It Wasn't Me

I'm getting more and more upset reading the local news online these days. The crime is getting out of hand, or maybe I'm just more aware of it now that I'm an adult with a family and feel as though I have something to lose. Either way, what bothers me most is that I'm running out of counterarguments to the racist comments below the articles.

Some of it is just people hiding behind their online anonymity and saying what they'd never have the courage or public stupidity to say in person. A lot of it, however, comes from pure ignorance and I'm starting to consider that it might not be entirely their fault. The media has a history of influencing public perception through lopsided journalism that focuses on Black perpetrators, but that doesn't appear to be the case these days.

DC isn't as "chocolate" as it used to be, but one thing hasn't changed and that's the highly pronounced socio-economic and racial boundaries. DC simply doesn't have much in the way of a poor White population. Because the city is so small and so much of the land area is federal property, what little remaining private space that remains is highly segregated into an economic dichotomy. Name one ghetto west of Rock Creek Park. Name one pocket of upper-middle class denizens with a primarily White population east of the Anacostia river. There aren't any. To put it simply: Most Black people in this city are poor while most White people in this city aren't. Poor people tend to commit more violent crimes, so you'll see more Black people on the news.

So, how do I defend my race on these websites when nearly every crime reported is committed by a Black person? When the crime isn't shoplifting from a grocery store but killing someone over $200 Jordans, what do I say? There were three armed robberies in my neighborhood in thirty minutes this weekend. Yesterday someone broke into a house, tied up the family and raped the housekeeper. All of this happened within walking distance of my house. In all cases the suspect was a Black male, mid 20's, between 5'6 and 5'10, dark hat and dark coat. I'm becoming more upset at the situation in general because more and more I'm starting to sympathize with the White people who cross the street when they see 5'8" me coming in my black Weatherproof coat and matching Weatherproof hat.