Is that a Negro at my car?

Jason Screeb — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 04:53:00 +0000

Tags: crime, racism, 50 cent, 20/20I am far from racist, but I bet that title is eye-catching! I was watching 20/20 last night and they had an interesting story on the black/white issue. They set up an old car in the park near the white part of town. They then had 3 white teenagers pretend to vandalize the car and spray paint it in broad daylight. People were walking by with their kids, walking their dogs, and jogging to shed those Christmas pounds. 20/20 was monitoring 911 calls, and had hidden cameras set up. While the white kids were doing their thing, there was only one 911 call and a couple of people talked to them and said they shouldn’t be doing that. At the same time, a guy called 911 because there was a family of black folks sleeping in their car. In fact, he called twice saying they looked shady like they were going to rob someone. The overall result was not many people bothered to stop and just went about their business.

Then came the black teenagers. They did the same thing as the white boys, but far more people stopped to say they should stop what they were doing. Not only that, but the 911 calls rolled in. What surprised me was that people weren’t afraid to approach the black boys, and were more inclined to lecture them. If I had been in the situation as a passer-by, I would have kept walking but called 911 on both the white and black teenagers.

My question is, why were people more responsive to the black teenagers than the white? It breaks down to culture, stereotypes, and perception. They said in the investigation, that both white and black people think black people commit more crime. When you look at black culture in the country today, that perception isn’t hard to miss. Most of the kids dress like thugs, with the chains, hats, and sagging pants. The bad and the good dress similar, so it is hard to differentiate between the two. When all you see on the local news are drug dealers and murderers dressed like this, it is easy to assume that a young black teenager who has a 4.0 gpa is the same. Which would you be more afraid of, a young black man in thug gear or a young black man in khaki’s and a tucked in polo shirt?

This leads me to the role models in our society… they are terrible. Who are children, teenagers, and the rest of the country looking up to?

50 Cent: Get Rich Or Die Tryin’? And we wonder why everyone gets scared when they see a black guy with tattoos and gold chains. Don’t get me wrong, I have all of 50 cents CD’s and like the music. The music is about killing people and letting their brains leak out on the sidewalk, but the lyrics are catchy and the beats are good. I don’t think I have to say much more about this, the point is pretty clear.

So what is going to change these stereotypes and perceptions? The answer is time and instilling the right morals and behavior in our children, in order to breed out the racism. What we teach our offspring leads to how they will act in life, and what they will pass onto their children. This isn’t going to change overnight. Think about how long ago it was when blacks were segregated and made to sit in the back of the bus (now kids fight for the back of the bus). Look at where we are today and how long it took to get here. It may seem like a long time to some, but in the big picture it is not a long time at all. How do you think black and white people will interact 100 years from now? Time heals everything, and we will have other problems to worry about in the coming years. Remember, it could be your white next-door neighbor who goes to your church that ends up stabbing you in your sleep.

Jason Screeb: the man, the myth, the manic... » Racism

Is that a Negro at my car?