The black male is one of the most feared, reviled, and criminalized persons in the United States of America. Still. After all of the scholarship, ideas, and theories that have been produced by black scholars, in perpetuity. Even by some white scholars as well. No matter how revolted we may pretend we are as a society by the dehumanizing and denigrating language used to describe the black man, we still accept it to be true. I would be foolish and a liar if I said that I didn’t myself believe that some of it was true.
I don’t believe it in the way that I would if I was one of the millions of other Americans reading an article about a crime committed by a black man; in that it is tragic and sad and shameful that those people still can’t get it together. But, in the way that one may stop with alarm when she chooses not to walk by a group of young black men, standing in front of a gas station as she walks to the grocery store late at night. Most people would say this is sensible, since the female body, and the black woman’s body in particular, is constantly up for societal grasp. However, I take this as an opportunity to check myself.
I take it as a moment to consider where these ideas come from. Why the look, dress, and number of young black men, in a group frightens me. Honestly, I would feel the same fear if I walked past any group of men, but I can say that the levels of fear would vary depending upon their perceived race.
So imagine, how people of other races must feel, when they see the face of a recently arrested young, black man, plastered next to the words, “Brute, woman-hating, and demon?” How could they possibly feel and react, when this face is plastered next to a smiling, fit, and full-lipped brunette?
One would probably feel both rage and fear. It is almost logical to have an overt emotional reaction. One would not stop to bear in mind that this young, black man, is being associated with his crime, and not the person he is. It simply is of no consequence who he is as a man, or as a person because your media has decided for you that he is not a person. He is not a human. He is a demon.
This demonization of black men has a long and damaging history. It is the most accessible way to allow the larger society, to excuse whatever behavior follows next on their part. This is the fastest way to lock away a black man in jail for life. The language can only lead to the further mass incarceration of my people. It generates the fuel that allows the prison pipelines to be fed.
Now, I am not here to perceive the young Mr. Chanel Lewis’ guilt or innocence. None of us would know. We are not police, nor were we witnesses. However, let us recollect on a time, a little over two years ago now, January 15, 2015, when a young man by the name of Brock Turner was indicted on five charges. Two for rape, two for felony sexual assault, and one for attempted rape. I think many of us remember the fierce media firestorm that followed these claims. And not for the reasons you may think. Not because this was a heinous crime that he committed in violating a young woman’s body. Not because the indictment wasn’t specific enough. Not because there was no evidence or witnesses. No.
A flame was rekindled based on the words being used to describe the young man who committed the crime. A then 20-year old with a bright future at Stanford university, may lose swimming scholarship due to “rape” case. Not a brute. Not a demon. Not a woman-hater. A young man who’s future is filled with promise. He could become something vital to America one day, so his presence in our society is necessary and acceptable. He was released from jail after only 3 months of incarceration. If Chanel Lewis is convicted, we will surely never see him again.
The maximum penalty for the crimes that Brock Turner was found guilty of, was 14 years. The prosecutor argued he should receive 6 years. He was given 6 months. He served 3, and has to take rehabilitatitive sexual assault courses (along with being registered as a sex offender for the rest of his life). This man was a “Three-time all American” championship swimmer, according to the New York Post. He was someone worth saving. His father stepped in on his behalf, urging for leniency.
Many anti-prison and anti-incarceration abolitionists could possibly argue, the number of times you’ve seen any one who has committed a lesser crime, be offered any form of rehabilitation program.
This use of language by the Imperialist White Supremacist Capitalist Patriarchy, that’s what bell hooks would call it and it only makes sense to do so, is just ONE of the many bars of the cage of systematic oppression, in which reasonable explanations are made to justify the dehumanization, devaluation, and eventually mass incarceration of the black male body. We have to be willing to acknowledge that this system is in place, and we have to use an urgency to call it out. I am not speaking on the guilt or innocence of either of these men, nor do I lack sympathy or remorse for either of these women, especially the young lady who is no longer with us, but we have to be cognizant of how our society is putting the faces of good and evil against us. How they excuse sexual assault on behalf of the White Male, the person whom benefits most from this system.
It has always been excusable for the white male to rape, just as it has always been excusable for the black man to be lynched. It has always been excusable for the white man to decide who is mentally fit for a jail cell, just as it has always been excusable for the black male to be locked away on charges of vagrancy, and thrown into a chain gang.
Language and stereotypes such as these, further perpetuate the system, and eradicate any foundational comprehension of what is considered justice. Our society eliminates justice by telling us how to think from the outset, instead of allowing for a transparent and unbiased judicial system to confer conclusions on its own.
The Essence of Freedom 