Darrell Hudson, Assistant Professor, Brown School
I had been working on a piece on stress and coping for a while and was just about set to put the finishing touches on it and submit it to Healthy Black Men. Then Michael Brown was gunned down by a police officer in Ferguson, a northern suburb of St. Louis.
After a series of autopsies, Brown is now able to be laid to rest, while details are still unfolding.
At first glance, this seems to be yet another unjust killing of a black man. While blatantly obvious, the first step in maintaining health is being alive. There have been so many incidences of black men’s (and women’s) very humanity being disregarded recently.
A growing list of black men have been killed by police officers, from Malice Green to Amadou Diallo to OscarGrant to Ezell Ford. Who knows who else? It’s a good thing technology has evolved so fellow citizens can document what is actually happening in cases in which details would otherwise be extremely murky or just swept under a rug.
Many people are trying to make sense of the shooting in Ferguson and the aftermath. In one word, I would say pressure. The shooting death of the unarmed Michael Brown has ignited a tinderbox here that has been decades in the making. The pressure that has been building up has exploded.
In the wake of all the commotion that has arisen from Michael Brown’s death, I hope that his humanity (and that of other black men) is valued. And like so many others here and around the country, I fear that justice will not be served, like so many stories before this one. And I fear that the opportunities that the black community needs to be healthy, safe and thriving will remain to be elusive.
The whole world is peeking in on what’s going on here in St. Louis and I’m hoping that we can move beyond rallies and rhetoric to bring about real change. A recognition of humanity (yes, this is obviously still an issue in “post-racial” 2014), justice for all, and the opportunity to actually pursue happiness.
Read article on Healthy Black Men
No Darrell, at first glance it appears to be a 300-poung thug who committed a robbery, assaulted a store clerk, and then brutally attacked a police officer. But I agree, that is at “first glance.” Let us both take a deep breath and wait for the grand jury and the FBI to do their work. All of these essays, in the truest spirit of academia, read well and feel good, but none offer any solutions at all. To use Michael Brown at this point as a jumping off point for a discussion about racism in America is intellectually dishonest. Let’s have a discussion about racism, but let’s leave Michael Brown out of the debate at this point. More importantly, let’s have a discussion about the sad exploitation of American blacks by other blacks, as evidenced by the fact that the vast majority of the 2,100 shootings last year in the city of Chicago were blacks shooting blacks. Until we face and fix that problem, the problem of racism will never be an issue white America will even care to discuss. It is the sad reality I’m afraid.
John, I don’t think you realize that your comment has only managed to reinforce the problem with racism in America. In one breath you’ve managed to rationalize, justify, and minimize the problem with the blatant disregard for black life in this country. You asked that Prof. Hudson leave Michael Brown out of the discussion about racism. But why? Does his death– not the reasons you perceive for why he deserved to die, but the fact that he was unarmed and shot SIX times– not highlight the point that all the protesters and those who stand in support of them have been trying to make for the last few weeks since his death: There is no regard for black life in this country and there never has been? You are sadly mistaken and wholly misinformed if you think that Michael Brown is the “jumping off point” for this discussion, which has been ongoing since BEFORE the civil right movement.
I don’t know if you are old enough, sir, but you may want to research the following persons to catch up on the history of racism and brutality against blacks in this country: Emmett Till, James Byrd, Jr., Rodney King, Sean Bell, Trayvon Martin, Kimani Gray, Kendrec McDade, Timothy Russell, Ervin Jefferson, Amadou Diallo, Patrick Dorismond, Ousmane Zongo, Timothy Stansbury, Jr., Orlando Barlow, Aaron Campbell, Victor Steen, Steven Eugene Washington, Alonzo Ashley, Wendell Allen, Ronald Madison, James Brissette, Travares McGill, Ramarley Graham, Oscar Grant, Shem Walker (the father of a close friend of mine and US veteran)…the list goes on and on.
And the black-on-black crime you speak of, well, it’s called internalized oppression…and it had to come from somewhere, right? I would offer the psychological residue of the history of slavery, Jim Crow laws, unequal segregation, the three-fifth compromise, outward Discrimination, Redlining, the more aptly labeled “Prison industrial complex”…shall I continue or do you get the picture? And white people kill each other everyday at the same rate as black people. The only difference is the method. Where blacks are more prone to gun violence, whites are prone to more pathological methods of killing each other (serial killers, black widows, poisoning, cults, and other Davidian methods), which is no different than the disparities in the reporting of welfare recipients and shoplifters, both of which, by the way, are majority middle-aged white women.
