By Mansfield Frazier
As theories (some reasoned … others totally wacky, being put forth by kooks sitting in their basements wearing tin foil hats) of what happened to Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 that went down without a trace on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing compounded, two men who were traveling on stolen passports became immediate targets of suspicion … and probably for good reason.
And when the Malaysian official who’s heading the investigation reported at a news conference that one of the men looked like Italian soccer star Mario Balotelli (who is a black African), the headlines immediately blared “Black man with stolen passport.” Now, if the passenger had resembled say, David Beckham, would the headline have said “White man with stolen passport?” Of course not.
However, when images of the two men who were traveling on the stolen passports were finally shown, they turned out to be light, bright and damn near white Iranians who were merely seeking to gain backdoor entrance to Europe and asylum. But when the pressure was on the Malaysian investigator to give the howling media mob something — anything — to latch on to, he did what most of the world is accustomed to doing: Demonizing a black man.
This is not to say that blacks (especially here in the U.S.) don’t commit a disproportionate amount of crime — we do … but even that has its roots in how people of color have been treated for centuries. It’s almost as if history conspired to create the perfect fall guys, some group to deflect attention to at the spur of a moment when the heat is on … confident that the accuser(s) will be believed without question if they finger a black man.
Want to off your pregnant wife, as the husband in Boston did some years ago? Simply drive into a black neighborhood, shoot her, and then stab yourself in the side (a superficial wound will do) and tell police some black thugs attacked you and killed your wife. The images of Boston police conducting a mass roundup of young blacks in that city, forcing them to lie face down on the ground was nothing short of astounding … and to this day the memories of the incident is truly sickening.
Did the police ever apologize to the black community once the truth finally came out? No. In the cop’s eyes they were only black youth and therefore not entitled to an apology.
Want to kill your kids like the demented Susan Smith did down in the Carolinas? Simply say that a black man hijacked your car and drove it into a lake with your kids strapped into the back seat. In spite of the fact the FBI later said her story was implausible right from the beginning, black men in a three-state area were rounded up and subjected to sometimes brutal questioning for a couple of days. Again, no apologies were given after it was determined that Smith was a not only a bald-faced lair, but a child killer to boot.
And speaking of fall guys, notice that whenever a large multinational corporation has a serious problem they can’t find a way around, they then trot out the black spokesman. That’s a sure sign the company is in deep do-do when the brother becomes their public face.
Additionally, I mentor two exceptionally bright and talented young men; their father charged me with the responsibility after he got divorced and returned to Ghana after 30 years in this country. One of them just landed a plum job on Wall Street, but I felt compelled to warn him why he was hired.
“Kofi,” I said, “you have to understand why they want you; when and if the feds bust down the door with indictments in hand, in unison all of your supposed ‘friends’ are going to turn and point in your direction, while screaming like a bunch of white ladies having their purses snatched, ‘HE did it!’” The designated fall guy.
In light of all the above facts I’m proposing that we sit aside one day a year where anyone can scapegoat a black man for whatever nefarious deeds they care to: International Blame it on a Black Man Day. One day when all sorts of nefarious deeds can be blamed on black men … but under the condition that we’ll then be left alone the rest of the year and only held responsible for the crimes men of color do commit.
Think of it: Trouble in the Crimea? Simply wait until “Blame it on a Black Man Day” and then all of the problems in that region can be ascribed to a group of deranged Black Russians acting out. Of course … what else could it be?
But the ultimate “Blame it on a Black Man” trope comes out of Louisiana, where State Police are blaming Victor White III, a 22-year-old black man, for his own death; in spite of the fact everyone knows blacks are much more prone to commit homicide, not suicide.
Authorities are alleging that White shot himself in the back while his hands were handcuffed in front of him as he sat in the back of an Iberia Parish Sheriff Officer’s vehicle last week. According to reports, deputies responded to a 911 call around 11:22 am where they arrested White, who was reportedly fighting with unnamed “others.”
After searching him and finding illegal drugs on White, they handcuffed him and placed him in the back of a sheriff’s patrol car. In a press release issued by the Sheriff’s department, Trooper 1st Class Stephen Hammons said, “Once at the Sheriff’s Office, White became uncooperative and refused to exit the deputy’s patrol vehicle.” While the arresting officer called for backup help, the report alleges that White “produced a handgun and fired one round, striking himself in the back.” White was pronounced dead upon arrival at a local area hospital.
So, we’re supposed to believe that while the deputy was able to find drugs on White, he managed to miss a gun. Wow. And, while White was handcuffed, he still was able to get the gun from wherever he had it hidden and shoot himself in the back. Double “Wow.”
This yarn cannot pass the straight face test, yet the officer will no doubt get away with the killing absent some kind of outside intervention. After all, it was only a young black male … now deceased, so there is no other version of the story.
Can anyone in the State of Louisiana say “federal civil rights investigation”?
From Cool Cleveland correspondent Mansfield B. Frazier mansfieldfATgmail.com. Frazier’s From Behind The Wall: Commentary on Crime, Punishment, Race and the Underclass by a Prison Inmate is available again in hardback. Snag your copy and have it signed by the author by visiting http://NeighborhoodSolutionsInc.com.