Freedom Rider: "The Black Kid was Driving"
by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley
"Murder of humans doesn't produce the same level of vitriol that dog murder does."
Is it worse to torture dogs or to shoot a human being in the mouth? To judge from editorial comment and the presence of protesters, it would seem that forcing dogs to fight is worse than shooting bullets into a woman's head. Of course, that equation only works if the dog fighting impresario is black and the murderer is white.
These days the hot ghetto mess is coming from white celebrities. They are on trial for murder, drug possession, or DUI. Based on expressions of sympathy or levels of outrage generated, you wouldn't know who was misbehaving.
Atlanta Falcon's quarterback Michael Vick was indicted this week on federal charges involving dog fighting and gambling that took place on his property in Virginia. He will at the very least miss this upcoming NFL season. If he is found guilty of all charges lodged against him, he may face years in prison.
In a Los Angeles court room, legendary music producer Phil Spector stands trial for murder. Four years ago he shot and killed Lana Clarkson, a struggling actress. His defense asserts that a suicidal Clarkson grabbed Spector's gun and shot herself in the mouth.
"These days the hot ghetto mess is coming from white celebrities."
After the Clarkson killing there were numerous press reports that Spector threatened both men and women with guns over a span of many years. Apparently it occurred to very few of Spector's victims to call police, file lawsuits or even tell the press about his very dangerous habit. It clearly pays to be white and rich.
Unlike in the Vick case, protesters don't show up when Spector enters the court house. Murder of humans doesn't produce the same level of vitriol that dog murder does. Perhaps there should be another PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Actresses.
Contrast the treatment of the accused animal abuser with that of a murderer. The Spector case has dragged on for so long that it isn't even a headline any more. No one has bothered to ask why a man who was regularly armed and flagrant about his possession of guns was given a pass, even by the very people who fell victim to his threatening behavior.
The double standard seen in the Spector/Vick comparison applies in other cases of celebrity misbehavior. A day doesn't end without a new story of a white celebrity fighting jail time, or in the case of Lindsay Lohan chasing a personal assistant through the streets of Los Angeles. When police caught up with Lohan after her bizarre high speed chase, she turned to the white person's favorite means of avoiding trouble. She blamed a black person. "I wasn't driving. The black kid was driving." The black person in question was the only one of his race among Lohan's companions that evening and the fickle finger of fate was immediately pointed in his direction.
"A day doesn't end without a new story of a white celebrity fighting jail time."
Lohan is more famous for being famous than she is for having any discernible talent. Yet she still manages to get a sympathetic hearing from white opinion makers like Katie Couric. Couric was not content to make a well publicized mess of her phony effort to be a journalist. Instead of spending time earning her chops, she has made herself a defense witness for Lohan, celebrity burnout of the century.
"Why do so many relish her woes?" asked Couric. "Does it somehow make us all feel superior? What about compassion and the fervent hope she'll get the treatment she needs? This young woman's life is on the line. And that's not entertainment."
"White people are to be defended and black people are not."
Translation: white people always deserve sympathy. White people are to be defended and black people are not. No one needed Dr. Couric to come up with the brilliant conclusion that Lohan is an addict. So are many of the black men and women sitting in jails across the country. Their incarceration is a gravy train for private prisons and the poor white communities where those prisons are located. No one ever speaks compassionately for them. On the contrary, white politicians campaign on a platform of putting more black faces behind bars, and the black public is sadly silent due to misplaced feelings of embarrassment.
While Couric and others waste time crying for rich, stupid junkies, a few wiser heads make better sense. Jane Fonda had this advice for Lohan, a former co-star. "I'd want to say to her that this is not a dress rehearsal. This is it. If you blow it, you don't get a second chance." How odd. That sounds like the sort of admonition black people usually get. Thank goodness someone is capable of keeping it real, even when white people are concerned.
Margaret Kimberley's Freedom Rider column appears weekly in BAR. Ms. Kimberley lives in New York City, and can be reached via e-Mail at Margaret.Kimberley(at)BlackAgandaReport.Com. Ms. Kimberley' maintains an edifying and frequently updated blog at freedomrider.blogspot.com. More of her work is also available at her Black Agenda Report archive page.
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