So, as is the case for any deficit, someone with a surplus has to pay to bridge the gap. And since the deficit exists in the black community, by way of all that I’ve mentioned above, who, sir, would you suggest we bring that discussion to?
First of all, Treyvon Martin was a justified shooting. Compare your 20 or so names to the 700 black Chicago School students who have died in the last few years at the hands of other blacks. And leave Michael Brown out of it at this point because we simply don’t know what happened. In all likelihood it was a justified shooting. What I am trying to tell you is that white America has no interest in discussing racism. They have a “as long as they just kill each other” attitude. What do we do about that? They see people like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton jumping at every opportunity to exploit their own people. They see young black boys walking with their pants to their knees. Oh I’m sorry, that’s black “culture” right? We are to accept it? See how many of them ever get a job. These essays I keep reading are what I call “verbal masturbation.” They feel good but they do little to propagate any new life. Here’s the hard reality I need to share with you. Nothing will change until black America changes. MLK Jr., who happens to be one of my heroes, has sadly had his message ignored by blacks. He did not advocate for a black culture, or for people to be “African-Americans,” or for the Jesse Jackson philosophy of getting a piece of the pie without having to work for it. He wanted blacks to assimilate and be given access to the American dream. He wanted blacks to simply be given the opportunity to be “Americans!” But assimilation is not a government hand-out. It means working hard to get an education. It means pulling your pants up. It means supporting the children you father. It means setting and achieving goals in spite of white America, as so many successful blacks have done, and as so many black police officers have done. You know what happens to successful blacks? They mostly go unnoticed by white America because they have assimilated. They are mayors, police chiefs, corporate CEOs, airline pilots, and even presidents of the U.S. They are simply Americans like everyone else. So I suggest we quit lamenting racism and white privilege. Privilege belongs to anyone who works hard to achieve it. That was MLK’s message. And that should be the message of every black professor out there.
p.s. I am old enough to know those names. In fact, I’m old enough to remember the day MLK was murdered. It was a sad day for America. But for Andrew Young, not a single black leader has come forward to lead black America out of its darkness. Sadly, the “diversity” and “white privilege” crowds only keep them there.
Pull up their pants? Martin King was shot dead in a suit and tie. What’s your point?
With respect, I think that you are blaming victims for their own circumstances and that is a big part of the problem. The world is not a level playing field. If “hard work” were the ticket to success, every woman in Africa would be a millionaire. Pretending that baseline inequality doesn’t exist isn’t an honest way to find solutions to the genuine problems you point out.
No, I’m blaming black America for it’s own circumstances. Victims they are not. I gave my solution to this problem, now give me yours. I’m confused what white America should do??? Are you suggesting that if whites liked blacks more then gangs would go away? That young black men would stop populating America with fatherless children? That the high school drop out rate in Chicago among blacks would no longer be above 50%? That blacks would stop killing blacks by the thousands? Please give me one single idea. I’m open to anything. If we’re going to have a debate, then take a stand and tell me your ideas!
The very first thing I would advise that you do is to stop
talking and start listening. The tone of your posts here suggest that you’ve already decided what the problems are and what the solutions should be and the rest of the world (including most black people)
are too stupid to see it.
That’s not a particularly helpful position.
If these problems were easy to fix they would have already
been fixed.
And while I don’t really think you are interested in an
actual discussion of solutions, I’ll take you at your word. Here’s one idea:
How about readdressing housing segregation (pockets of
wealth vs. pockets of poverty) by looking at the policies of how housing is zoned by ordinance? We can create more socioeconomic homogeneity (a positive goal, in my opinion) by setting goals for
population density—by block, zip code, or community. Why is it beneficial for society for wealthy people to be segregated in areas of large low-density housing, while poor people are segregated into areas of high-density housing? If communities more accurately reflected the entire spectrum of economic and (by default) racial diversity there would be a lot less “us vs. them” mentality.
Our currently segregated communities look the way they do
now for very similar reasons of past zoning, redlining, and the intentional creation of ghettos designed to keep people from mixing with others of a different socioeconomic class (or race).
