As many of you who watch/read/listen to the news, there have been an increasing amount of Police Brutality incidents involving white cops and black victims, which in most reported cases results in the needless death of the victim. The most recent of course being Freddie Gray’s death in police custody. Which resulted in the massive protests, riots and looting happening in Baltimore. This article is not about that although I do have this to say about it. The police officers involved in the needless acts of violence towards anyone, black or not, should never be put back on the streets. In most of these cases the cops have been put back on the force, given back their guns, and put back out on the streets. In the Walter Scott shooting, the office was charged with murder, but I believe the only reason why, was someone managed to get it all on tape, and it clearly shows how the officer tried to cover it up. The problem is, in most cases, there are no witnesses, or the witnesses are deemed unreliable, and it becomes an issue where its the officer’s word of the accounts versus the evidence collected, which usually results in the officer being acquitted, like in the shooting of 7 year old Aiyanna Jones. Again though, this post isn’t about those.
This post is about making everything related (even at a minor level) being made out to be racial issues. This week, during the Baltimore riots, a mother was filmed beating her son for partaking in the riots. The media dubbed her a Hero. So I agree wither her being a Hero? No. I agree this aspect of the case is utterly stupid, as is the comment of “Forget the National Guard, send in the moms”. But what really pisses me off, is some second rate blog news outlets making it a racial issue.
But anyone white who’s applauding Graham’s moment of desperation, along with the white media figures who are hyping her “heroism,” is essentially justifying police brutality, and saying the only way to control black kids is to beat the shit out of them.
You have to be kidding me. Toya Graham, beating her son for parting in an act that could ultimately get him hurt is not a racial act. She didn’t beat him because he was fighting against black oppression by white police. She didn’t beat him because of anything to do with race. She beat him because she lost it. Its not a racial issue, its a maternal issue. I am pretty sure if I was stupid enough to partake in such a demonstration in my younger years, my mother, who is white, would have beaten my ass in much the same way.
Again, she didn’t beat him because he was supporting a cause, as they are portraying it by saying that by applauding what she did, its the same as justifying Police Brutality. I’m sorry, he wasn’t beat because of the reason behind the riot, he was beat because he was partaking in a riot… The cause could have been Higher Taxes, or higher student costs, or just about anything really.
To bring race into this is trying to capitalize on the sensationalism aspect of Journalism. Just because the issues are related does not mean you can use the original reason as a blanket cause for everything that happens under it. Not everything is about race.
I’m aware that a lot of African Americans are lauding Graham, too. This piece isn’t directed at them. Whether they applaud or critique Graham’s corporal punishment, most black people debating the issue acknowledge that the desperate public beating came from centuries of black parents knowing they have to discipline their children harshly, or else white society will do it for them – and they may not survive it.
Again Joan makes it a racial issue. Stating that Black people are praising her too, but deep down they know the reason is that due to black parents thinking they have to beat their child for discipline or white society will do it for them. I Call this bullshit. Its not racial how the kid is raised. I known many black families that discipline their child in different, non-violent ways. I also know a lot of w that discipline their kids in the same way Toya Graham did. Its not always a racial issue.
The kind of violent discipline Graham unleashed on her son did not originate with her, or with my adoptive mother who publicly beat me when I was a child, or with the legions of black parents who equate pain with protection and love. The beatings originated with white supremacy, a history of cultural and physical violence that devalues black life at every turn.
Again, this isn’t a black thing. I am sorry that your mother publicly beat you Stacey, but to blame that on White Supremacy is trying to put the blame in the wrong place. This happens in white families too. Violence towards children is not racial, its not caused by other races. It is a universal issue.
Final words, stop making everything about race. Yes racial tension is high, stop adding to the flames. You can’t put out a fire with gasoline. Stop fueling the fire of racial hatred and work towards making the world a better place where blame is put on the perpetrators, and not their race, or blaming what they do on another race.