by Jack Lee
Three Auburn University students were shot dead and 3 more were seriously wounded by a single gunman. We don’t know why yet, all we know is the suspect, Desmonte Leonard, age 22, pulled a gun and started shooting. Six young men went down – three died.
A police spokesman said Leonard carried an illegally obtained handgun when he arrived at the party and he had a prior arrest for carrying an illegal handgun and theft. Based on this, it’s obvious Leonard didn’t give a rip about gun laws, just the law abiding did.
The shooting happened despite numerous gun laws that were violated. Anyone surprised?
As tragic as these murders might be, it’s unlikely our President will be lamenting the fallen or condemn the hugely disproportionate number of shooting deaths of young black males by other young black males. Nor should we expect Reverends Jackson and Sharpton to show up at the scene demanding justice for black victims of gun violence. Don’t hold your breath expecting New Black Panthers to be offering a bounty for the shooter’s capture either! For them it’s all about empowering themselves into the limelight by creating racial discord.
There’s no story here, just another black on black shooting and that in itself is a tragedy. And what you see NOT happening by the aforementioned race mongers is taking social responsibility and confronting a major dysfunction in the black community. If an event like the Trayvon Martin shooting deserves to be confronted head on then so does this!
We all know if the killer was a Klan member Jesse and Al would be tripping over each other in a race to the scene of the shooting. And no amount of wailing by phoney liberals, no amount of protesting and no amount of public outrage would be too much! But, it wasn’t like that, this was just another black on black murder and therefore it is handled completely different by the media and by every liberal that formerly attended a Trayvon Martin memorial.
Racism by its very definition implies a double standard and if this isn’t a double standard, then I defy you to show me what is? Don’t misunderstand, I’m not using this tragedy to make a political statement like those others I’m demanding equal justice and for all victims of murder. I don’t want a double standard! I wish all murder victims to get justice and to have their killings met with equal outrage by all of us, regardless of color and without all the racist nonsense. Think it will ever happen? Probably not in my life time.
What a sad and useless crime. My heart goes out to the families of these young men…young men attempting to carve out a future for themselves!
You are right Jack, black on black crime is not considered a big problem for those who use similar crimes involving whites (or Hispanic whites) to simply race bait. It should be their number one priority! If these powerful black leaders truly gave a rip they’d use some of those community organizing skills in the neighborhoods with high black on back crime.
Surely community organizing would be very effective at helping to keep families together, encouraging church and school attendance, and helping young blacks to start businesses in the neighborhood. Alas, making money for themselves and keeping political power seems to be the agenda for these types.
Jack: “As tragic as these murders might be, it’s unlikely our President will be lamenting the fallen or condemn the hugely disproportionate number of shooting deaths of young black males by other young black males.”
I suspect that the president will only comment on this case if he is explicitly asked about it at a press conference set up to deal with an entirely different issue. That is, after all, the only reason he commented on the Trayvonn Martin case–because he was asked about it by a reporter. You always leave that part out. Why?
“Nor should we expect Reverends Jackson and Sharpton to show up at the scene demanding justice for black victims of gun violence.”
Their emphasis is on crimes that are racially motivated. I think they could pay more attention to black-on-black crime, and they could probably do some good on that issue. But I don’t think it’s hypocritical or unfair for them not to. We all have our own pet issues. You can’t expect every activist to pay attention to the issues you want them to pay attention to.
“Don’t hold your breath expecting New Black Panthers to be offering a bounty for the shooter’s capture either!”
I think bringing up the NBPP in the same paragraph as Obama, Jackson and Sharpton is really bizarre. The Panthers have, what? 200 members, at most? You constantly imply that they are somehow related to more mainstream black activists, or even the president himself, or that they all have the same agenda. There is no merit to this suggestion. The Panthers have little to no influence on the black community at large. They are an irrelevant fringe group. I know FOX News likes to give the Black Panthers a platform to spew their racist nonsense, and then imply that they are spokesmen for the Democratic Party. But that doesn’t mean you have to be gullible enough to believe them.
“There’s no story here, just another black on black shooting and that in itself is a tragedy.”
Well…yeah. That’s the thing: there is no story here. This kind of thing, sadly, happens all the time. And the shooter has been arrested. The Martin case was a lot more rare, and the shooter was not arrested, and many people were confused as to why even before the national media started reporting on the case.
“Racism by its very definition implies a double standard and if this isn’t a double standard, then I defy you to show me what is?”
A double standard means treating similar cases differently. These cases are not similar.
Chris put the water down and see how much better you feel.
Chris you remind me that I never knew why Obama said what he did. I assumed he called a press conference. I only saw the news clips on the MSM like 95% of America did. Thank you for that addition, it does give it better perspective.
Next, you make a good point about a white on black crime being so rare that is akin to the old man bites dog lead story. Don’t you find it odd then that so much is made over the rare event (white on black) and so little is made over an every day event (black on black or black on white). Don’t you think this is a statement of racism or at least a strongly misplaced priority? The logical order is to triage by the degree of injury, not by the degree of uniqueness. Loss of life is loss of life, it should not matter what the skin color, but obviously to some it means everything and that is racism by its very definition, agree?
