Pubdate: Wed, 01 Nov 2006
Source: East Texas Review (Longview, TX)
Copyright: 2006 East Texas Review Newspaper
Contact: http://www.easttexasreview.com/contact.htm
Website: http://www.easttexasreview.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3575
Author: Armstrong Williams
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/racial.htm (Racial Issues)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hallucinogens.htm (Hallucinogens)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)

OUR WHITE BROTHERS

This country's media and think tanks are immensely focused on the 
social pathologies of American Blacks. Whether the topic is about 
single parent households, AIDS, crime, poverty, racism, the list goes 
on. From reading and hearing, one may think that if a certain segment 
of the Black population was not in America, all of our social ills 
would disappear.

Just last week this columnist spoke about "our brothers" with hopes 
that my words will help heal this community that has been oppressed 
for generations and now finds itself trapped by a psyche that sees 
impediments instead of opportunities. However, there are others in 
media who write and report on the problems of Black America in hopes 
of reinforcing their own racist stereotypes. Vices such as drug 
abuse, homicide, promiscuity, sexual misconduct and disease are 
problems that cross ethnic and class lines in America, but you would 
never know that if the media were your only source of information. 
Mainstream media focuses so much attention on the prevalence of these 
problems in the black community that an outsider would think that 
segments of white America does not wrestle with the same issues in 
their homes and communities. Nevertheless, the truth is that American 
Whites wrestle with these issues and various others that are not 
prevalent in the black or brown communities. While the vices are 
largely ignored, stigmatized blacks are further alienated in a 
society that they have longed to find a place in. The constant 
negative coverage leads many to devalue their own self worth and lose 
interest in trying to achieve the American dream.

According to the federal Center for Disease Control, white males are 
4 times more likely than their black male classmates to be a regular 
cocaine user. White high school seniors are three times more likely 
to have used heroin, three times more likely to have smoked pot in 
the past years, seven times more likely to have used cocaine, and 
nine times more likely to have used LSD. The recent meth drugs cannot 
be found in the nation's urban centers but its suburbs.

The story is the same with illegal use of prescription drugs.

According to the Justice Department, drug users tend to buy from 
same-race dealers, meaning most white users buy from white dealers.

That's right, white dealers.

Ask yourself how many times you have turned on the evening news and 
saw a story on white drug dealers and users?

Now think back to that occasion when you did see such a story and 
think about the adjectives used to describe the offenders.

Were the same adjectives used to describe black drug offenders?

Of course not! Whites caught engaging in illegal activity are often 
described as being "confused" and "misguided", as if such behavior 
was unexpected because of the hue of their skin. Blacks accused of 
the same crime are described as "hardened criminals", "hoodlums" and 
"gangsters".

After hearing a story about white teens selling drugs to children, 
the media's bias give many the impression that the teens simply fell 
off the beaten path and deserve a second chance at life. However, 
upon hearing a news story concerning the "hardened black gangsters" 
the same audience will be ready to lock the offenders up and throw 
away the key.

The "down low brothers" has been a major topic of discussion lately. 
Instead of framing this behavior as a problem within American 
society, the media focuses on the race of these individuals. However, 
when the media uncovers the hidden world of pedophiles on shows such 
as Dateline NBC's "To Catch a Predator", they never speak in terms of 
race, although more than ninety percent of the offenders are white 
males. Likewise, when a black student kills another black student its 
described as a black on black crime but such racial terminology is 
never used when a white students shoots ten of his white classmates.

The media's double standard further feeds Blacks feeling inferior and 
Whites feeling superior.

If not addressed soon, such complexes could tear this nation apart at 
the seams.

It's time for us to focus on the behavior of our fellow citizens and 
not their race. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake