooks into this mass murder, from the mentally ill lobby, the black lobby, the autism lobby, the gun control lobby, the more money for education lobby. What a pack of opportunist!
williebkind
December 21st, 2012
9:07 am
“Newtown shooting: Focusing on young black men in hoodies while ignoring young white men with Glocks”
Now that is a typical liberal attempt to use journalism to exploit a tragedy.
Young black men in hoodies are simply young men with sound minds choosing a particular dress code. But the attack on white men with glocks is a lie and a Piers Morgan moment of rant to push a personal agenda. The white man in question was an evil manic who had access to another persons firearms. He took them and used them breaking all laws and the moral laws of nature.
Did Piers Morgan invite you over for dinner Maureen?
Aquagirl
December 21st, 2012
9:10 am
I have an idea. Go for a walk tonight. Say 9:00 pm. Metropolitan Parkway or Cumming? You decide
I’m sorry you feel so threatened by discussion of these mass shooters that you have to pull the scary black guy card.
If we’re talking statistical probabilities of dangerous locations: I, as a woman, am in more danger at home with a boyfriend or husband of any color. Far more women are killed by their partners than random black guys. And this statistic is possible because men buy guns, which can kill quickly before that angry impulse passes. Men buy guns and justify it because somebody might invade their territory or god forbid, rape their wimmen property in their territory. The result is thousands of dead women.
Guns are used by tiny little men angry they can’t control _____. It’s notable when it’s a mass shooting, but completely unremarkable when it happens to individual women.
Now let’s watch white men run like rats from THIS discussion.
KIM
December 21st, 2012
9:12 am
@Dr. Proud Black Male: Your points begin as concern that the writer has that perhaps we pay more attention to certain stereotypes and ignore others which are lethal. At first I thought you may have legit points, but then your arguments deteriorate in content and credibility. When people got really upset with Bob Costas about a violent culture, I was puzzled. He is right on. Whether it is race on race or an insane individual with a Glock, semiautomatic or other, death is death. And all cultures must face up to all our responsibility in ending the violence. And I have another bit of advice for you and the two others who do the same in this blog: drop the Dr. and you will have better appeal. Your significance is in your content, not in any kind of handlebar.
GB
December 21st, 2012
9:13 am
Attentive parent
Excellent points. You may also want to reference the expositionalist studies among Ugandan prepubescent males (1973 and 1981) which demonstrated that their perceived continualitionalism and preference for external- rather than internal-structualist norms affected their socialization skills vis a vis the similar studies done in the 1960s among the lower-class Scottish youth raised in Glasgow slums.
Dr. Proud Black Man
December 21st, 2012
9:15 am
@ stop the racism here
“This teacher isn’t pretending there is not black crime. He is saying we are ignoring these angry young white men in these mass shootings.”
You’re wasting your breath. SOME of “these people” here still got that bream in their eyes!
Dr. Proud Black Man
December 21st, 2012
9:17 am
@Kim
Please find your husband and lecture to him and let me know how it goes.
GB
December 21st, 2012
9:20 am
Aquagirl
What you say is true only if you avoid Metropolitan Parkway and show poor judgment in selecting your husband/boyfriend.
Maureen Downey
December 21st, 2012
9:23 am
To Aqua’s point:
http://www.pbs.org/kued/nosafeplace/studyg/domestic.html
Of females killed with a firearm, almost two-thirds were killed by their intimate partners. The number of females shot and killed by their husband or intimate partner was more than three times higher than the total number murdered by male strangers using all weapons combined in single victim/single offender incidents in 2002.
The Violence Pol’y Ctr., When Men Murder Women: An Analysis of 2002 Homicide Data: Females Murdered by Males in Single Victim/Single Offender Incidents, at 7 (2004), available at http://www.vpc.org/studies/wmmw2004.pdf
GB
December 21st, 2012
9:24 am
Aquagirl
And I am not the one who introduced the issue of race. Remember the article we are all commenting on? Fecho is describing a Bizarro world in which young white misfits pose the danger while peace loving black youths study math and volunteer in soup kitchens.
BG
December 21st, 2012
9:29 am
My opinion of the writer went downhill when I saw that the teaches “Reading Education” at UGA. What is that course all about? To teach folks to read who should have learned that in grade school?
Matthew Howell
December 21st, 2012
9:33 am
It is a false equivalency to compare inner city violence with suburban violence because of the lack of opportunities available to inner city residents. Much of the crime in inner city areas could be eliminated with the creation of valid opportunities for young minorities in these regions. Consider Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. If a person is not able to provide for basic needs, considerations of morality and ethics will be non-existent. Much of the gun-related violence in urban areas is violence committed because there are no apparent opportunities, and a great deal of futility in the lives of urban residents. Active shooter situations are completely different in nature, as most of these people come from suburban areas and middle class backgrounds. I am not stating that one type of violence is better or worse than another, just that comparing the two is a false equuivalency lading to spurious conclusions. Finally, posting stsatistics from white supremacist funded organizations like the New Century Foundation is not presenting compelling evidence, Lee.
Lee
December 21st, 2012
9:35 am
@Maureen, and statistically, the majority of vehicle deaths occur within 25 miles of your home.
Sorta falls in the category of “absolutely correct but totally irrelevant” stats.
Private Citizen
December 21st, 2012
9:36 am
break for action sequence kung-fu movie, working class black man vs. white guy in suit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS4CWKK-UWA#t=80m15s
GB
December 21st, 2012
9:36 am
Maureen:
What you say is true, but it would be truly shocking if this were not the case. Women spend a lot more time with their husbands and boyfriends than they spend strolling among strangers in dangerous neighborhoods, and domestic disputes are bound to occur. 1500 murderous husbands/boyfriends are 1500 too many, but out of 150.000,000 American men you can expect to find some bad ones.
Maureen Downey
December 21st, 2012
9:36 am
@BG, Teaches aspiring teachers in the UGA College of Education how to teach literacy and writing. He is the author of a noted book on how to work with adolescents on writing, “Writing in the Dialogical Classroom: Students and Teachers Responding to the Texts of Their Lives.”
He is also the author of “Is this English?” Race, language, and culture in the classroom (Teachers College Press).”
M
Aquagirl
December 21st, 2012
9:37 am
and show poor judgment in selecting your husband/boyfriend.
Those women deserve it because they failed to notice the stamp on his head reading “abusive control freak?” If some stalker shoots her after two casual dates well….that dumb woman had it coming to her.
You are a pathetic coward to blame women for their own murders. And doubly so since it’s for the purpose of “winning” an internet discussion. If you’re a man I suggest you warn any potential or current partners of your fragile ego. Guys who do creepy things to prop themselves up over such minor matters are the ones women need to avoid.
Lee
December 21st, 2012
9:39 am
@Matthew, well then, it should be easy for you to go to the source documents (FBI and DOJ publications) and disprove their information. Go ahead, show us where they are wrong.
GB
December 21st, 2012
9:42 am
Aquagirl
You are saying that I said things that I didn’t say or imply.
GB
December 21st, 2012
9:45 am
Lee
Well said. I was going to make this point but you did it first and better. A fact does not stop being a fact if it is cited by New Century or reported on Fox.
BigB
December 21st, 2012
9:47 am
I’m a black man and I found this article ridiculous. If race is to be brought into the discussion related to the Newtown massacre it should only be around the question of why did it take the killing of mostly white children in the suburbs, to ratchet up serious talks on gun violence? There is no question that there is a serious problem within the black community when it comes to crime and the issues that precipitate that crime needs to be looked into more than concentrating “as much” on the relatively rare incidences of white male mass shooters. Some parts of Chicago and Philadelphia are war zones, where the gangs are no different than warlords in some areas of Afghanistan but there is no serious discussion about that. If we combine all the white male mass shootings, this writer used as examples, we still have a death total lower than the gun deaths in Chicago this year. I’m not going to lie, when I carry my handgun, I’m not really thinking about white males, I’m thinking about young guys who unfortunately look like me. Do white guys rob, steal, sell drugs, commit home invasions, shoot up schools, commit hate crimes, conspire to commit terrorist acts, beat their wives, drive drunk…of course!
Smoke Rise Mom
December 21st, 2012
9:48 am
I fear a society that is entertained by senseless, violent killing and the media that sensationalizes it. Evil comes in all colors and it’s idiotic to debate which flavor deserves more attention. It certainly isn’t more comforting to a grieving family to know their loved one was killed by a person of this ethnicity who was troubled by whatever in their past by whatever weapon rather than some other.
The root of the problem is the entertainment industry that gives us movies like Hunger Games that glorifies killing children. Even Batman has turned into a really dark character over the past couple of decades. Video games make killing fun. And don’t forget the media that goes into a frenzy reporting on these horrific events.
Yes, gun control is a much easier solution than taking on this industry which is so near and dear to the politicians.
Lee
December 21st, 2012
9:48 am
And since Maureen and Aquagirl are tossing statistics out there, the probablility that any of us will be victims of a mass murder are probably something like .0000000000000000000000000000000000000001%.
But hey, nothing like some sickly looking white guy with acne and a glock to get everyone ducking under the kitchen table and crying “ban all guns”. Right?
GB
December 21st, 2012
9:54 am
Big B
You make a good point, but why is it that the epidemic of crimes committed by blacks against other blacks gets relatively little attention? What brings out the Jesse Jacksons and Al Sharptons of the world, leading marches and such? Is it the ongoing black on black crimes that are the real problem, or is it non crimes like the Duke lacrosse non rape?
its not about race
December 21st, 2012
9:54 am
race does not really have much to do with it: Poverty is the problem; and one of the best ways to end poverty is through education. somewhere the black community lost the thought that education is the way to equality. Much like the way our own government has treated Native Americans where they where placed on resevations we have placed large parts of other minorites in projects. and we wonder why so many are angry. Next, men like Prs. Obama must come forward and speak the truth; I mean Bill Cosby has and look what ppl have said about him.
