By Selwyn Duke ——Bio and Archives--July 23, 2013
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[E]ven though black men between the ages of 14 and 24 make up only 1% of the U.S. population, they represent 27% of all the nation's murderers. … [T]he administration study also found that blacks of any age are eight times more likely to murder than whites [and note that the DOJ included Hispanics in the “white” category]. While blacks make up just 13% of the population, they're responsible for more than half — 53% — of the country's murders.So contrary to what Obama implies, the suspicion of blacks — just like the suspicion of men — has nothing to do with prejudice. It has to do with reality. Now a bit more about profiling. Profiling is simply a method by which one can determine the probability that a given individual has committed a crime or has criminal intent. And many factors weigh in this assessment, such as sex, age, dress, behavior and, yes, race. This is why complaints about “racial profiling” are as silly as would be talk of “sex profiling.” Because there are only two kinds of profiling: good profiling and bad profiling. The good variety involves all relevant factors as identified by sound criminological science (and the science of streetwise survival). Bad profiling arises when you disallow relevant factors based on the tenets of political correctness. This brings us back to Martin. He wasn’t viewed suspiciously simply because he was black any more than I was 15 years ago because I was male. In my case, if I’d been 85 years old and/or wearing a business suit (I wore my favorite leather jacket), the woman I encountered would’ve been far less likely to consider me a threat. Likewise, if Martin had been dressed smartly and carried himself with dignity, he would have raised fewer eyebrows. Of course, having grown up in NYC, I understand that boys in rough neighborhoods don’t want to dress like Little Lord Fauntleroy (the friend I mentioned earlier, a brilliant man of faith, made cultivating the white-trash look an art); appearing tough deters troublemakers. Then again, it’s also true that many black youths think the bad-to-the-bone gangsta’ style is cool. Whatever the motivation, know that the same thing making you seem formidable prey to miscreants makes you seem a fearsome predator to the meek. “But, hey, don’t I have the right to dress how I want?!” Sure, and a white teen may take on the skinhead look— and then people will make their judgments. It’s fairly stupid to don a hoodie and then wonder why you’re viewed as a hood. In fact, the “do as I please without judgment” attitude — reflected in Obama’s words — is also something else: offensive. After all, imagine I demanded that women check their brains at the door in deference to men’s feelings and not take whatever precautions are prudent when strange men are present. I don’t even have the right to ask such a thing. Other people’s safety takes precedence over your feelings, Mr. Obama. And if the world’s Obamas and Sharptons are still angry, they should consider the answer Alan Keyes gave in a presidential primary debate when asked if he’d be upset at being profiled as a black man. He said (I’m paraphrasing), “Yes, I’d be upset. I’d be upset at all the young black men who committed crimes and caused others to view me more suspiciously.” Of course, the reality is that just as the mouse flees from the Garter snake or the cat from the dog, liberals instinctively profile just like anyone else. Jesse Jackson said in 1993, “There is nothing more painful for me at this stage in my life than to walk down the street and hear footsteps and start to think about robbery and then look around and see it's somebody white and feel relieved.” Juan Williams admitted in 2010, “[W]hen I get on a plane…if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think…they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous.” And we know now that even little Saint Trayvon, in all his cherubic, golden-toothed glory, profiled George Zimmerman as a “creepy-**s cracka’” and perhaps even a homosexual predator. And the irony is that if Martin had actually known how to profile as well as Zimmerman, he might still be alive today.
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