We can re-think the way communities are built and how we
interact in them by simply changing the zoning laws. Why can we not have single-family homes of various sizes alongside duplexes, apartments (including section 8) in every zip code? Would “white flight” have occurred from every city if all those suburbs were required to include low-income apartment housing in the same cul-de-sac along side the McMansions?
I believe everyone is entitled to live in any size home his pocketbook will afford. But I don’t think they are entitled to decide who their neighbors should be, or the size of their neighbor’s pocketbook. That’s a public policy issue. And that’s something we can do something about.
Discuss.
Actually Tracy, I respect that position. You may be the first person in all of these essays who has actually offered a solution, and it’s a solution I don’t necessary disagree with. But I do think you will run into a constitutional brick wall. You can’t zone someone IN based on the color of your skin anymore than you can zone them OUT. Also, whether you like capitalism or not, it is our system. Such a policy would disrupt the free market in housing. In a socialist state perhaps it would work, but then we would have much larger problems. I do strongly believe in scattered site housing, which is similar I guess to what you are suggesting. Zoning entire neighborhoods though would be a disaster I think until the entire mindset of especially young black males changes. You can force desegregation, but you can never force a collective mindset in a race of people. To zone integrated neighborhoods before white and black accept one another and can live together, which currently they cannot below the level of middle class, would lead to social conflict on a grand scale. We have to change how people think about themselves before we ever try to change how they think about others. Finally, not too many miles outside St Louis you start coming across lots of little towns where there are no blacks. If you start race-based zoning, guess where all the white people will go? Then we end up with a bigger problem than when we started.
I never suggested zoning based on race. That would be illegal and rightfully so.
I’m suggesting zoning based on population density in a way that would eliminate densely-populated poor ghettos and sparsely-populated wealthy enclaves.
This is neither socialist (buy any housing you can afford), nor is it unconstitutional. Zoning and building permits are issues for local government.
Planned socioeconomic diversity is the goal. That would likely have a side-effect racial diversity since people of color are overrepresented among the poor.
Socioeconomic diversity isn’t just a good idea because it’s hard to hate or mistrust one’s direct neighbors. It also means that school systems, police forces, city councils, juries, retail infrastructure–all the things that make a community–would be more equitable.
Under our current structure (which was incentivized by policy to make it segregated) we have pockets of poor people who simply cannot climb out by working harder. They don’t have the schools…which they don’t have because they don’t have the tax base…it’s a vicious cycle of poverty that makes it almost impossible to escape.
As Americans, we all seem to *think* that we have the promise of social mobility (because successful people keep saying it). But that was a myth when Horatio Alger wrote it, and it’s even less true today. Socioeconomic mobility is worse in this country than in European countries. In America today, birth is practically destiny. Yes, anyone can find anecdotes of rich African-Americans. That’s why they call them anecdotes.
And I really think that you should disabuse yourself from the notion that you have any idea what the “black male mindset” is. It’s racist and preposterous, and you seem more intelligent than that.
Are you really suggesting that young black males don’t have a particular collective mindset that guides their behavior? And it’s racist for me to suggest I might understand it? You don’t seem to have a problem knowing the typical police officer’s mindset. You see, that’s part of the problem. I can read about things like “white privilege” all day long. It flows freely from the mouths and thoughts of blacks. But the minute white people suggest anything about black behavior or thinking, suddenly we’re racist. But it’s not just whites who fall victim to this routine. What happened to Bill Cosby the minute he told young black men to pull their pants up and quit fathering children if they’re not willing to support them? I say again, until blacks quit killing, exploiting, and condemning each other, whites will never change their attitudes. No one wants to talk about the hundreds of dead black kids in Chicago, all killed by other black kids. Last week a 9 year old boy was murdered. Not accidentally mind you. He was shot multiple times. Why hasn’t Wash U dedicated it’s website to that discussion? You and I are a clash of idealism and realism. I don’t disagree with your idealism, but it leads nowhere. I don’t want to keep black people in the ghetto. I don’t want the ghetto at all! But as long as the message they are given is one of victimization rather than personal responsibility, the ghetto is here to stay. We don’t know the entire story yet about Michael Brown, but we know he committed a robbery and assaulted a store clerk. We may very well find that he brutally attacked a police officer and was justifiably shot. But what is the message black kids have been given? The message is essentially that it’s okay to commit crime and act like a thug because they are after all victims of white privilege. How sad. Black leaders should have condemned his crimes and told the people of Ferguson to await the results of the ongoing investigations. If it’s found that he was justifiably shot, will you publicly condemn his behavior? Because if you don’t, I consider that the worst kind of racism.