EDUCATION or training must be made a priority instead of the continous bloodletting of money that GA keeps cutting from education
Common Sense
December 21st, 2012
9:56 am
This paper feeds itself on racism.
Aquagirl
December 21st, 2012
9:59 am
Then GB please share what you meant when why women are only in greater danger if they “show poor judgment in selecting your husband/boyfriend.”
I’d really like to e-mail your blather to a friend who had to change her phone number, buy a security system, and implement various security measures after “showing poor judgement.” A guy she saw for about three months showed disturbing signs so she asked him not to call her any more. That’s when her nightmare commenced.
I could also recount the friend who had to MOVE and change jobs to get away from creepy boyfriend of less than a year, but by now even you should get the picture.
Here’s a hint: these guys often go ballistic when women try to break off the relationship. That’s when they get killed or seriously injured. And it doesn’t take a long time for these guys to decide a women belongs to them. Some women are literally unaware of their “relationship.”
So please, expound on your weighty experience and lecture my friends on their poor judgement. Fortunately for you women are less likely to violently attack men with a gun, even if those men are know-it-alls in areas where they know absolutely nothing.
Or you could keep your mouth shut. That’s the wisest option when you don’t know jack about a subject but I’m betting you don’t take that course.
BS
December 21st, 2012
10:02 am
Give me a break. 2/3s makes it about even with the population. But please, let’s not forget to mention that a disproportionate number of non-mass shooting murders are committed by minorities, and often on other minorities. Not that I think that means there should be punitive legislation, but if we’re going to talk truth, then you aren’t playing. Instead you are twisting and omitting.
Lee
December 21st, 2012
10:03 am
@BigB, and that’s one of the problems facing this country. In order to solve a problem, you must first be able to talk about it.
However, whenever someone brings up the problem of violence in the black communities, if they are white, they are called racist. If they are black, they are called Uncle Toms. Notable blacks such as Bill Cosby and Walter Williams have brought up the subject and been villied.
I’m all for talking about the issue of mass murderers, irregardless of whether they are white, black, or purple. The very idea of wantonly murdering 6 & 7 year old children is incomprehensible to me. I would really like to know what it is in these murderers minds that allow them to commit such a heinous crime.
Is it exposure to violent movies, songs, video games? Is it being prescribed psychotropic drugs? Is is a mental illness (well, yes, but what)?
Unfortunately, the anti-gun crowd has hijacked this discussion. If it were not a gun, it would be a pipe bomb, or running into a crowd of people with an automobile, or some other method. One thing the human race is competent at is devising ways to kill each other.
But yet, we are still left with the question of why.
homeschooler
December 21st, 2012
10:04 am
@ Lee…I really like you.
My goodness...
December 21st, 2012
10:05 am
Would love to have an intelligent discussion, but this is nothing but race baiting. Reference to Mother Jones magazine (which is like conservatives putting forth National Review as a credible news source) and pulling out the hoodies rhetoric is purposefully lighting a match a couple feet from dynamite. Unfortunately interspersed between meaningful topics on this blog is stuff like this. Have a good holiday season, all.
Don't Tread
December 21st, 2012
10:09 am
“we continue to make it easy for white males, and anyone else with the ready cash to buy weapons that facilitate such mass and random violence”
Wow, that’s an awful lot of racism, Communism, and just plain stupidity packed into one sentence, “Professor” Bob. As a “professor of reading education”, you might try “reading” the Constitution or a history book at some point.
Lee
December 21st, 2012
10:09 am
Three reasons why I would never lift a hand in anger against my wife:
1. I just was not raised that way.
2. My wife knows where I keep all the guns.
3. I gotta sleep sometime.
skipper
December 21st, 2012
10:09 am
Comparing the DAILY murder/mayhem etc. that goes on in Chicago, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Detroit and yes, Atlanta to shootings by deranged mental nuts is nothing more than a red herring. Of course these mass dhootings are tragic…..however, the individuals are deranged from the get-go….not just common criminals. Everybody says “pull the stats.” One does not have to pull stats….just watch the frickin’ news. Find the stats in Atlanta and Macon, right here in our own state. See who disproportionately commits the murders, carjackings, robberies, etc. To defend criminals, black or white (or red, for that matter) by putting something like the above article diminishes all crime. The problem is leadership…..Jesse and Al want only to go where money and publicity are. they have NO SOLUTINS to the daily killings in Chicago, so they will not address it. Everyone knows that crime affects (and is committed) by all races. However to diminish the problem the black community now suffers disproportionately is the height of stupidity.
skipper
December 21st, 2012
10:10 am
p.s…..thats “solutions.” Typos “are me!”
James
December 21st, 2012
10:10 am
Fecho”…If 43 of 62 mass shootings had been perpetrated by black males or Latinos, particularly if whites had been the targeted victims, I can only imagine the punitive legislation, the mandated sentences, the investigative commissions, and the building of even more and larger prisons that would have occurred. We would see these murders as some form of collective uprising that needed to be quelled.”
So true.
To proud black man
December 21st, 2012
10:11 am
What, no mention of the ongoing slave trade by your esteemed family in Africa? Talk about crimes against humanity. Haven’t we all fought long and hard to resolve this issue yet “your people” continue to perpetuate the crime. Not even mentioning the Asian human trafficking or the Arab and Indonesian crimes against women. A suggestion, let’s stop the race talk and race baiting and move to all humans saving other humans from atrocities. Didn’t mention white crimes because it it the topic of the hate filled misinformed article.
Attentive Parent/Invisible Serfs Collar
December 21st, 2012
10:27 am
Maureen,
He said Reading Education and you said Literacy and writing. Now I know that Literacy is actually different from reading as traditionally understood because I have copies of all those UNESCO reports that explain the difference. Fecho explaining the difference would make for a much more useful post. Plus it explains why Georgia’s NCLB waiver allows students who cannot actually read most print to no longer be held back. Apparently without telling student or parent they can’t read as traditionally understood.
A dialogical classroom is a dialectical classroom. Which again is not about the transmission of knowledge or academic content. It’s a classroom where the purpose is social interaction and student engagement with each other, not content.
Again explaining the purpose of the dialogic classroom would be a good use of Fecho’s area of emphasis. Not trying to make this tragedy about race and disarming people. When the State itself is the predator, you can understand why gun control would be its desired remedy.
Resistance is futile as the saying goes. Especially if the Second Amendment were no longer enforced or was reinterpreted.
Just A Teacher
December 21st, 2012
10:29 am
Again, I ask the question for which I never get a satisfactory answer. What does race or gender have to do with any of this? If people would just focus on individuals instead of race or sex, we would be much better off. Are most mass murderers Caucasian? I guess so if that’s what the statistics show. Do people of other races commit mass murder? Yes. Has anyone here ever heard of the Sudan or Cambodia? What about that woman in Florida who killed so many men? Each individual is responsible for him or herself and to imply that one’s race or gender makes one more violent is utter nonsense.
I believe the overwhelming majority of people of all races and genders are kind and decent. If I didn’t believe that, I could not be an effective educator. I will not stereotype anyone, nor do I have any respect for those who do. Grow up, people! Whether violence is perpetrated by white men or blue haired old ladies, it is just plain wrong!
Peace on Earth! Good will to men!
indigo
December 21st, 2012
10:30 am
Aquagirl
Years ago, in the early 60’s, I lived in Atlanta. Every Friday and Saturday night I would go out walking, often around Five Points. Not once did I ever have any problems.
Today, a lone white guy walking around downtown Atlanta on a Friday or Saturday night would be a sitting duck.
Atlanta is ruined and, ignoring the reasons and hoping they will just go away, are the politically correct’s way of coping.
PastyFacedWhitey
December 21st, 2012
10:37 am
Why not? Another thing that is obviously my fault for being a white male in America. All of my slaves that I owned (oh wait my ancestors were in Europe then) and all of the hangings I participated in with the Klan (oh wait I wasn’t born yet) justify laws that give any non-white an advantage over me in the job market. What will it take for me to be ‘disenfranchised’ like any other minority?
I guess I’ll just be another non-diverse cracker with a gun, waiting to explode and kill innocent people just so idiots like this can publish pap to fill a word count. Give me a break.(and don’t worry, sheep, I don’t even own a gun…)
Please take away both my first and second amendment rights. I won’t be needing them once China is in charge anyway.
RCB
December 21st, 2012
10:39 am
Maureen, why is this topic even on your blog? The discourse here has very little to do with education.
Attentive Parent/Invisible Serfs Collar
December 21st, 2012
10:40 am
What does race or SES or gender have to do with this? It’s about the purpose of the dialogic classroom. To change the student’s belief system. As this article that Fecho co-authored about his classroom makes clear.
http://www.cocostudio.com/pubs/Fecho-July10_EE.pdf . Creating an atmosphere where wobble takes place. And if that kind of cognitive dissonance and psychological focus on changing the student has harsh side effects and that recognition begins to enter the public domain after a horrific tragedy, you write an op-ed asserting it’s really about race and guns.
And the AJC publishes it as if race and guns really are the issue in Newtown or Aurora or Columbine.
Must not allow tragic consequences to interfere with the political transformation process that’s supposed to occur via the classroom from the inside-out.
Using techniques like the dialogic classroom and refusing to teach reading phonetically because of the inherent side effects it creates of bolstering the abstract mind. Which is what Vygotsky wrote about. The Vygotsky cited on page 1 of the linked article.
skipper
December 21st, 2012
10:45 am
Congrats Fecho,
You have now aptly demonstrated what is so wrong with the education system today: folks like you are involved in it! If you are teaching at UGA, then the pre-requisites must not be too demanding. Makes my diploma from there a little less valuable…..
Attentive Parent/Invisible Serfs Collar
December 21st, 2012
10:53 am
Oh skipper, you have no idea. http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/events/623?x-t=sites_eos.view
“A dialogical classroom is one in which literacy is used to immerse teachers and students in an ongoing, reflective conversation with the texts of their lives. As such, reading, writing, speaking, and listening are seen as tools for making meaning rather than ends unto themselves.”
