It pains me to say this, but "we" now have a couple of generations of People of Color in this country who cannot understand why peace and prosperity do not come their way. They see the people on television, the professional athletes and entertainers, then look around themselves and look at their own lives and see...a rather unpleasant existence. But what they see is only half the picture. They don't see the work, the effort, the time, and the talents that, when combined, bring about the prosperity that they see in others. It is a puzzle to them.
And then something happens. Some Black Yoot is killed by the cops under circumstances where it appears that the killing was totally unjustified.
Now, statistically, this killing (regardless of which one(s) you are talking about) is statistically microscopic. For all practical purposes, it has no impact on anything or anyone that they know personally. And one might also note that there were about a dozen Black Yoots killed in Chicago last weekend. A typical - in fact a rather slow - weekend for killings in the Windy City. No protests, no riots, no nothing. Just "bid-ness" as usual.
So these lost generations JUMP ON the felonious killing of those isolated Black Yoots and scream: "This is why Black people can't succeed in this country! White people are all racists! They are holding us down!"
Which is statistical, logical, and factual nonsense. But it does, in their addled brains, provide an EXPLANATION of why their lives are not the same as the lives they focus on in their daily lives...the drug dealers, the professional athletes, the rappers, and the ubiquitous upper-middle-class "white people" on television. It gives them an excuse for the fact that they have not assimilated and not succeeded, and the future doesn't look the least bit promising to them.
Because of racism...which is manifested by these isolated. horrible killings.
And that's why they riot: To protest against the racism that - in their minds - is holding them back from the American Dream.
And then something happens. Some Black Yoot is killed by the cops under circumstances where it appears that the killing was totally unjustified.
Now, statistically, this killing (regardless of which one(s) you are talking about) is statistically microscopic. For all practical purposes, it has no impact on anything or anyone that they know personally. And one might also note that there were about a dozen Black Yoots killed in Chicago last weekend. A typical - in fact a rather slow - weekend for killings in the Windy City. No protests, no riots, no nothing. Just "bid-ness" as usual.
So these lost generations JUMP ON the felonious killing of those isolated Black Yoots and scream: "This is why Black people can't succeed in this country! White people are all racists! They are holding us down!"
Which is statistical, logical, and factual nonsense. But it does, in their addled brains, provide an EXPLANATION of why their lives are not the same as the lives they focus on in their daily lives...the drug dealers, the professional athletes, the rappers, and the ubiquitous upper-middle-class "white people" on television. It gives them an excuse for the fact that they have not assimilated and not succeeded, and the future doesn't look the least bit promising to them.
Because of racism...which is manifested by these isolated. horrible killings.
And that's why they riot: To protest against the racism that - in their minds - is holding them back from the American Dream.
