Guest Commentary Opinion

Guest Editorial: Stopping the cycle of racism

Feb. 18, 2014, marked another court case that dominated the news and left many Americans divided on the concept of race. As a student at the second most diverse campus in the nation, I always see faces of all different colors and ethnicities.

I believe diversity should be celebrated in all aspects regardless of color, race, sex, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation or gender. We live in a country that values equality and freedom, and this has taught us to appreciate each other’s differences, which is why the Jordan Davis case was appalling and tragic.

Referred to as the “Loud Music Case” by the media, a white male, Michael Dunn, approached a car with five young males and asked the teens to turn off what Dunn has been known to refer to as “thug music” and “rap crap.”

When the teens refused, the situation escalated. Shots were fired, and 17-year-old Jordan Davis was killed. Michael Dunn was arrested, and a trial followed.

Evidence supported the teens’ accounts that Dunn fired shots into the back of the vehicle and the teens attempted to escape the bullets.

Michael Dunn was convicted of four counts of attempted murder, but they did not convict him for the murder of Jordan Davis.

Florida’s “stand your ground” laws, which Texas also has, left the jury unable to definitively convict Dunn of murder.

Racism in America is not old news. Children learn from their environment, their family and peers about stereotypes, discrimination and racism.

The pigeonholing and disentrancement of black youth, especially males, as “thugs” or “criminals” originates from a fear of the unknown and historical oppression. People classify strangers or those who don’t look the same into categories because they’re afraid for a variety of reasons, but ultimately this fear may stem from prejudicial beliefs that were learned. It is an ongoing cycle that will continue unless we consciously make an effort to question our biases.

I am not an exception to this case. When my parents immigrated to America, their environment taught them the same prejudicial values, which I despise. These thoughts and beliefs that I grew up with are ingrained in my behavior and way of thinking.

What sets me apart is that I recognize my biases and strive to eliminate them. One of the ways I do this is by engaging with a variety of cultures through the Council of Ethnic Organizations (CEO) here at the University of Houston. By working and learning from UH’s diverse community, I have become more apt to appreciate others’ individualism and actively work to be inclusive of everyone.

From noon to 7 p.m. on March 4th CEO will be hosting Carnaval of Cultures at Lynn Eusan Park. CEO will be showcasing a variety of cultures from around the world to let students at UH meet their fellow peers and enjoy foods and performances from organizations on campus.

CEO expands the definition of diversity by providing fun and free opportunities for students to learn about other cultures, so students can foster a sense of appreciation of others and dismantle fear.

When I interviewed for the assistant director position with CEO, I was asked how I defined diversity. My response was that I believe diversity will someday mean we no longer have to speak about diversity.

In a truly diverse world, everyone would be accepting of each other and understand that our differences are what make us unique individuals.

Prejudices and biases would be replaced with the intrinsic thought that we are all part of one group, the human race. I hope you endeavor to make diversity a reality by questioning your personal biases and striving to eliminate them through exposure and self-education.

At CEO’s Carnaval of Cultures, students will be able to learn about the vast diversities on campus and begin, if they have not already, celebrating the overarching diversity that is UH.

Assistant director of CEO Jessica Luong is an accounting and management and information systems senior and may be reached at [email protected].

20 Comments

  • “Florida’s “stand your ground” laws, which Texas also has, left the jury unable to definitively convict Dunn of murder.”

    Sigh,,, another person in the media who doesn’t understand the “Stand Your Ground” (SYG) laws.

    SYG simply states that someone does not have “the duty” to retreat. If it was used, per the above claim, to justify murder, then wouldn’t it also justify attempted murder? If, and when SYG is used (not in this, or the Martin case), it is in conjunction with LEGAL use of force in self defense. This is a good summary I found online of what SYG is, and I bet most of your readers would agree that it is a good law:

    “When an innocent person is faced with an unlawful imminent deadly attack
    upon their person, and reasonably acts in defense with no more force
    than necessary to stop the attack, we will not allow you to prosecute
    that person and send them to jail for perhaps the rest of their lives
    simply because they failed to see, in the presence of an uplifted knife,
    the supposedly safe avenue of retreat you are able to show the jury in
    the secure calm of a court room.”

  • What about the disproportionate black on white murders and rapes? White on black crimes get all the attention. The people usually talking about “racism” do not care when racist attacks result in white victims. Otherwise, there would be anti-racism leaders speaking about the disproportionate black on white crimes.

  • “The pigeonholing and disentrancement of black youth, especially males,
    as “thugs” or “criminals” originates from a fear of the unknown and
    historical oppression.”

    Statistics and the reality of black crime have something to do with it. 99% of the arrestees for rape are male. It is logical to have a greater fear or caution around males, due to the higher risk of being raped by a male compared to a female. In black vs. white rape(including Hispanics), Blacks raping Whites are extremely more prevalent than vice-versa. Blacks commit a greater number of rapes compared to their respective population in the United States. It is logical to have a greater fear or caution around Black males than Non-Hispanic White males or Hispanic White Males.

    From the FBI:

    Arrests (by Race, year 2011,12,023 agencies; 2011 estimated population 238,952,977)

    Forcible rape:
    White arrests(including Hispanics): 9,504 (65%)
    Black arrests: 4,811 (32.9%)
    Asian or Pacific Islander: 126 (0.9 %)

    Depending on the surveys, Blacks are roughly 11 to 15% of the US population, yet comprise 32.9% of rape arrests. Asians are roughly 4.8 % of the population yet comprise 0.9% of rape arrests. Imagine if Blacks constituted 50% of the US population. How would that change the number of rapes in the United States?

    It is perfectly legitimate and reasonable to have a greater fear of or be more cautious around Black males than Non-Hispanic White males, Hispanic White Males, and Asian Males. It is stupid to throw away legitimate reasons due to the political correctness.