Kids cannot read and write well anymore because the ed profs refuse to even let teachers try. And by making the essence meaning-making the teachers get to target values and change those and go after purpose and the realms traditionally served by religion and spirituality. So says the organizer of the Education as Transformation conference at Wellesley in 1998.
Like I said. The psychologized, spiritualized, transformative classroom pursuit and complete abdication of the consequences.
Aquagirl
December 21st, 2012
10:54 am
Well Indigo, what is your solution? Round up the dark folk so your hypothetical white man won’t be terrified?
There’s no doubt young black men shoot young black men…and black children, white women,etc at a disproportionate rate. If your solution is “well, black guys should just stop doing that.” Is not gonna have results, except to make you feel superior. Unless you think there is a biological reason it’s pretty clear it’s cultural. Blaming African-American culture seems a preferred response. That’s simply another version of GB’s “teh wimmen should stop being stupid.”
I have my own ideas as to why black men are more likely to shoot others but I’m more interested in what others think, including you if you have an opinion.
Mountain Man
December 21st, 2012
10:56 am
Every day I get out of bed I look at news. a killing at a club, a home invation, A child shot by a stray bullet. This is in all Atlanta. Then we have a candle light vigle after that they forget about it.The poor child is dead.But no electric chair.Oh we forgive them. But no chair because you don,t like the chair.
Moderated?Really??
December 21st, 2012
10:59 am
Let’s look at it for what it REALLY is. Let’s first acknowledge that the Black/Hispanic/Latino community has a crime problem. There is too much perpetuated and directly attributable to primarily social factors, that being poor economic conditions and opportunity. Yes, it ties directly into education. This senseless violence is rooted in control of an underground economic agenda – to attempt to gain economic parity in a system to which there is severe disparity. That means drug dealing, thefts, robberies, etc and control of the territory and people to aqcuire MONEY.
Now let’s look at the White Community and specifically the White MALE. First of all, this country was TAKEN with the barrel of the gun pointed at the Native Peoples who occupied this land. Failure to acknowledege that makes for a non-starter to the conversation. That point is of the utmost importance, because it forms the basis for what has taken place on an earth where 70% of the people are of color, YET the majority of the world’s wealth and resources are controlled by White peoples. The GUN and other advanced weaponry is the ONLY thing tht makes such a thing possible, not superior genetic or intellectual superiority.
The White has ALWAYS understood this, and this is why he has throughout history been MARRIED to the gun. It is his end-all-be-all. In a “nation” that sees the demographic balance shifting as it is in the US, this perceived notion that there is some threat genetic annihilation (really) fuels this obsession to new levels. It indisputable that the White male has enjoyed immense privilege throughout history, especially in the U.S. With that he has come to feel as if his way should dictate for all. If his lead is not followed or he feels threatened he brings forth whatever force necessary to bring thingsin line to his choosing, including taking the gun up against his perceived “foe”.
This is a psychological thing, as we see time and time again the same familiar story – White guy gets shunned. White guy gets pissed. White guy feels the need to show the WORLD how powerful HE is! Too many White men have difficuly dealing with things those of us who do not enjoy the privilege have to deal with all the time, like being doubted, questioned, marginalized or even ridiculed. Also, they impart these same frustrations on to their sons and vent amongst friends to where it becomes groupthink, no different than they accuse non-Whites of doing (like the accusations of teaching THEIR kids that “the man” is always trying to keep you down). I hear it on the job, in the restaurants, on the blogs and other places.
So this is something that needs to be dealt with and dealt with openly, honestly, and will require some abandonment of that privileged perspective, which unfortunately is cast onto others as “entitled”. They don’t realize it is oftentimes THEY are the epitome of “entitled”.
One World
December 21st, 2012
11:36 am
Regardless of race…bottom line is we are all in the same boat.
The crime rates for blacks versus whites are a lot higher, but folks do you really think it’s based on the color of skin or the why a black or white brain is wired.
Let’s look at the economics (lack of education, lack of family structure, lack of community support).
If were to track two parolees (one black – and on white) and track the progress of both..you will find that the white ex-con will still have more opportunities to succeed than the black ex-con)
Is this racism….or is it based on the fact that there’s more opportunities (family support, networking) for the white ex-con to succeed than the black…it’s part of our society – is it going to change..I don’t know – but for now it is what it is…
Ace
December 21st, 2012
11:38 am
Gangsta Rap is celebrated by the media…(listen to a few of the songs and what the messages are)
GB
December 21st, 2012
11:38 am
Aquagirl
Your anecdotes are quite interesting. I also know women who have been stalked and attacked by men they know. I know others that have been attacked/robbed at gunpoint/carjacked by men unknown to them. Are your anecdotes more relevant to the conversation than mine?
“Fortunately for you women are less likely to violently attack men with a gun, even if those men are know-it-alls in areas where they know absolutely nothing…”
This is not fortunate for me, as I have never harmed or threatened a woman in any way. You are making me out as some kind of woman-hating thug. My mother, my sister, my late wife, my female cousins, my nieces, my female co-workers, my female neighbor who came to MY house instead of hers when she was being followed by a strange man, the woman I saved from a purse-snatcher and other women would all disagree with your assessment.
I believe more women should arm themselves to protect themselves against predatory men. The woman I know who has been carjacked will shoot the next time it happens.
William Casey
December 21st, 2012
11:39 am
We pay a high price for what passes for “freedom” in America. Reminds me of the old Janis Joplin lyric: “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.” Race is a red herring when it comes to violence in America. There are stats available to prove any point, to whit: On a percentage basis, God is the all-time murder champ having taken out everybody except Noah’s family. There’s enough blame to go around when it comes to violence in America. I believe that this is the most schizophrenic set of responses I’ve ever seen posted here. Just thought I’d add to the chaos.
The Carnivore
December 21st, 2012
11:40 am
Maureen’s job is not to write or even reference others – it is to draw eyeballs to the ajc.com website to increase ad revenue. Therefore, the incentive of every news website is to post liberal garbage that draws the ire of sensible people, who then flock to the website to disagree. And it works. Look how many comments she gets, and she only actually wrote one sentence, at 2AM.
The days of writers being rewarded for good writing is over. The goal is now to get attention by any means possible, and that is why you see nonsense like this posted more frequently by major media outlets.
Jae
December 21st, 2012
11:42 am
As opposed to people of color or, say, any minority, white men as a subgroup are in such a privileged position in our society that they are the one group that our political system avoids demographically profiling in any way. It’s sad and pathetic for anyone to commit such crime no matter the race, ethnicity or creed. Crime is crime and perpetrators should be dealt with equally across the board but, who am I kidding?! Injustice, inequality and racism are still alive today…
Blacks commit crime = Hood upbringing/environment
Foreigners commit crime = Terrorist
Whites commit crime = We need to look into gun control, mental health, violent videogames and other factors that would serve as a lame excuse.
Give me a break!
Jim Chaput
December 21st, 2012
11:44 am
How did we reach the point of such alienation? How did these mass murderers come to worship death for its’ own sake? And why are young people, who typically are full of dreams for their future, cutting their own lives, and the lives of so many others short? This is a relatively new sub-culture and the murders are not driven by the available weaponry. We have had self-loading weapons with large capacity magazines since shortly after WWI, but their use in mass murders didn’t start until the last twenty five years. Moreover, these murderers seem to use the same three types of weapons – the AK-47, the AR-15 and the Glock – to the exclusion of many equally powerful and available types. Are they taking their cues from computer games and the mass media or is something else driving it? If we eliminate these three types of weapons, will they simply switch to something else? And in all of these cases, AFTER THE FACT, many people admit that they knew the murderer was “going over the edge” or at least “looked dangerous,” yet, nobody called in the cops. Why not?
One person claimed in a posting that all of the recent mass murderers were, or had previously been, taking prescription psycho-active drugs. Does anyone know of an authoritative citation for this?
Susan
December 21st, 2012
11:47 am
Wow! Shoot the messenger. . .at least that’s what the responses to this article sound like. No one ignores the fact that the black community is rife with black on black crime nor that the white community also suffers from crime committed with guns. The issue is that violence in our culture is rampant and guns tend to be the weapon of choice. No one wants to take guns from sportsmen who enjoy hunting, but allowing people to buy hand guns and semi-automatic and automatic weapons that are NOT used in gentlemen sports is ludicrous. Further, the idea that concealed weapons that can be carried in public places will provide protection is equally ludicrous. . .a shootout in a public school or restaurant or theater or park between the bad guy and the “good” citizen increases the odds of victims. The answer is not to make a racial issue of violence. . .it is to recognize that we have a problem and fix it. Limit the types of weapons available and make stringent guidelines for ownership work. . .legislate the gun industry as Congress has done with the tobacco industry; another place to start may be with gun shows where anyone can buy a weapon without the required background check, or so I’m told. The entertainment industry needs to get a grip as well. . .movies, TV, and games glorify violence.
Bobby
December 21st, 2012
12:03 pm
It is a shame that this person in allowed to teach at a major university. If he wrote this as an essay for me in a class he would receive an F. He leaves out any supporting data on black and white crime statistics. This essay is rambling and unsupported by relevant data. He deliberately leaves out information to make his very weak argument. The AJC is culpable in bringing this type of weak analysis to the public. This man’s back ground is in reading education not criminal justice. What makes him an expert on crime? Do you have to scrap the bottom of the barrel to fill content in your paper?
Aquagirl
December 21st, 2012
12:06 pm
Are your anecdotes more relevant to the conversation than mine?
Yes.
This isn’t anecdote wars, where whoever can provide the most stories of women assaulted/killed wins. Women are in more danger from men they know than men who lurk in parking lots. Period. But nice try at a squirm. Do you want to follow up with a tap dance?
I only offered anecdotes as a rebuttal for your snide blatting that women should “just make better choices in boyfriends and husbands.” Oh, how very simple. Gosh, I’m so glad we have men like you to offer solutions because our brains couldn’t come up with one.
