The Thin Black Duke published this smart, thoughtful piece on Medium this week. I asked him if I could share it here, and he graciously agreed. ~WaterGirl
In White America, Vigilantes ‘R’ Us – An Injustice!
by The Thin Black Duke
Sometimes there is no goddamned bottom to how cruel white people can be, especially when you’re a dead black man in White America:
BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — A judge denied mistrial requests on Monday at the trial of three white men charged with murdering Ahmaud Arbery after defense attorneys claimed jurors were tainted by weeping from the gallery where the slain Black man’s parents sat with the Rev. Jesse Jackson.
Sure, the defense attorneys are doing their job, but their motion for a mistrial was callous, idiotic, and reprehensible. And in spite of their ridiculous courtroom theatrics, black people aren’t going to forget the reason why this murder trial is happening:
Father and son Greg and Travis McMichael armed themselves and pursued the 25-year-old Black man in a pickup truck after spotting him running in their neighborhood on Feb. 23, 2020. Their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan joined the chase and took cellphone video of Travis McMichael shooting Arbery three times with a shotgun.
Then again, the defense attorneys didn’t care about the black people in the courtroom, not at all. No, the targeted audience was the other white people in the crowd, and the distasteful and unsubtle implication the lawyers were trying to make was how awful it was that black people were openly expressing their grief in front of everybody.
They were speaking in code, a secret and ancient language that only white people in White America can understand, and when you read between the lies and translate the hidden message underneath, this is what’s really being said: How dare you try to make us feel guilty?
Trouble is, white people aren’t always innocent bystanders, and looking the other way most of the time when bad things are happening to black people makes them accomplices. That realization makes them uncomfortable.
Guest Post: The Thin Black Duke – An Injustice!Post + Comments (101)