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When race is the only lens, it blinds us to due process and justice. Those screaming the loudest and strutting like cocks on social media are not trying to heal. They’re hustling in the tradition of Al Sharpton. All because, in today’s culture, the race card is still too valuable to put down.
When a black teenager stabbed a white teenager at a recent Texas high school track meet, it was not long before Americans online predictably turned this into a racial controversy — even before the facts were known.
The name of the black boy facing most, if not all, of his life in prison is Karmelo Anthony and the name of the white boy whose life was tragically and senselessly ended far too early was Austin Metcalf. I mention their names only for public record, but we know in the social media culture wars there was no meaning to their actual names. They were largely invisible. Their white and black skins were made to represent their races.
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The controversy ignited when conservative influencers complained that this tragedy was not getting much attention when it first became public. They argued that had it been the black teen who was stabbed to death there would have been a larger outcry. No doubt that they are right. That is a racial unfairness that we need to hold media and others to account.
But aside from this issue of media bias, was the actual incident between the two teens a racial one? There reportedly have been over 30 witnesses interviewed and we do not know their version of the story.
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All we have is a police report where the black teen admitted to the fatal stabbing. According to witness statements and an arrest affidavit, the incident began when the white teen told the black teen to move from under a tent designated for Memorial High School students. The black teen reportedly reached into his bag, saying, “Touch me and see what happens,” followed by, “Punch me and see what happens.” The white teen then grabbed or pushed the black teen to move him, at which point the black teen pulled out a black knife and stabbed the white teen once in the chest before fleeing. A bloody knife was later recovered in the bleachers.
After his arrest, the black teen complied with officers and made several spontaneous statements, including, “I was protecting myself,” “He put his hands on me, I told him not to,” and “I’m not alleged, I did it.” He also asked if the white teen would be OK and whether his actions could be considered self-defense.
Then the online controversy took a dark turn. The DailyWire’s Matt Walsh led the charge into racial tribalism when he said, “Young black males are violent to a wildly, outrageously disproportionate degree. That’s just a fact. We all know it. And it’s time that we speak honestly about it, or nothing will ever change.”
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So, a black teen kills a white teen and the entire black population is indicted?
Walsh’s rhetoric along with others makes the mistake of framing these issues in binary terms (e.g., “speak honestly or nothing will change”), which leaves us with a framework that only leads to worthless tribal bickering that achieves nothing. Also, this linear causality — where crime is attributed primarily to individual or group behavior—epitomizes reductive thinking’s focus on direct cause-and-effect over complex dynamics.
But clearly Walsh and others are done. They’re washing their hands of this problem. That’s fine. They were never part of the solution. They sit in their podcast booths making millions off race and contribute nothing on the ground.
You will have to forgive me but I thought a major point of conservatism over the past several decades was to argue for the move to the individual. Is that the point that Thomas Sowell and Shelby Steele have been making all along? They have argued against the liberal policies that destroyed the black family and how we must fight this bad-faith culture that has taken over certain segments of the black underclass. But these conservatives ignored these deep and profound complexities for cheap tribalism.
So, instead of a solid and principled conservative coalition opposing the tribal left we have a significant tribal right rising.
The left saw a young black man involved in an alleged crime and instead of waiting for the facts, they weaponized identity politics. They led a fundraiser for an admitted murderer that raised hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The tribal right condemned all blacks for the black teen’s murder. They shouted, “Fix the black culture,” but they’re chasing clicks. They even attacked a judge for being black and ignoring her Republican pedigree — all blacks must be alike, I guess. They went after the black teen for using the monies raised to buy/rent a house and a car — a story that may be a tall tale since it has been reported that the raised funds have not been released. But who cares about facts when there’s a racial narrative to be had?
Like I said, the race card is too valuable to put down and that is the shame of our nation.
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