You see yourself as so wonderful to women, don’t talk about us like we’re children or idiots who should avoid death by psychic readings of potential mates.
And I wish I had a dollar for every man like you who has legions of anonymous women supporting his view he’s a wonderful blessing to all womankind. That’s some convincing evidence there.
Try your line about how beaten/murdered women should–duh—avoid those bad guys on some of these women. If they nod, they’re probably counting the seconds in their head before this rambling @$$ stops pontificating and goes elsewhere. There’s little profit in telling guys like you you’re not Mr. Solution because you’ll never believe it.
Steve W
December 21st, 2012
12:09 pm
Excellent article. The operative word here is male. There is a consistent theme to virtually all gun violence, and it’s not racial…it’s gender, and somewhat less so, age based. If we could reduce the incidence of gun violence among young American males to what it is among young American females? Problem solved. So, what is it about young American males that they need guns to solve their problems? Find an answer to that question and you go a long way to solving our gun problem. Until we do,no reason for anyone outside law enforcement or the military to have assault weapons.
AreYouSerious????
December 21st, 2012
12:17 pm
I applaud Maureen for putting this article on the blog!!!! Everyone regardless of RACE needs to take heed to Gun Violence, and demand that the Legislation surrounding Gun Control is changed.
But, it constantly amazes me how people in Georgia hate any type of dialogue, facts, statistics, etc to be displayed that actually shows that the Caucasian Race is as flawed, troubled and imperfect as any of the others.
Seriously, you all just need to take the article for what it is……insight from a Teacher who teaches in the inner city, and stop trying to make every situation a “US” and “THEM” scenario….because at the end of the day, we’re all AMERICANS and Gun Violence is affecting all of us directly or indirectly!
Don't Tread
December 21st, 2012
12:21 pm
“I believe more women should arm themselves to protect themselves against predatory men.”
I think they are. The students taking handgun training class at the range yesterday were about 50% women. Back when I took the training, I think there were 2 women out of a class of 25. The times are changing.
Agonizing Truths
December 21st, 2012
12:22 pm
Once again, there are these few who must continue politicize THESE events and all opinions that come afterwards. If I say one thing, I must be a liberal. If I say another thing, I must be a conservative. Opinions can be offered without them having anything to do with the way a person votes. That’s irrelevant right now. People are trying to come up with viable solutions to NOT only mass shootings, but gun associated violence as a whole. If any new federal laws are passed and it helps stem ALL gun related violence, then so be it. AND I own SEVERAL firearms ! BIG and little !!! LEGALLY ! It DOESN’T matter if black guys,white guys or Mexican guys are murdering, it ALL needs to END !! More TRAINED police officers would definitely help !! Who’s to say a teacher or principal that’s packing heat won’t one day go nuts and SHOOT up THEIR own school ! It has happened ! Help find a solution and stop whining like babies about who’s liberal & who’s not !!
Tech Actuary
December 21st, 2012
12:23 pm
I am not here to make a racial statement here at all, only a statistical one. The author of the article reached the conclusion that since 43 of 62 shootings were by white males (we will assume 100% were by males) and less than 10 were African American that there should be less fear of African Americans. Given the ratio of the our population I would reach the conclusion that in regards to “Spree” killings you can fear about every race equally. Of course you would expect more white spree killers in a population that has a white majority. I contend that statistics should be a required mathematics course.
indigo
December 21st, 2012
12:24 pm
Aquagirl – 10:54
Oh, I have an opinion, all right.
But, I doubt you’ll want to hear it.
When our country started going crazy over “civil rights”, no one paid much attention to stressing “civil responsibilities”.
This has been going on for over FIFTY FIVE YEARS now.
So, it’s no surprise that when you sow this kind of wind, you reap a huge black crime whirlwind.
catlady
December 21st, 2012
12:24 pm
I guess the question to me is, why do we have so many young men who have such a problem living in our society? Compared ti in the past, why is this happening?
Ideas: The TV brings the latest to all of us. Perhaps these young men, seeing what others have, believe that it is owed to them, and they want it NOW! The idea of staying in school, getting out and then working for what they want is not quick enough. And so they feel “disrepected” and angry, and decide to take what they want and harm anyone who gets in their way!
And the young white men with glocks: Seems like so many of them feel estranged from their families, estranged from their community, and wanting to punish someone, to feel powerful.
Both groups seem to be operating bereft of things they think they need, which should be provided by their families, by them being parented.
Maureen Downey
December 21st, 2012
12:26 pm
@Carnivore, It is so interesting that folks who disagree with a writer dismiss his opinions as “liberal garbage” rather than thinking for a moment about what he wrote. (Thank you, Cindy, for making that point so well earlier.)
The author was a teacher who spent decades in schools that many of the folks here routinely criticize as war zones.
He dares to offer his own first-hand view that differs with their living room vantage point.
As to what I publish and why: I just checked. I have published nearly 3,000 posts over the last few years. Feel free to skip this one and read one of the other 2,999. Very few deal with race because I dread wading through these sorts of responses.
Dr. Fecho wrote a thoughtful piece borne of real life experience that speaks directly to race. And race remains a topic that cannot be discussed in rationale terms, at least not here. Based on these comments, I wonder if we can ever have this conversation without the vitriol and hate.
However, it is a topic that matters and that impacts education.
To those of you offering cogent and reflective responses, thanks.
Also, all comments to this blog will be moderated. Stick to the topic and your comment will appear. Otherwise, don’t waste my time or yours writing a comment that will not appear.
And have a nice holiday,
Maureen
Ronin
December 21st, 2012
12:29 pm
@ Just a teacher 10:27: your comment: “Again, I ask the question for which I never get a satisfactory answer. What does race or gender have to do with any of this?” Nothing.
However, government and the media seem Hades bent on pitting one group against another. Government has become the great equalizer and in order to make everything fair you have to keep a statistic on well, basically everything that involves human interaction. Offer more incentives to a particular voting base to champion a fictitious cause. Distract the general public with class, gender and ethnic warfare so that they don’t see the real truth. Which is: on the state and federal level, our so called leaders are reduced to squabbling children who are unable to accomplish anything or balance spending vs. expenditures because their allegiance is to the party, not the good of the country . If it wasn’t so serious, it would be laughable.
We don’t have a revenue problem, the federal simply can’t stop spending OUR money.
The first step is to change the tax code from the current program which is just another tool to grant political favor and power. Granted, it’s just an opinion. However, the current debacle in Washington will do only be fixed to the point that it can continue. It’s almost time to abandon ship or abandon hope. There are other interesting areas of the world to live that aren’t subject to a governmental and media circus of horrors.
Grasshopper
December 21st, 2012
12:37 pm
Wrong Maureen.
This was not a thoughtful piece about race and violence. To equate a couple of nutjob shooters who happen to be white, totally fudging on your statistics in the process, with the daily ongoing violence in the black community is the opposite of thoughtful.
If you dread wading through responses to an ill-conceived post that insults those of us who do take race relations seriously, then perhaps you have learned a valuable lesson today.
Returning DCSS Parent
December 21st, 2012
12:43 pm
@Stop the racism here
I agree with you. As you can tell, many of these racist comments come from people who clearly get their info about minorities from Fox News. The issue is that our children are dying and we are debating about whether white young men or black young men are to blame more often. The bottom line line is our society has become numb to the violence. The children and teachers massacred in Newtown Conn., were innocent victims of an angry and mentally disturbed young man who killed his mother first before murdering the other 26 people. The answer is not armed guards at schools but address the issues that make these young people so angry that they believe their only recourse is to take their anger and frustration out on innocent victims. We do need gun control and a better system to perform background checks. Military style guns are not used to hunt animals but to make sure the largest amount of people are killed. All of our young people need help. Stop the racists rants and become part of the solution, not the problem.
The Austrian Brotherhood
December 21st, 2012
12:57 pm
White Guilt Much? Yes, white males are serial killers and black males are mugger killers. Who doesn’t know this? Even Progressives know this, they’re just too two-faced and insincere to say it. And that’s just one more reason to hate Progressives and what they stand for – CONTROL!
Agonizing Truths
December 21st, 2012
12:59 pm
It’s easy to judge OTHERS from afar ! This gun control “problem” WE have as a nation is not an eaxy fix obviously ! Atheists, I really don’t care to hear from y’all on this because you can’t relate ! First and foremost,we have a “GOD-less” society and nation ! Not enough people practice or believe in A religion ! There’s no way a person can fly planes into buildings and not be EVIL !! There’s NO way a person can shoot KIDS or “unarmed teenagers blasting rap music” and not be EVIL ! There’s no way a person can shoot another ADULT human being,other than for self-defense, and not be EVIL !! EVIL doesn’t have a COLOR or POLITICAL AFFILIATION or SOCIAL/ECONOMIC STATUS/STANDING(or lack thereof) or a REASON !! EVIL IS EVIL ! There’s ONE way to combat EVIL ! Figure it out !! We can talk ALL DAY about “black thugs” and gangbangers with guns,”white nerdy pyschopaths” with guns,Mexican drug cartel members with guns, “Jihadists” with guns and RACIST skinheads and klansmen with guns ! Lets make it hard as possible for less than upstanding and stellar citizens to acquire GUNS and AMMO !! And PRAY !!
Aquagirl
December 21st, 2012
1:02 pm
Oh, I have an opinion, all right. But, I doubt you’ll want to hear it.
When our country started going crazy over “civil rights”, no one paid much attention to stressing “civil responsibilities”.
Geez. That’ll teach us to let African-Americans participate on the basis they’re actually real people. Because it’s not like African-Americans have any concept of civic responsibility without white people’s instruction. I guess that’s a trade-off for the extra muscle in their legs so they can dunk basketballs.
Since this is an education blog perhaps you could offer an outline of this valuable course: “Hey, Black People, Here’s A Civic Responsibility Course Designed For Your Smaller Brains.”
I do cede your point that I didn’t want to hear a response like that, but since you seem unashamed of your open racism I’m not the loser in this exchange. My nausea will pass.
