Black lives matter – except for the 93% of black murder victims who are killed by other blacks

Trayvon Martin.

Michael Brown.

Eric Garner.

John Crawford.

Tamir Rice.

Akai Gurley.

All of them were unarmed, young black males who were killed by someone who was not black.

All have received substantial national media coverage.

There have been protests.

There has been smashing of windows, looting, and burning down of businesses owned by innocent people who had nothing to do with the killings.

Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson have done their usual stuff.

Many college students, including students from at least three law schools (Columbia, Harvard, and Georgetown), have requested either that their final exams be delayed, or, that it be declared impossible for them to get a failing grade – all because of the trauma that they are experiencing as a result of these recent killings.

I can’t wait until these students – especially the law students – get jobs in the real world, where a request for such a delay would be considered absurd.

A white student at Oberlin College sent the following email to her math professor, where she requested that black students be allowed to delay their statistics final exam:

“It has come to the attention of students that students of color, particularly Black students, who have suffered significant trauma over the past few weeks due to the Grand Jury decisions are not at all in a place to take their finals right now. I am not among these students, and as a white, middle-class person, I have to privilege [sic] of being able to step away from these events and put enough energy into schoolwork and finals to assure that I will pass my classes.”

“[T]he college administration has done very little, if anything, to support students who are struggling and feel traumatized because of the recent (and day-to-day) acts of racism in this country. Black students and other students of color have to focus on their survival and are expected to put energy into finals, while the white students, who may also feel shaken by these events, but not to the same degree, can focus most of our time on studying and preparing for finals.”

“I am asking that you create an option for students who do not feel like they are in a place emotionally, mentally, or physically, to postpone the statistics final… I am asking that you use your power to support your students who have put so much energy into the class already. They are tired, they are hurting beyond belief, and their wellbeing needs to be prioritized.”

One minute later, the math professor wrote back the with following. This is the complete text of his email:

“No.”

That brilliant, factual, emotion-free, one word response is exactly what I would expect from a math professor.

Note the following from the Oberlin student’s email:

“as a white, middle-class person, I have to privilege [sic] of being able to step away from these events and put enough energy into schoolwork and finals to assure that I will pass my classes”

That is an excellent example of “the soft bigotry of low expectations.”

The Oberlin student decided to embarrass her professor by posting her email, and his response, on her Facebook page. She included a “trigger warning” for “violent language.” Her effort to embarrass the professor must have backfired, because she soon removed the Facebook posting. Apparently, her Facebook post did not get the kind of reaction she had been hoping for.

Two law schools – Columbia and Harvard – offered students sessions with “trauma counselors”and “mental health professionals” to talk about the decision not to indict white police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown, an unarmed black man.

“Trauma counselors”?

“Mental health professionals”?

No! No! No!

That’s not what these students need.

What these students need – and remember, these are law students – is to be told the legal reason that officer Wilson was not indicted.

During officer Wilson’s grand jury, seven black witnesses said, and forensic evidence showed, that Michael Brown assaulted officer Wilson before Wilson shot and killed Brown.

But apparently, these two law schools are not interested in presenting their law students with the legal explanation for why officer Wilson was not indicted.

One would think that a law school – of all places – would be interested in teaching its students about something such as – oh, I don’t know – the law!

But no. Not these two law schools. Not Columbia Law School. Not Harvard Law School. These law schools aren’t interested in teaching law. Instead, these law schools are offering their law students appointments with “trauma counselors”and “mental health professionals.”

Disgusting.

In the past, I was impressed when I heard that someone was going to a fancy, elite, exclusive law school. I thought it meant they had intelligence. I thought it meant they had worked hard in studying the subjects of logic and reason.

I will never make that mistake again.

Anyway, on to the primary subject of this essay.

“Black lives matter.”

That’s a phrase that has gotten a lot of attention recently.

But the phrase apparently doesn’t apply to the 93% of black murder victims who were killed by other blacks.

When was the last time there were prolonged, nationwide protests over a black person getting killed by another black person?

When was the last time that innocent businesses had their windows smashed, were looted, and got burned down, in response to a black person getting killed by another black person?

When was the last time colleges across the country made a big deal over a black person getting killed by another black person?

When was the last time that Al Shaprton and Jesse Jackson got mad over a black person getting killed by another black person?

I can’t remember the last time that any of those things happened.

I find it especially puzzling that even though Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown were killed in self defense, many people still insist that they were “murdered.” Medical records show that Trayvon Martin broke George Zimmerman’s nose, and smashed Zimmerman’s head against the concrete, before Zimmerman shot and killed Martin. Seven black witnesses said, and forensic evidence showed, that Michael Brown assaulted Darren Wilson before Wilson shot and killed Brown. But none of this has stopped huge numbers of people from insisting that Martin and Brown were “murdered.”

Based on the seven black witnesses and forensic evidence at officer Wilson’s grand jury, a St. Louis County grand jury decided that it would not file charges against officer Wilson. When President Obama expressed his disappointment with the grand jury’s decision, Obama made no reference to these “witnesses” or “evidence.” The complete text of Obama’s statement can be read here.

Obama has a Harvard law degree. For him to ignore the witnesses and evidence from officer Wilson’s grand jury is inexcusable.

In 2011, the U.S. Department of Justice issued this report. On page 13 it says:

“93% of black victims were killed by blacks”

Some people counter this by pointing out that on the same page, it also says:

“84% of white victims were killed by whites”

In other words, this counter-argument shows that most murder victims, whether they be black or white, are killed by people of their own race. And this claim is true. So, perhaps it is simply a result of the fact that most murder victims are killed by someone that they know.

However, as a counter-counter-argument, on the same page, charts show that the number of “black on white” murders is substantially bigger than the number of “white on black” murders, and this holds true for both “stranger homicides” as well as for “friend/acquaintance homicides.”

In other words, the number of blacks who murder whites is larger than the number of whites who murder blacks, regardless of whether or not the killer and victim know each other.

And I guess that explains this quote from Jesse Jackson:

“There is nothing more painful to me at this stage in my life than to walk down the street and hear footsteps and start thinking about robbery — then look around and see somebody white and feel relieved.”

So, in summary:

1) Black lives matter, except for the 93% of black murder victims who are killed by other blacks.

and

2) The lives of whites who are killed by blacks (a number which is larger than the number of blacks who are killed by whites) don’t matter at all.