    • Its more convenient for the media and supposed anti-racist activists to talk about the debunked Duke Lacrosse Rape case than the scandalous amount of Black on White rapes occurring in America. Whites are told by the Politically correct “experts” that they should shut up and ignore Black on White crime. Its not as important as what Don Imus said about Black female college basketball players.

    • “Imagine if Blacks constituted 50% of the US population. How would that change the number of rapes in the United States?”

      We would be on track to be the rape capital of the world. Look at South Africa

      “South
      Africa has some of the highest incidences of child and baby rape in the
      world.[123] More than 25% of a sample of 1,738 South African men from
      the KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape
      Provinces admitted when anonymously questioned to raping someone; of
      those, nearly half said they had raped more than one person, according
      to a non-peer reviewed policy brief issued by the Medical Research
      Council (MRC). 4.95% had raped or attempted rape in the past year at the

      time of the survey.[134] Several news publications extrapolated these
      results to the rest of the South African population.[135][136][137] The
      humanitarian news organization IRIN claims that an estimated 500,000
      rapes are committed annually in South Africa.[137]

      According to University of Durban-Westville
      anthropology lecturer and researcher Suzanne Leclerc-Madlala, the myth
      that sex with a virgin is a cure for AIDS is not confined to South
      Africa.
      “Fellow AIDS researchers in Zambia, Zimbabwe and Nigeria have told me
      that the myth also exists in these countries and that it is being blamed
      for the high rate of sexual abuse against young children.”[138]

      “In South Africa, rape is so common it barely makes the news. The
      rapes of elderly women and babies are outlined in four-line stories on
      the inside pages of local newspapers, but most sexual assaults get no
      public attention.”[139]
      “The country has one of the highest rates of rape in the world, with
      some 65,000 rapes and other sexual assaults reported for the year ending
      in March 2012, or 127.6 per 100,000 people in the country”

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_statistics

  • One evening about a month ago, a Black male was chasing me in the campus parking lot. At first, he shouted from far away ” Hey, can I ask you a question?” I ignored him and kept going. Then he started to chase me. I quickly got into my car and peeled out of there. After he saw that I was able to get away, I saw him run the opposite direction. I guess he was afraid the cops would find him. Many white women are scolded for being afraid of Black men. Rapists often target women by getting close enough to them so they cannot escape. Black rapists play on the white woman’s fear of being seen as racist if she avoids him. White women often do not have a problem telling a White man to “get lost” because they do not have to fear the stigma of being perceived as “racist”. I have no desire to be another rape statistic, and rather be perceived as “racist” than be raped because I listened to the author of this article and brushed my judgement aside.

  • Why do the tolerant, pro-diversity authors and thinkers keep saying that it is wrong to stereotype Black males due to the greater prevalence of violent crimes committed by Black males as a group, when most have no problem stereotyping Whites as racist, or giving the impression that racism is a White problem. One example of anti-white bias is another article on The Daily Cougar, in which a sociologist talked about “micro-aggression” being against “people of color”. The exclusion of people without color (Whites) as victims of “micro-aggression”, suggests that Whites are the perpetrators of micro-aggression and “people of color” are the victims. Whites, especially White Southerners and “Rednecks” are vilified by the politically correct media such as MSNBC. In the politically correct pro-diversity world, its okay to stereotype people or display bias as long as they are White.

  • Another day, another “Black people good, White people bad” article on the Daily Cougar. You will never find an article on the Daily Cougar discussing the racist attacks committed by minorities(especially Blacks) against Whites. Whites do not add to diversity and do not exhibit the uniqueness necessary for victim-hood.

    The White Korean War Veteran in Alabama experienced diversity in a not-so nice way. Please do not call the attackers “thugs”, because that would be racist.
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2565137/Heartless-attackers-LAUGH-mugshots-brutally-beat-Korean-War-vet-robbery.html#comments

    http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/02/21/article-0-1BB7156A00000578-495_634x357.jpg
    http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/02/21/article-0-1BB7156A00000578-810_306x423.jpg
    http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/02/21/article-0-1BB6E9B400000578-165_634x340.jpg

  • When has a criminal given a victim of murder or rape enough time to run away as required by law in Non-“stand your ground” states?

    • There are so many reasons this is wrong. Why do you think Blacks are responsible for more crimes? Because they’re also born in worse neighborhoods. As a minority born in a really bad neighborhood, I’ve had the luxury of being able to move to an upper-middle class neighborhood/lifestyle, but I never take that for granted. There are plenty of people who started out in situations like mine, but weren’t lucky enough to make it out of the slums. However, my appreciation of my lifestyle doesn’t seem to be shared by my contemporaries, whether they are the same race as me (most of them aren’t) or not. So yes, this article gives you numbers, but it does a terrible job explaining them. Not everyone gets to be born into a well-established family who’s been here for generations. Some of us are born into families who didn’t have any rights until a generation ago, which let me tell you, is not enough time to level the playing field. Some of us were born and raised in those “scary parts of town” that many of you are lucky enough to never have to associate with.

  • Coty Durand Kelly is apparently a victim of racism because White women do not want to be raped by Black males:

    “Kelly grabbed another woman walking by him, shook her and called her a
    racist before she ran away, according to the first woman’s account in
    the documents. The first woman said she then ran in an attempt to get
    away from Kelly as he yelled, the documents say. ”

    He already spend about a year in prison for rape involving two women.
    He gets out to rape again. Thanks you criminal justice system.
    If they executed him, he couldn’t do it the third time

    http://seattletimes.com/ABPub/2013/12/23/2022516586.jpg

    http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2022516585_parkassaultxml.html

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