Meanwhile you’re stuck with your thoughts…that people willing to be attacked by police dogs, beaten, and otherwise abused so they could vote or attend non-segregated schools…needed a lesson in civic responsibility. A lesson from the people who turned the dogs loose and beat them.
Wow.
Just a white guy "keepin it real"
December 21st, 2012
1:02 pm
The freshman from Greyson HS who was shot to death in Gwinnette was tied up before being shot in the head. All over a pair of shoes. Last i checked, its not whites who kill each other for shoes year after year. These stories happen EVERYDAY! Ps… just last night alone there were 3 separate shootings in Atlanta, and i can pretty much guarntee that none of the shooters were whites or asians!
Bo Duke
December 21st, 2012
1:04 pm
Lee
You are 100% correct.
George
December 21st, 2012
1:05 pm
Well keep watching the black male the worst is yet to come CT is only the tip of the iceberg I laugh when I hear Georgians tlak they are funny as hell. You think you are crying now just wait the sleeping in white males and females have not even awaken.Keep watching the black male I say and spreding lies to make your self look good you are going to learn the hard way you all ways do in Georgia that is not everyone Georgia work with young white males everyday I know I know.
Just a white guy "keepin it real"
December 21st, 2012
1:05 pm
All the white kids had mental issues. With blacks its a “culture” thing.
Prof
December 21st, 2012
1:08 pm
@ Lee, December 21st, 2012, 9:39 am, “@Matthew, well then, it should be easy for you to go to the source documents (FBI and DOJ publications) and disprove their information. Go ahead, show us where they are wrong.”
Lee, Lee, Lee. Once again you’re citing the same tired, unreliable source to “prove ” your racist belief that blacks are naturally inferior and more violent than whites. You may be a CPA who’s used to dealing with “facts,” but you badly need to learn something about logic and logical fallacies….how to use those facts reliably.
Your source given above is “Color of Crime,” which has been described in “Hate Crimes” as “a classic of the genre of output by white nationalist academic racists.” This was published by the New Century Foundation, a white supremacist group that supports racial profiling. Their conclusions IGNORE the very important economic factor that the blacks in the studies have a lower socioeconomic status than the whites. Poor people commit more crimes than middle class/wealthy people.
Your source’s facts may be from FBI and DOJ documents, but there’s a selective bias in your source’s use of the statistics. It’s full of hasty generalizations that don’t consider all of the relevant factors.
Not everything you read on the Internet is reliable.
George
December 21st, 2012
1:12 pm
I feel sorry for a lot of people in Georgia that are hurting talking about all kids and leave out race .People Race is the only thing that matters in Georgia .Wake up
innerjuju
December 21st, 2012
1:12 pm
I hate living in a red state. Tends to make me wonder if there will ever again be rational sense.
indigo
December 21st, 2012
1:19 pm
Agonizing Truths
Please furnish us with your hard, testible evidence that your religion is the correct one.
Once we have the scientific evidence that supports your faith , we’ll be true believers like you and start praying.
Pink
December 21st, 2012
1:22 pm
White bad. Black good. By the way, Adam Lanza didn’t buy the weapons so his argument that we should make it harder for white males to buy weapons is moot.
indigo
December 21st, 2012
1:27 pm
AquaGirl – 1:02
Black leaders were the ones who should have stressed “civil responsibility”.
They did not. Almost to the person, “civil rights” was the only thing your ever heard, or still hear, out of them.
You responded in a knee-jerk, professional victim way, just as I knew you would.
BeBop
December 21st, 2012
1:28 pm
Only thing I’ve gotten out of this blog is Aquagirl is a bitter, angry woman who HATES the conservative white male.
Nobody Special
December 21st, 2012
1:29 pm
“Each year, roughly 7,000 blacks are murdered. Ninety-four percent of the time, the murderer is another black person. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, between 1976 and 2011, there were 279,384 black murder victims. Using the 94 percent figure means that 262,621 were murdered by other blacks. Though blacks are 13 percent of the nation’s population, they account for more than 50 percent of homicide victims. Nationally, black homicide victimization rate is six times that of whites, and in some cities, it’s 22 times that of whites.”
Assuming that, since 1975, mass shootings have killed less than 500 people, which is the most serious threat to public safety? A few deranged killers, or the mass murders of enough black people to populate a medium-sized city?
BacchusDawg
December 21st, 2012
1:41 pm
You don’t need to dig deep to find counterarguments against the theory that gun bans will end mass shootings. Just spend some time reading how extensive the gun laws reach in Norway, and ponder how effective they were at preventing a madman from leaving 80 dead at a summer youth camp just last year.
Now we have a professor who clearly understands that it is more than the gun itself which inflicts harm – the person holding it must willfully do so. I’m sure his thesis was praised and deemed to be well within the mores of academic thought, but falls well short of addressing the relevant physiological and societal problems.
Timmy
December 21st, 2012
2:07 pm
I’ve noticed a large number of posters here that seem to want to make the claim there is more of a risk of a mass shooting at a public school than other senseless violence. Look no further that Chicago to prove just how wrong you are.
RiffRaff
December 21st, 2012
2:09 pm
To hell with the NRA! They suggest to arm more people in the aftermath of murderous rampage??
Ban Assualt Rifles, PERIOD!
Get real...
December 21st, 2012
2:16 pm
With the number of rapes, hangings, dragging’s and beatings that have been suffered by minority victims at the hands of whites in this country, many of the very same mind set as most of the responders to this article, is a bit of the rice calling the sheet of paper white. Quotes (true and fiction) regarding black crime statics to absolve divert attention away from the culture of violence fostered and nurtured by the majority white society throughout the history of this nation is comical.
Discuss the issue of perspective and perception of crime, who commits it and how it is viewed and accepted based upon the race of the victim and assailant. Most of these responders are full of hate and are apologist for the systematic culture of violence committed whites in America and abroad.
Get real...
December 21st, 2012
2:19 pm
Compare all the murders whites commit, not just the mass murders when doing your comparisons. Tell the whole and historical truth not just the one that support your bias.
Pride and Joy
December 21st, 2012
2:31 pm
Stop the racism…WHY do you say that we are ignorning the white gun, Adam Lanza? Coverage about him, his life, his family, his motivations, his everything is platered everywhere.
You cannot say we are ignoring these angry white men in mass shootings.
Are you living under a rock somewhere? Did someone give you a lobotomy?
Your comments are just so obvioulsy wrong.
BTB
December 21st, 2012
2:32 pm
Fear of black males? Don’t think so. Aware of my surroundings? You bet. It is a lot more probable that I will be attacked by a black male (more probable that it will be several black males) than any other race, so I am aware of who is arround me. Think what ever you choose – good luck and take care of yourself.
Lurker
December 21st, 2012
2:38 pm
The thing I don’t understand is the conclusion that race is a factor in mass shootings. If the author’s numbers are correct, about 9 out of 62 shooters were African-American. 43 out of 62 were white men, it does not state how many were white females.
9/62 is about 14% which is almost equal to the percentage of African-American population of the US.
42/62 is about 69% which is less than the percentage or white population, but we would need to add any white females to that total.
The racial percentage of people actually committing these acts seems to be extremely close to the ratio of the population. Bases on percentages, it does not seem tilted in any fashion to white people. It does appear that males overwhelmingly outnumber women who perpetrate such crimes.
Lurker
December 21st, 2012
2:42 pm
Oops, I should have typed: “Based on percentages,”
skipper
December 21st, 2012
2:50 pm
@prof (a misuse of the term, for sure.)
See Nobody Special’s post at 1:29, and come back with some facts, not the whimpers of a paranoid reactionist. If you are stupid enough not to know that blacks (and we are not arguing the reasons…it is what it is) are not WAY out front in the murder statistics, as well as carjackings (lots of info on that one, too) and you likewise do not think that culture plays some part, then bless your soul.
jess
December 21st, 2012
2:55 pm
Wondering how long it would be before someone turned the gun violence debate into a racial issue. In the end I doubt that any action taken to stem gun violence will be only applicable to blacks, or whites, or any other race for that matter. So what exactly is the point in making this a racial issue. My guess is that a blog on race gets more posts than one on guns, or mental health.
Mr. Fecho’s article also seems to indicate that the recent shootings in Newtown Conn. have been treated as though they were no big deal. Sad and tragic, but isolated. I have actually never seen an issue covered by the news, short of 9/11, covered so completely.
Finally, I understand Mr Fecho is not a gun lover, but to elevate a semi- automatic rifle to the status of a weapon of mass destruction, as he did in his last sentence, is stretching it a bit.
marm
December 21st, 2012
3:41 pm
The point is that blacks males killing other black males, black women, black children goes on every day across this country and has become accepted by society overall as a “cultural” reality within those communities. Until we care about ALL young people being killed so cavalierly our society will only continue to deteriorate, and arming everyone won’t solve it.
Lexi
December 21st, 2012
3:52 pm
No problem here with the fact that “assault rifles” are designed to kill humans in multiples. Sometimes self defense and defense of home require that capability. Try getting a timely, adequate help from a 911 call when a gang is kicking in your door.
If men attacking women is a problem it seems obvious that there two solutions: arm the prospective victims or ban male female interaction. Problem solved!
Armand
December 21st, 2012
5:11 pm
The Sandy Hook massacre has a name for it among Chicagoans: a slow 2 weeks.
Khalidx
December 21st, 2012
7:16 pm
Great article. Its always interesting to see white people become so dismissive and sensitive when they hear points the writer stated. It is because of what we call cognitive dissonance. It makes some whites uncomfortable to be considered violent . They should feel uncomfortable. America created the image of the criminal black man. Early social workers and educators created the notion. This is discussed in detail in the book The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban America. You hear today a lot of talk about “black-on-black” crime. Once you understand the history of linking blackness to criminality, and this book will cement that comprehension you will no longer, or SHOULD no longer engage in the ever so popular conversation of “black criminality.” Often, people think verbiage and concepts come out of a vacuum, that is why this book is important, it debunks that nonsense.