That is EXACTLY right! It is EXTREMELY racist of you to believe that you understand the collective mindset of young black males. Because you are not young and you are not black. You have not been impacted by law enforcement or the judicial system in the same way. And why not? Because those two entities serve to protect you. We will never get anywhere with this discussion about race, socio-economics, or community development practices and politics until you admit it.
Here’s the bottom line:
What blacks do, they do to themselves. What whites do and have ALWAYS done, in the history of this country, you’re doing it to blacks and other minorities. If you find the nucleus of this problem, you find the solution.
So, if you really are genuinely interested in finding a solution, start there because I can see that you’re trying to avoid doing your own work. I bet you believe there is nothing wrong with you. You think the problem with race in America is 1) black people and 2) can be fixed with a flip of the white wrist. Not so, but I respect your naiveté and hope as you advance in age you will also advance in wisdom of self.
John isn’t interested in any solutions because he is wedded to his anti-Black hatred. And the Johns of the world don’t like educated, upwardly mobile, law-abiding Black people either. They think we’re too “uppity” and don’t know our place.
I am black! 🙂
Plenty of Black folks who are anti-Black. Internalized racism is real.
Actually I’m white. I just wanted to illustrate how quickly you would turn on your own people. Hilarious (but sad)…
I didn’t turn on anyone. Just stating facts. Anti-Blackness is touted worldwide and has been for centuries. It’s not at all remarkable that many Blacks are also anti-Black and have internalized racism.
If this was your attempt at a “gotcha” it was sad at best. The fact that you’re at the playing “gotcha” level and trying to pass it off as discourse, even more so.
For the life of me I can’t discern your point…
And for the record, the cop who shot Michael Brown had no idea whether he had committed robbery or assaulted a store clerk when he approached him. But if I were following your logic, he deserved to die, even if it were by the hands of someone who had no real insight on his character or any crimes that he’d personally committed. Is that right?
Yes, that is exactly right!! If he attacked a police officer, tried to grab his gun, then continued toward him in an aggressive manner, yes, he deserved to die! All you need to know about his character by that point would be known. And for the record, Officer Wilson did know he had just committed a robbery. More importantly, Michael Brown knew he had just committed a robbery. That might explain his aggression toward Officer Wilson. And one last thing, keep in mind that the rules of deadly forced were determined by YOUR U.S. Supreme Court, not the Ferguson Police Department!
I also have to take issue with the idea that black and white people of various economic classes currently can’t live together. You need to get out more. I have spent 30 years living in such a neighborhood.
The Central West End in St. Louis is a very eclectic neighborhood where people of all socioeconomic levels live in close proximity. In the block I live on there are Victorian mansions, 4-flat student apartments, Section 8 housing, duplexes, and high-rise condos.
One can find a place to live at all price points–from a $2 million palazzo to a government-subsidized efficiency–all within walking distance of the stores and restaurants (and polling places, hospitals, and police stations) that we all share. My neighbors are black, white, asian, gay, disabled. Old people and families with young kids. Highly paid professionals and people on welfare. It’s not Brigadoon, but as an example of a place that proves people from different backgrounds can build a community together, it gets it mostly right.
Your ignorance, sir, is proof that a little bit of information can be a dangerous thing.
You don’t realize that your words betray you, if you think you’re not racist. Do you believe that whites are kings and queens, gatekeepers, rulers, or the template for how everyone else should behave?
Here is the abridged version of what you wrote– keep in mind these are your words:
“White America has no interest in discussing racism. They have a[n] “as long as they just kill each other” attitude. They see young black boys walking with their pants to their knees. Oh I’m sorry, that’s black “culture” right? See how many of them ever get a job. Nothing will change until black America changes. MLK Jr. did not advocate for a black culture, or for people to be “African-Americans.” He wanted blacks to assimilate and BE GIVEN access to the American dream. He wanted blacks to simply BE GIVEN the opportunity to be “Americans!” But assimilation is not a government hand-out. It means setting and achieving goals in spite of white America. You know what happens to successful blacks? They mostly go UNNOTICED BY WHITE AMERICA because they have assimilated. They are simply Americans like EVERYONE ELSE.”
