If White Lives Don't Matter, Why Should Black Lives?
May 21, 2015
People constantly try pinning down my views on race, much to their frustration. I have spent more time representing black men pro bono than any of my social justice warrior critics. Blacks are treated differently by police, and this is such a duh point that it's not even worth arguing.
Yet I don't toe the party line. I don't join every hash tag campaign or eagerly signal to liberals that I'm a proper self-hating white man.
I don't hate myself for being white. I don't "check my privilege." I rather like myself, actually.
My views on race have evolved over the years. Well, my views haven't changed, but my approach has.
For example, I still recognize the criminal justice system is racist.
Yet why should I care about black issues when blacks do not care about my issues?
I've noticed blacks do not care about, for example, black-on-white hate crimes. When groups of blacks jump or "wolf pack" white or Asian men, there is no outcry from the black community. The media doesn't declare it a hate crime.
In fact, no one really cares much about what happens to white male crime victims. (No one cares about men generally, white or black.)
Yes, the criminal justice system is racist. Black kids will get the hammer laid down on them in a way that white men will not.
On the other hand, white are several times more likely to be victimized by a black assailant than a black man is to be victimized by a white.
It'd be great if whites and blacks could get together, saying, "Yes, it's wrong that the criminal justice system is racist, and it's also wrong that whites are several more times to be the victims of inter-racial crimes than black are."
But that's not happening.
When blacks care about my issues, I'll care about theirs.
Until then, they can fight their own battles.