If you want to be informed about how Blacks came to be condemned concerning the issue of criminality, then this is a must read. If you want to engage and challenge the “intelligent” pundits, do not hesitate in purchasing this thorough volume.
bu2
December 21st, 2012
7:24 pm
Grasshopper has it right. There were thoughtful responses and they realized there was virtually nothing of value in the article. But those people don’t agree with Maureen or the politically correct positions that a) guns are evil and b) anyone who doesn’t support gun control is stupid and c)white males are responsible for all of society’s ills (summarized the article in 3 points), so they aren’t “thoughtful.”
Attentive Parent/Invisible Serfs Collar
December 21st, 2012
8:09 pm
Well, I will see if this goes through. I just finished reading the Critical Conversations article on Fecho’s course and idea of literacy and the dialogic classroom.
Why would someone wanting to create inner personal and emotional turmoil that goes to the question of self-identity of students that he calls wobble jump to the conclusion that the problem in these tragic school shootings is about guns?
What a violating classroom that is. Especially if you have a logical mind and crave knowledge.
I realized there were wonderful teachers and there were twinkies by 6th grade and that was back when the focus was mostly academic. I can’t imagine (actually I can and it hurts to think about) a child wanting to learn and read and play with the logic of grammar and the wisdom of Shakespeare and instead getting a teacher wanting to use English class to reexamine identity.
In the reform model of the classroom, if I have a cognitive disability it gets accommodated. If I come from a non-White, Protestant, UMC background, that culture should become part of the classroom discussion. Part of the respective identities and perspectives. But if I think school should be about academics and picked up a logical mind from home, school becomes an attack zone seeking inner transformation.
And when certain boys break, none of this Freireian examination that is a huge part of what has changed gets put on the table for examination and reconsideration?
I would argue that using psychological practices
Attentive Parent/Invisible Serfs Collar
December 21st, 2012
8:14 pm
It was acting up so I posted.
Using psychological practices and political theories to create social change via the classroom should be reviewed before jumping to the conclusion guns are the problem. Or race.
As I have already explained more race and class are about to be even more front and center in the classroom. http://www.invisibleserfscollar.com/making-race-and-class-oppression-the-locomotives-driving-the-positive-school-climate-mandate/
The ASCD article I pulled this from said that the 10 C’s now dominate Harvrad’s Graduate Ed program. What about the kids who just want to have an old-fashioned how much can I learn education?
ColonelJack
December 21st, 2012
8:58 pm
@ George…you said: “I feel sorry for a lot of people in Georgia that are hurting talking about all kids and leave out race .People Race is the only thing that matters in Georgia .Wake up”
The last time I investigated such matters, it was very clear … we are ALL of the same race. The human race. Now, if you want to get into ethnic differences, that’s fine, but it’s not one race vs. another race. It’s human vs. human.
GB
December 22nd, 2012
6:38 am
Prof
I went back to this discussion after a long while and saw your post about Lee and the New Century Foundation. You find fault with “The Color of Crime” because it gives data on crime by race but does not control for socio-economic status. Even if your assertion is true, it does not undermine the validity of the study.
Let’s break it down.
The report says “Black people commit crimes more than white people. Black people are far more likely to commit crimes against white people than vice versa.”
You say “But poor people commit more crimes than non poor people and black people are more likely than whites to be poor.”
You don’t say: “It is untrue that blacks commit more crimes than whites and blacks are more likely to commit crimes against whites than vice versa.”
You also assert that the New Century Foundation is a white supremacist organization. So what? If the facts are facts they don’t stop being facts if the organization reporting them is a white supremacist organization.
See the problem here? You don’t even attempt to refute the facts.
Susan
December 22nd, 2012
8:21 am
“Mother Jones magazine, in a report on mass shootings in the United States, indicated that since 1982 there have been at least 62 such shootings. The magazine went on to report that 43 of the killers were white males. Of the remaining 19 shooters, fewer than 10 were African American.”
43 of the shooters = 69%
10 of 62 shooters = 16%
(There’s no mention of the race of the remaining 9 shooters which is 14.5%.)
69% of the shooters were white.
16% of the shooters were black.
According to the 2010 U.S. Census,
75% of the U.S. total population is white
12% of the U.S. total population is black
And, BTW, 16% of the total population is Hispanic (which includes some of the whites), 3.6% Asian and tiny fractions of other races.
So, obviously, this guy is not a math teacher.
Why is this a racial discussion anyway? Why is every discussion a racial discussion?
The fact is, there are gun crimes, murders and violence in every ethnic and racial group in America. These horrifying mass murders are sickening and shocking. So are the random shootings over tennis shoes and gang-related activities. Are we really going to have a discussion about which is worse? Trying to point fingers one way or another or differentiate as to which kind of gun crime is worse is a waste of time. Let’s get to the bottom of our national problem with violence.
This is Mrs. Norman Maine
December 22nd, 2012
9:17 am
Maureen, these folks will never give up their Black boogey man. It reassures them. It gives them the justification to hang onto their guns and their prejudices. You can’t change that.
To be fair, White children are in far more danger from their parents and acquaintances than either a Black kid in a hoodie, a serial killer or a mass shooter. I see that nobody posted any statistics about that because it’s an inconvenient fact.
By the way, the AJC posted an article about the innocent Black babies that had been recently murdered this year and the whole town shrugged but this? OMG, SOMEBODY do something!
Whatever…….
Prof
December 22nd, 2012
11:09 am
@ GB, December 22nd, 6:38 am.
I was not trying to refute the facts, but the conclusions drawn from those facts by “The Color of Crime” and by Lee. Both use these raw facts, without any other controlling factor, to demonstrate that black people are innately more violent than any other race, and also (Lee’s usual argument) that blacks’ IQ is innately lower than than that of whites, or Asians as well.
But there are other factors that can explain those figures besides the race of the criminals, and socioeconomic class is one. Poor people generally, black or white, are more likely to commit violent crimes than wealthy people. (Of course, you could argue that the financial crimes of the wealthy white man Madoff have been more damaging to this country than any violent crimes by poor individuals.)
Also, there is no mention here of the very real problem of black on black crime, but only black on white crime….Why is that?
Lee
December 22nd, 2012
12:19 pm
@Prof, go ahead and stratify the data by socioeconomic class AND race. Get back to us with the results.
My guess, poor blacks commit more violent crime than poor whites.
(Dang, now you pc types will have to come up with another excuse.)
Lexi
December 22nd, 2012
4:29 pm
Prof:
Two possible explanations of why no talk of black on black crime: many blacks and their apologists do not want the general public to know rate of criminality in the black community, and, society is numb to those reports.
Is it possible that people and families are poor over generations because they commit crimes? It is hard to accumulate and keep assets when one is imprisioned, leaving his or her children on welfare. And,it could be that people with such poor judgment do not do well in market transactions.
The Mother Jones “study” referenced above was discredited almost instantly on publication, for, among other reasons, throwing out or ignoring the data which did not fit the author’s premise.
GB is absolutely correct: facts are facts and the fact the reporter might be “biased” doesn’t make the facts untrue. Neither does the fact that the reader hates to hear those facts.
GB
December 22nd, 2012
6:03 pm
Prof:
“Both use these raw facts, without any other controlling factor, to demonstrate that black people are innately more violent than any other race,”
I can’t comment on what Lee believes, but I do not agree with your characterization of the views of the author of The Color of Crime. I have read it. It is descriptive of life in the United States today, of the facts we live with. I recall nothing about innateness, but it has been a long time since I read the report.
I can tell you for certain that I do not believe that blacks are INNATELY more prone to violence than whites. But today, for various reasons, blacks in the United States ARE more prone to violence that whites. The media conceal it. Polite people don’t talk about it. But everybody knows it. And that is one of the key points made by The Color of Crime.
Again, I stress that I do not believe that this is an innate characteristic of blacks. Nor do I believe that most blacks in the US, are anywhere near most, are violent. But enough are to make some parts of town more dangerous than others. And prudent people don’t ignore that.
And the reason we are having this discussion is that the silly article written by the teacher said that we are focusing on black criminals when we should be worrying about white men with Glocks. That is nonsense. The New Town murders and similar events are like airplane crashes. They get lots of attention and create the impression that they are far more common than they are.
GB
December 22nd, 2012
6:04 pm
Prof
And oh, by the way, re black on black crimes. I did stress that in my very first post. Most of the victims of black criminals are black.
GB
December 22nd, 2012
6:11 pm
This is Mrs. Norman Maine
“To be fair, White children are in far more danger from their parents and acquaintances than either a Black kid in a hoodie, a serial killer or a mass shooter.”
Nonsense. Some parents abuse their children. True. I can think of few crimes more heinous. And certainly more white children suffer at the hands of their parents than are injured by black youths in hoodies. But how often are white children exposed to this danger? Almost never. I did not let my children play on Stewart Ave (as it was known then) or on Bankhead Hwy (as it was known then). Did you?
Prof
December 22nd, 2012
8:11 pm
@ GB. If you go back to my post, you’ll see that I was responding to Lee, a frequent poster here who never seems to miss a chance to state that all blacks have lower IQs than do whites. Here he is using as “evidence” the fact that many blacks commit violent crimes, and cites “The Color of Crime” as the source of his “evidence.” You say that you haven’t read this for a long time, and I suggest you revisit the link he provides.
It was published in 2005 with data exclusively from 2000 and 2002, and the only crimes covered are those found in poor areas: rape, sexual assault, robbery, and aggressive assault. The author does not consider that these could be committed because of poverty, gangs, broken homes, etc., but only attributes it to the criminals’ race.
At the very end the author does indeed draw conclusions about black people being innately more criminal than white people. “Blacks are considerably more likely than any other group to commit crimes of virtually all kinds”( p. 25). Notice how “crime” is expanded to cover all kinds of crime.
Black as well as white middle-class and wealthy parents prefer that their children stay away from Steward Ave. (now Metropolitan Ave.) and Bankhead Hwy (has its name changed recently?), but that’s because they are areas with a lot of desperate poor people in them who are closer to the margin of survival than are middle-class and wealthy people.