Translation: Until you black people start acting like us white people you DESERVE to be murdered in these streets like the uneducated unemployed pant-sagging deadbeats that you all are, because we can see you.
So, tell me, would you happen to know exactly who we “African Americans” should speak to about being GIVEN access to the American dream and the opportunity to be “Americans?”
The Wizard of Oz, perhaps?
Yes, you speak to the man in the mirror about it. And your translation is wrong. It should be “until you black people start acting like Americans!” I don’t care if you’re white, black, or alien green. There are many blacks who understand this. They are police officers and business owners. Many have fought and died in two wars. We all have the same color blood when we bleed. So I will say to you what I said to Tracy. I gave you my solution. Now give me yours. Give me a single idea. What should white people do? What should the government do? What should anyone do if black American isn’t willing to face and fix the real problem. I’m open to ideas here.
“Until you black people start acting like Americans!”
I don’t see how that’s possible, seeing as though we can’t ALL live on a reservation. Unless, that’s what you want for us black people… (is the ghetto not enough for you???)
Do you live on a reservation? If not,– and I’m assuming you consider yourself “American”– what makes you more “American” than black people? What nationality are black people acting like, if not American? And who currently sets the standards for what an “American” acts like? If I wasn’t hoping for better, I would think you were trying to promote cultural eugenics…almost to the degree of Nazism. But feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.
What white people can do is also “speak to the man in the mirror about it.” Recognize and ADMIT your privilege. Admit to yourself that you did not get ALL of what you have, collectively, because of your hard work. Admit that this country was constructed on the backs of others for your own advantage. Admit that if a white man doesn’t make it in America, it is by choice and when a black man doesn’t make it, its by circumstance. Circumstances that existed looong before he was born. Circumstances that continue to plague his lineage and his legacy to this very day because “Americans” don’t care as long as “they just keep on killing each other.” Circumstances that have been written into the policies of this country that have yet to be eradicated. Circumstances that were created and continue to be recreated by the privileged class so that they get to decide who to “GIVE access and opportunity” to (those were your words).
So you see, sir, even though you may not be PERSONALLY responsible for the actions of all white people, you still get to benefit from it. You have the privilege and the honor of feeling like you own the place and get to make the rules, and get to tell other people how to be and when they should be “American.” Whereas, black people on the other hand, if they are successful, they go “UNNOTICED” (again, your words) and those who make it on the news, or just simply your sphere of consciousness, deserve to be disregarded as human beings with circumstances just like everyone else and whatever bad thing happens to them is CERTAINLY justified because they aren’t “American.”
Basically, what you’re saying is, for you (and I’ll treat your race the exact same way you treat mine: one represents all) black people are better off living under the radar of white people because it’s the “American” way, not unlike Native Americans.
End of story!!!
White people do NOT kill each other at anywhere near the rate that blacks do. You can tell yourself they do, you can LIE in this column you write, but that won’t change the truth. Blacks will do much better when they stop telling each other absurd fantasies.
I am becoming increasingly “and…”? at these types of stories for the simple fact where are the mentions of all the Black little female children and female adults who have been slaughtered by the cops?
Racism does NOT only affect Black men which is a narrative often focused upon, thus by proxy further treating the African woman and girl as “less than”.
Black men in the U.S. and here within the UK (not all) are beyond not fit for purpose in my humble view, 60% of all U.S. Black female girls before the age of 18 will have been sexually abused by a Black male she knows.
There are MORE deaths of Black women by the hands of Black partners than any other race overall, and even more so disturbing is that the so called “Black Kings who are hard done by in life” slaughter their woman while she is pregnant or within the first year of their child’s birth.
The sexual harassment that Black girls and women HAVE to endure each and every day is laughed off as “oh you know, Black men are more forward…he just likes her” .
NO!!!
It is NOT okay for backwards slimy men of ANY race to harass females, but there is a different narrative and response when it is a Black female being bothered by a Black male.
Yes sure it is sad Black men are having their necks snapped, gunned down but to pretend this issue only affects them is a fallacy.
