http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/06/opinion/playing-the-violence-card.html?_r=1
This article talks about the issue of playing "the violence card" which is closely linked to paying "the race card".
I think this is interesting because most of the time when crimes are committed we look at who the victim was and begin to categorize it has racial discrimination or hatred when it involves a black person. Which in some instances that could be the case such as Trayvon Martin which is mentioned in the article. But often times people do not put together the fact that majority of the time it is the same race committing crimes against each other.
This article in particular talks about the ratio of black on black crimes. That is where playing "the violence card" comes into play. The real issue is not always an act of racial hatred because look at who is committing the crimes. More often than not it is blacks killing other blacks and so on and so forth. This puts a stigma on the black community as more dangerous.
That is not to say that white on white crime is not happening as well. The article goes over a specific example of that but talks about the implications that come along with that. For instance, more white neighborhoods are filled with police, social workers, or labor activists which help cut down on the crime going on within the community.
My questions are do you think this excuses or takes white on black violence less serious? Because of the increasing numbers of black on black violence?
And what do you think can help with solving the issue of who we associate with crime?
This is a interesting article. I do not think this article depicts inter-racial violence as being less serious. When it comes down to it, violence is violence no matter who is committing it on whom. Violence in general has negative affects on groups involved regardless of who is victim. I think that the best way to address the issue is to replicate what happened at the turn of century. By flooding areas where this violence can be seen with police force, better jobs, and more social workers it is going to improve the economic situation in those areas. Crime, as we have discussed is a economic issue, not a racial issue and it needs to be treated thus. If treated this way, the issue of who is committing the crime on whom wont exist anymore.
ReplyDeleteThis article does touch on a very important issue especially with its prevalence in the African American community. I personally believe that there is to much of an emphasis placed upon the notion of the "race card" even though I find that to be true I do believe that people are specifically targeted because of there race which is something I strongly disagree with as an African American. I do not find the color of someones skin to be the reason behind the crimes that they are capable of committing. I think there is more to it than people are willing to see because focusing on ones appearance is much more simpler than finding a deeper meaning.
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