Ron F
December 22nd, 2012
8:30 pm
Reading through the comments here is disturbing. While some relevant points are made, I read here a lot of justification for continuing stereotypes that young black men are more dangerous than young white men. As a teacher and a long-time resident of southwest Atlanta growing up, I can tell you the “black on black” crime wasn’t as rampant as many want to think. It was reported in the media more often, but I lived for a number of years as one of few white residents in Sylvan Heights about 15 years ago, and I can tell you it wasn’t what you think. I felt safer there because my neighbors and I kept track of each other and our neighborhood. We had no more break-ins than any part of Atlanta. Ironically, the only trouble I had was with a white crack addict who lived around the corner who would steal anything he could get his hands on. You knew who to watch out for and the neighbors were quick to take care of each other. There were bad areas, but you knew where they were and avoided them. It’s not like that in some areas where the kid next door might be as crazy as the Lanza kid was and nobody knows. That’s the problem- we knew what and who to watch for and deal with in Sylvan, but do we know in more affluent, whiter areas? Do we look at the kid in the Beemer the same way we do the kid walking down a sidewalk on Sylvan Rd.? Nope, and we probably never will. It’s easy to let the affluence make us think they’re okay because they don’t fit the hoodie stereotype of the “criminal.” We have to get past that accepted identity to realize kids of all economic levels and races have issues, and perhaps our unwillingness to focus on the needy young white males is costing us greatly.
Prof
December 22nd, 2012
8:46 pm
@ Ron F. Excellent post.
Teacher2
December 22nd, 2012
10:09 pm
Funny!
GB can conclude that “today, for various reasons, blacks in the United States ARE more prone to violence that whites. The media conceal it. Polite people don’t talk about it. But everybody knows it.” but then goes on to state “the reason we are having this discussion is that the silly article written by the teacher said that we are focusing on black criminals when we should be worrying about white men with Glocks. That is nonsense. The New Town murders and similar events are like airplane crashes. They get lots of attention and create the impression that they are far more common than they are.”
Wow!
Why not apply the same logic “today, for various reasons, whites in the United States ARE more prone to mass violence that blacks. The media conceal it. Polite people don’t talk about it. But everybody knows it.”
I am sure if you admit that it will be therapeutic!
Thanks to everyone trying to respond rationally to these rabid racist. I see that numbers only count when you are using them against someone else. The art of finding fault in other ethnicities is being able to see the fault in your own ethnicity. Otherwise, you lose all creditability with rational people.
Ron F
December 22nd, 2012
11:40 pm
@Prof: we also have a very, very ill-informed view of the poor among us. Their lives are very different living on margin of survival, and their behaviors needed to survive in that environment are viewed as “bad” and punished by middle class standards. Our schools are, by tradition and design, built on middle class values and predominantly staffed by those who have either always been in the middle class or are at least one generation removed from poverty. What we often attribute to “black culture” are actually behaviors common in most poor groups, but because the poverty rate among blacks is higher than any other group, we tend to see them as being attributed to dysfunction in racial culture. I don’t even begin to think I know much beyond the surface, but the more time I spend working with poor children in rural poverty of multiple races makes me more than aware of the lack of understanding we have of our poor and how we really could help them if we knew more.
GB
December 23rd, 2012
8:02 am
Teacher:
Facing facts is not racist. Do you think blacks do not commit more violent crimes than whites (in proportion to their population)? Do you think the media don’t walk tippy toe around the issue? Pay attention to the papers and TV news. Pay special attention to the coverage of interracial crime. Black on white crime: local news, no big deal. On the rare occasion when there is a white perpetrator and a black victim: national news, giant headlines.
And you ask:
Why not apply the same logic “today, for various reasons, whites in the United States ARE more prone to mass violence that blacks. The media conceal it. Polite people don’t talk about it. But everybody knows it.”
Why not? For this reason only: the facts I presented are true. Yours are not.
These facts are unfortunate. They are very troublesome. But we do ourselves no favor if we pretend they are not facts. Suppose I told you that 70% of black babies in the US were born to single mothers. Would you deny this is a fact? Would you call me a racist for citing it?
Prof:
You used the word “innately,” the author of The Color of Crime did not, at least not in the passage you cited.
GB
December 23rd, 2012
8:05 am
Teacher2
One more thing. I will ask you what I have asked others. Would you feel better sending your children to school and let them face the infinitesimal risk of being shot by a white criminally insane youth like Adam Lanza, or taking them for a stroll down Metropolitan Parkway or Donald Hollowell Parkway?
Guest
December 23rd, 2012
9:59 am
Wow Maureen,
Way to block my comment. There was nothing hateful. You’re a clown.
dreamhunk
December 23rd, 2012
10:06 am
White people:
Shoot up kindergarten classes and teachers (Connecticut)
Shoot up hospitals (Alabama)
Shoot up movie theaters on a batman premier night
Shoot up malls (Oregon)
Columbine, Slavery, genocide of the Indian and African, the Holocaust, and a lot of other stuff. Blacks could never surpass the terrors and horrors whites have brought to this earth.
Teacher2
December 23rd, 2012
11:05 am
You presented a stupid analogy which corresponds to all your stupid remarks. What a person prefers is subjected to one’s perception or imaginings of what may be there. Your stupid analogy is only applicable to people like yourself entrenched in stereotypes. You are not creditable in any way to rational people. So save your dribble for those who share your membership.
GB = rabid racist
Lee
December 23rd, 2012
11:22 am
“If you go back to my post, you’ll see that I was responding to Lee, a frequent poster here who never seems to miss a chance to state that all blacks have lower IQs than do whites.”
@Prof, “ALL blacks”, really? For someone who proports to be a “Professor”, you sure don’t know much about a statistical normal distribution.
Prof
December 23rd, 2012
12:03 pm
@ GB. I did not claim that the quote used the word “innately.” Sorry I cited the wrong page, which is pp. 19-20, but this is a PDF document which does not allow cutting-and-pasting. But that is the meaning of the sentence I quoted as well as the entire document, that argues that “The Color of Crime” is black (and brown, since it also gives the crime figures for Hispanics in this country).
Further, it claims that other “race differences” are that “blacks are more than twice as likely as whites to be unemployed [and] to drop out of high school” (20). Note that socioeconomic factors are not considered at all for these statistics, only race. The American Heritage Dictionary defines “innate” as “possessed at birth; inborn.” This entire document suggests that the black race has these inborn characteristics.
“Racism” is also defined as “the notion that one’s own ethnic stock is superior,” and this document fits that definition too.
Prof
December 23rd, 2012
12:16 pm
@ Ron F. I have come to believe that the differences in social class are far more significant than the differences in race. I also think it is always difficult to realize that one’s own perspective may well be limited by one’s social class without even knowing it. And that can be as true for black people as for white, Hispanic, Asian, and Native people.
GB
December 23rd, 2012
3:44 pm
Teacher2
I think you mean “credible,” not “creditable.” What do you teach? I notice that you think calling someone stupid is an argument. It is not. Merry Christmas.
Teacher2
December 23rd, 2012
5:49 pm
@GB
@GB Typographical errors happen
I made an exception in your case so I will revise my comment to
GB = stupid rabid racist
This is my last post addressing your stupidity.
bu2
December 23rd, 2012
6:19 pm
@Teacher2
I really hope you don’t teach English. Your definition of racist: Anyone who doesn’t agree with Teacher2. Anyone who cites facts that don’t agree with your perception of reality.
The reality is that blacks (or African Americans-whichever you prefer) commit more crimes per capita than Anglo-Americans. You may not like it but its true. It is probably primarily (if not totally) as Prof says due to class, not ethnic group (there really is no such thing as “race” if you understand anything about genetics). But that doesn’t make it any less true. Citing such facts does not make GB a racist. Calling him a “stupid rabid racist” makes it appear that he is the one more open minded and you are the one with preconceived notions (i.e. prejudiced).
There’s been nothing posted here that is racist (although I imagine Maureen has screened out a ton of very racist posts based on what she typically gets on this type of article).
Prof
December 23rd, 2012
9:39 pm
And that screening may be one reason for her wonderfully daffy Dec. 23 blog-thread: battle fatigue.
Adelaide Solomon-Jordan
December 23rd, 2012
10:09 pm
What you are missing, at the least, is that these individual crimes by black males ARE all to often the result of generational dispair that even the perpetrator may not have an awareness.
Also, why are you trying to dismiss or excuse mass murder?
Athena
December 24th, 2012
1:02 pm
@Prof
“It was published in 2005 with data exclusively from 2000 and 2002, and the only crimes covered are those found in poor areas: rape, sexual assault, robbery, and aggressive assault. The author does not consider that these could be committed because of poverty, gangs, broken homes, etc., but only attributes it to the criminals’ race.”
I don’t see the connection between being poor, and committing rape, sexual assault, murder etc.
We’re not talking about a man stealing bread to feed his starving family, we’re talking about people who rob and rape because they’re greedy, envious and hateful, have a sense of entitlement, and want material goods without having to work for them.
They’re not living in poverty, they’re living in a wealthy First World nation with a generous social security safety net. Many of them even choose this lifestyle because they’re simply too lazy to get a job and earn their way in life like everyone else. They want what they want, and they want it now.
No doubt gangs and broken homes contribute to this, but that inevitably leads back to where we started with the same question. Why is that blacks are far more likely to be from broken homes or in gangs in the first place, and what can be done about it?
And as others have pointed out, if you compared poor whites to poor blacks, you’d still have a huge disparity in the crime rates, so it seems quite clear that correlation is not causation in this case.
Dekalbite
December 24th, 2012
5:25 pm
Fecho makes a good point. When I heard about the shooting from my sister, I said it must be a white male between the ages of 17 to 20, and indeed I was right. It’s hard not to notice the pattern of white males (particularly young white males) being the perpetrators of these rampages. Another white male pattern is that of serial killers. They usually seem to be white males as well. No idea why white males seem to disproportionately commit such heinous crimes. But unless we admit it, it’s difficult to find out why it happens.