Black girls and women used as human shields to march for Black men, WHERE ARE THE BLACK MEN when it is Black females killed?
NOWHERE.
And as such, while know on an individual level there are many nice sweet Black men( my brother and friend being one) as a collective Black men have failed both woman and child and to distract the world over this serious matter instead post YT uploads on Black girls and women wearing weaves.
Oh come on, while it is interesting and ..*huh*? when someone feels like they can not rock their own natural hair, we all know the undertone/origins for this, and more so, sometimes have nothing to do with origins and every thing to do with simply wishing to do what want wants to do with hair!
That aside, we have knee-grows, old men in their 40’s (a man called Tommy Sottomayor) trailing black teen girls (12-17) twitter accounts to “black girl weave shame them” and also focus on them being *dark skinned*,
Tyler Perry, Kevin Hart, both who have a house negro mentality with their shucking and jiving and boot toe tapping vibes think nothing wrong as a Black male, the FIRST!!! wearing a dress and lip stick.
All of these points are interconnected, time and time again Black men have proven that they are happy tap dancing with their Jonesing real life Ministral acts, thus illustrating to other men of the world, they are not fit for purpose in terms of protection black woman and child.
Yes there is a white supremacy system in place, Neely Fuller/Elder Welsing/Malcolm X go into this, however Black men need to start looking at themselves.
No other race of man expects the female to defend him, no other, which is where I think “strong black woman” issue comes through, Black females are taught from very early to be self sufficient and so forth, often in the face of no active father figure or once who is an abuser.
So young black girl grows knowing she is viewed as different to other girls and does her best to live her life.
Fast forward a few years, Black boys and men lament all over the internet that they hate the strong black woman type, um..the very same woman who cried herself to night over the stress over being a woman with children, no support family or otherwise, trapped in a system seeped in sexism and racism, so Black female struggles on several layers.
The Black men here within the UK are in fact as bad if not worse as those living within the U.S., lining the streets selling drugs, hanging around the streets, sexually bothering any female whether woman or child, becoming pretty aggressive if you refuse/reject attention, in fact i liken many Black men to infantile men-boys.
The amount of time I hear a Black men here in the UK moan “DE white man fault”, okay yes these are social racial factors in control I know this, however by walking around like a bum is not going to help you!
My brother has a kind nature, sorry to say but growing up he did stand out in comparison to his black male peers, many backwards and uneducated Black humans think to “be black” you must speak in a particular way, only listen to bashment music and so on, well a bunch of vicious cruel envious Black male thugs attacked my brother resulting in him being left with mental health problems, my point being, (Black males not all) enjoy hurting their own.
Amos Wilson likens it to not having the power to kill the main source! so killing each other over and over again.
There are many lovely decent Black men I must say again, however collectively…
200 hundred African girls kidnapped in Nigeria last year, I did not hear one Black male comment, however if one white girl had gone missing, a million man march of black men would have ripped up this earth searching for her, Black men have failed the Black race time and time again, the ones now.
How could the African race(know such thing as black race/white race,African race is correct) go from Set, Isis, building temples, to now being gun?
Somewhere along the line an African man sold us ALL down the river, it would not have been a female, logic and intuition tells me this,a beautiful rich in power Race educed to being shot down five times like nothing?
We females without question have to drop what we do and march singing “we shall over come” while holding hands
No thank you.
The African man pushed of a metro train in France by White men commented “not one white person came to my defense”.
😉 Of course not you fool, you tried to force yourself on to a particular section of the train in which a white ritual was taking place(straight after football match, sweating/swearing/cussing/shouting/ results in highly elevated hormonal state) then moaned that no one stuck up for you, Mr BLACK man, why not your fellow brothers begin sticking up for you, stand up for yourself, STOP expecting everyone else to be there marching for you.
To conclude, all of the points raised are interrelated, there is a theme whereby Black man goes on any and which way, harming killing sexually abusing, attacking black woman and black male and female child, however…..
WE must all march for them, while ignoring the fact Black males in the here and now do NOT act as human shields for Black girls and women.
I love and adore my brother, that aside…
No.
Please excuse some of the errors.
Mr Hudson, I respect the fact that you are trying to understand what is going on, but to ignore all of the many African females who are slaughtered every month at the hands of European cops, you are making it clear only one half of the gender matters in “Black lives matter”.