Chris: According to this information from the Southern Poverty Law Center, “The New Black Panther Party is a virulently racist and anti-Semitic organization whose leaders have encouraged violence against whites, Jews and law enforcement officers. Founded in Dallas, the group today is especially active on the East Coast, from Boston to Jacksonville, Fla. The group portrays itself as a militant, modern-day expression of the black power movement (it frequently engages in armed protests of alleged police brutality and the like), but principals of the original Black Panther Party of the 1960s and 1970s a militant, but non-racist, left-wing organization have rejected the new Panthers as a “black racist hate group” and contested their hijacking of the Panther name and symbol.
In Its Own Words, “Our lessons talk about the bloodsuckers of the poor . It’s that old no-good Jew, that old imposter Jew, that old hooked-nose, bagel-eating, lox-eating, Johnny-come-lately, perpetrating-a-fraud, just-crawled-out-of-the-caves-and-hills-of-Europe, so-called damn Jew and I feel everything I’m saying up here is kosher.”
Khalid Abdul Muhammad, one of the party’s future leaders, Baltimore, Md., Feb. 19, 1994
Chris, “. Founded in Dallas, the group today is especially active on the East Coast, from Boston to Jacksonville, Fla.” This sounds like there are more than 200 members. Chris do you know for a fact the number you claimed was right or just your opinion? -Jack
Tina, I liked your comments better than my article, very well said.
Chris: “Well…yeah. That’s the thing: there is no story here. This kind of thing, sadly, happens all the time.”
In days gone by people effectively said regarding slavery, “No story here, sadly, this kind of thing happens all the time.”
Of course there’s a story here!
But people are afraid to talk about it. The media can’t talk about it. The politically correct have made sure we don’t talk about it. And black race baiters certainly can’t because they are deeply invested in the white man being the enemy and the reason that blacks can’t improve their communities and families.
Jack thank you for having the guts to talk about this…and for your encouraging words.
Thanks Tina, this is one subject I would rather not comment on because I’m sure to be called a racist now, but it had to be said and I appreciate the backup.
Jack: “Don’t you find it odd then that so much is made over the rare event (white on black) and so little is made over an every day event (black on black or black on white). Don’t you think this is a statement of racism or at least a strongly misplaced priority? The logical order is to triage by the degree of injury, not by the degree of uniqueness. Loss of life is loss of life, it should not matter what the skin color, but obviously to some it means everything and that is racism by its very definition, agree?”
No, I don’t agree. Sure, society as a whole should focus on the more common type of crimes. But activist groups have certain emphases. Pro-life groups don’t comment on every murder, nor should they; their focus is on abortion, which they see as a specific type of murder. I disagree with them completely, but I wouldn’t critique them based on their lack of comments on this shooting or any other, because that’s not what they’re about.
I think Jackson and Sharpton could use their influence in the black community to talk more about black-on-black crime. But I don’t think it’s racist for them to focus more on crimes which they think are racially motivated.
The 200 number was a guess, and I phrased it as a question, not a claim. I may be underestimating the actual number, but I have read reports that the party has grossly exaggerated their membership. My point is that they do not enjoy any popular support among the black community or the left wing in general, as the SPLC link you cite proves. The SPLC is often accused by conservatives–baselessly, I believe–of being a far-left, radical group which only exists to persecute conservatives by labeling them bigots. If even they say that the New Black Panther Party is a hate group, that should tell you something about how much the left likes the NBPP. Even the original Panthers think they are a bunch of racist loons. They speak for no one but themselves.
And yet there has been an effort on the part of conservatives to link the Panthers with the black community and mainstream liberals as a whole, and I see that effort reflected in your article. Maybe that wasn’t your intention. I don’t like Sharpton or Jackson, they seem like shameless self-promoters to me, but they are nowhere near as radical as the NBPP and I don’t think it’s fair to imply an association where none exists.
The NBPP believes all whites are inherently evil and deserve to be killed. Say what you will about Jackson, Sharpton, and Obama, but they clearly do not share the same beliefs or goals as the NBPP.
My point about black on black crime has to do with the black community spending a lot of energy and money to point out racism when they “decide” racism has occurred (Martin case) and they spend almost zero energy on what could be done to prevent black on black crime and the conditions that cause it. Finding ways to blame the white man seems to be more important than seeing to it that black kids grow up healthy, educated, and prepared to be contributing members of society. The white man has very little influence in this regard…and the black leaders…those who would have some power…do nothing!
The racism game is, for the most part, a crock. The
American people are not, genrally speaking, racists. I’m really sick of the race game and I am incredibly angry and sad that so many young black lives are wasted for lack of interest and policies/efforts that work. (As long as the issue is ignored it cannot be adequately addressed)
Chris, so you don’t agree that the black community is overly focused on white on black crime (rare) to the point of distraction and because of that focus, they are not rallying to do something more about black on black crime (common). Hmmmm… so if you could save 25% verses saving .025%, you would find it perfectly rational devote your scant resources to saving the .025%? That’s disappointing.
Okay Chris if that’s the way you want it, good luck on making a difference. However, I’m way to logical to substitute an emotional agenda (racism is an emotional agenda) for an agenda that produces real and profound results, i.e. saves a lot of lives by creating awareness to a serious problem and making the necessary changes.