ShooShee
December 25th, 2012
5:28 pm
@Mrs Norman Maine: “By the way, the AJC posted an article about the innocent Black babies that had been recently murdered this year and the whole town shrugged but this? OMG, SOMEBODY do something! ”
Right. And President Obama is the leader of the “somebody do something about these mass shootings” group. Where is he while black children continue to get gunned down in the streets of our cities?
dreamhunk
December 26th, 2012
7:43 am
Top serial killers and mass murders are white!
dreamhunk
December 26th, 2012
7:46 am
CNN black in america you should watch it, great eye opener
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RN_AOVWirzo
dreamhunk
December 26th, 2012
8:30 am
Lets not forget the Medias racism and stereo types
(HOLLYWOOD RACISM) X men 1st Class.mpg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ssp7yCsH6o
Don Cheadle talks about racism in Hollywood
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jihNHTqE2lw
Marvel Comics The Runaways opinion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saoBfU1SXqY
Fox Attacks: Black America
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY04gIruZ4E
Prof
December 26th, 2012
12:09 pm
@ Athena, December 24th, 1:02 pm.
There’s an entire field of scholarship to suggest some answers to your concerns here—Sociology. I suggest you take a look at it.
Athena
December 26th, 2012
7:37 pm
@Prof
Prof, I’m familiar with sociology….and ethnic studies, whiteness studies, women’s studies, queer studies and all the other self-indulgent non-subjects that try to absolve minorities of responsibility for their own behavior, and blame all the world’s problems on white males. They don’t answer concerns, they make excuses.
Poverty is not an answer for black criminality because they’re not poor. There’s an epidemic of morbid obesity within the black community so they’re certainly not starving, and these people never fail to have the very latest (and most expensive) sneakers, cell phones, widescreen televisions, etc. The problem isn’t poverty; the problem is mixed up priorities, a sense of entitlement and lack of work ethic that has been nurtured by the type of sociologists you’re talking about, not to the mention the mentality of greed, envy and immediate gratification.
dreamhunk
December 27th, 2012
4:40 am
blacks not poor do you have statics for that??? where are you getting your information from?
Athena
December 27th, 2012
11:02 am
@dreamhunk
The US is a First World nation, with a generous welfare safety net, and some of the richest “poor people” in the world. Nobody is genuinely poor by any objective standard, only “relatively poor”, which doesn’t mean a thing. And judging from what I’ve seen working amongst these people, as I say, they’re not so poor that they can’t afford all the latest gadgets and fashion accessories. They use more expensive things than I do, and I work for a living.
The other problem is you make no distinction between the deserving poor and the undeserving poor. The white man who worked hard to provide for his family, but then was made redundant through no fault of his own, deserves some assistance. The welfare queens who have never done a day’s work in their lives, and wouldn’t take a job if you handed it to them on a silver plate, deserve to be poor.
Dana
December 27th, 2012
11:22 am
I’m a weird pro-2nd liberal who believes in the Founders’ take on gun rights and also that gun control laws hurt minorities, including all women, first, foremost, and hardest. I have also repeatedly pointed out to my Facebook friends and others, ever since this most recent mass killing in CT, that people are killed by guns every day and no one notices unless the targets are white suburbanites or small-towners. I think the real racism here isn’t noticing that more white guys commit this particular type of crime than others, but rather that white victims are more important than shooting victims of any other race. It isn’t a drive-by shooting in Compton that prompts the greatest amount of anti-gun outcry nationwide, no matter how many six-year-olds that drive-by shooter might kill.
Nevertheless the author of this piece is essentially correct as far as the cold hard fact that white men feel freer than any other racial/gender demographic to slaughter large numbers of people in cold blood. We don’t see this happening because the media’s largely run by white men and doesn’t think it’s a big deal, and also because the victims tend to not be white men, often are not even Americans, and therefore are invisible to most of us. But I’d just like to remind the peanut gallery here that the very *existence* of this nation hinges upon the fact that large numbers of white men felt free to commit mass shootings and genocide against Native Americans. What we see happening now is just a continuation of that fine tradition.
The murders happening in the inner city are something else entirely. Desperation breeds bad behavior, and black people in the United States have been largely desperate for a very long time now. And we could have prevented this by actively working to fix the problems WE white people caused through slavery and Jim Crow. Instead we simply changed the laws and said to them, “Okay, you’re on your own,” while not doing anything about our own racism. The relative few who have been successful in life have done so in spite of the odds we stacked against them, not because those odds do not exist. So at the end of the day you can lay black violence at the feet of white entitlement too. And until we get over ourselves and our racism and change our behavior and give them a hand up (which we keep pontificating about but never actually DOING), they will continue to struggle, and too many of them will die unnecessarily and tragically while we look the other way. It is not that they’re children, it’s that they’re suffering multi-generational PTSD and we’re the ones who wronged them, so we owe them a serious attempt at healing.
As for white guys? Whether or not they are entitled to run the world, and they aren’t, they certainly are *not* entitled to run it *into the ground.* So what do we do about the entitlement? Well, we’ve been trying for at least decades now, and we keep being slapped down. Something’s gotta give.
Prof
December 27th, 2012
12:17 pm
@ dreamhunk. In other words, the answer to your first question is “No.”
dreamhunk
December 27th, 2012
12:38 pm
here is another link
Trifecta: The Black Middle Class Vanishing Under Obama
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9erKY77nVDw
dreamhunk
December 27th, 2012
12:45 pm
@Athena
Have you ever taken a the time research or look at black families in america? They are NOT normal and willing to beat some went out of their way to destroy the black family. America does NOT have a good history record caring about black people. Make no mistake about it white people did this to black families.
WHERE Are The Mothers???
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3bzORJe__w
dreamhunk
December 27th, 2012
12:55 pm
You should read the statics about how many times police stop black people. In fact recently a little kid was killed by cop who was drinking for listening to music.
He Fled The Scene Like A Guilty Murderer! A Guilty Murderer Who May Have Had A Few Too Many Drinks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hg1SDvASPDg
Chances are you got your information about black crime rates and black NOT being poor from an white people founded organization called the Pioneer Fund. The members who found this organization are from the KKK and Neo nazi groups. They created pseudo-science about black people and made racist charts like the bell curve to hurt black people.
dreamhunk
December 27th, 2012
1:11 pm
I just want to add this right here
European Racism
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwpO-nnFY9g
dreamhunk
December 27th, 2012
1:17 pm
Any time black people do something for them self white people destroy it I will give you a very good exmple. You ever hear about black wall street? White people out their way to keep black people down
Black Wall Street “Tulsa Oklahoma 1921″ pt 1 of 12
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENAWnZ4p9jI
dreamhunk
December 27th, 2012
1:39 pm
Willie Lynch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdLvrALuIHY
dreamhunk
December 27th, 2012
2:45 pm
I am going to stick this here too!
Africa for Norway: Radi-Aid campaign returns for Christmas – Truthloader
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDaQIBFWjqw
Tina Trent
December 27th, 2012
11:33 pm
And by the way, Maureen, cut the sanctimonious “I’m gonna edit blog comments for what I deem appropriate and y’all have a happy holiday” crap. Either you’re a big girl playing at being a journalist who can handle disagreement, or you’re a sneaky censor cutting comments that don’t gratify you, and there’s no reason to snark that up with holiday greetings, is there?
dreamhunk
December 28th, 2012
8:39 am
by the this is just the tip of Ice berg I could you alot more!
dreamhunk
December 28th, 2012
8:39 am
by way the this is just the tip of Ice berg I could you alot more!
dreamhunk
December 28th, 2012
8:58 am
by way the this is just the tip of Ice berg I could show you alot more!
dreamhunk
December 29th, 2012
1:42 pm
Fishbone on Racism, Rodney King & the LAPD
.youtube.com/watch?v=WRObCiqA0zQ
dreamhunk
December 29th, 2012
1:42 pm
Fishbone on Racism, Rodney King & the LAPD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRObCiqA0zQ
dreamhunk
December 30th, 2012
11:12 am
Bankers targeting black people!
Predator Bankers Make ‘Ghetto Loans’ for ‘Mud People’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBdZoFfzgYM
dreamhunk
January 1st, 2013
10:40 am
White collar crimes in America
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISU1BWJcxDg
What Happens When Repeated and Intentional Threats to Student Beliefs Becomes Mandated? | Invisible Serfs Collar
January 4th, 2013
11:01 am
[...] http://blogs.ajc.com/get-schooled-blog/2012/12/21/fearing-young-black-men-in-hoodies-while-ignoring-... is the editorial before Christmas that really struck me as propaganda for the paper that published it. I have chronicled all the social and emotional targeting of students and the repeated rational, abstract mind attacks. Those are not well-known to the public at large but they seem well-known in the Colleges of Education. That’s where they get created and a willingness to be a blind and deaf advocate for them earns Masters and Doctorate degrees now in too many places. [...]
dreamhunk
January 5th, 2013
5:07 am
the unemployment data for the month of December, and while things are getting better for whites, African Americans continue to suffer from unemployment rates that would be unimaginable if those being affected were of any other race. White unemployment rose slightly from 6.8 percent to 6.9 percent, with white males seeing a decline from 6.4 to 6.2. White women saw a slight bump from 6.2 to 6.3 percent as well. These numbers are mildly uncomfortable, but have led to a tremendous backlash from those who feel that this is evidence that the Obama Administration has not been entirely effective in securing sustained economic growth.
While white Americans are enjoying single digit unemployment (and still angry about it), black Americans are experiencing unemployment rates that are nearly as high as they were during the Great Depression. Blackblackunemployment unemployment rose from 12.9 percent to an astonishing 14 percent. Black male unemployment is highest between the genders, at 14 percent, while black women are grappling with a 12.2 percent unemployment rate. Black teens are getting the worst of it, with an unemployment rate of 40.5 percent, nearly double that of white teens (21.6).