Tuesday How To: Not Get Shot In Florida

It seems to help if you’re white.

Remember all of these different posts that I have made?

Remember when I was asked why it’s always about race?

Why do I mention all of these things? Because they are all really conversations about the same subject; the value of specific groups of people in society.

Why am I talking about this today? Because this happened. It’s always about race and if I ever forget that I could die.

Notice the headline? “Loud Music Shooting Case.” Guess what? It wasn’t about the fucking music. In Florida, just this year we also have this and this. There are a couple of things you should notice. The Christian Science Monitor article makes a point to follow the facts; George Zimmerman killed an unarmed teenager with mitigating factors right at the front. Stating that Zimmerman “wanted to be a police officer and mentored an African-American boy,” because apparently failing to be a cop and knowing a PoC overcomes the force of a bullet. The local article makes sure to put hate crime in single quotes. Because, you know when someone shouts racial slurs, shoots a black man in the face, leaves him on the ground, calls 911, sits down to finish his fucking dinner and then tells the cops  he “only shot a nigger,” it’s totally not a hate crime.

The lives of PoC in America do not hold as much societal value as those of White Americans and we never have. The story of America is the story of racial tension, from before our birth of a nation (see what I did there?) until right this very second.  Walking in certain place while black was illegal and punishable by death under statute in living memory.

Here’s how this works. A white person kills a black person and they excuse it by saying they felt threatened. No matter what the black person has done, the white person feels threatened. So George Zimmerman stalked and murdered a child because he felt threatened. Michael Dunn, shot at a car full of black people and now claims they had a gun, although no gun was found at the scene. Then he drove away like nothing happened. He drove away, because he did not value the people he just tried to kill. He drove away because he thought he would get away with it.

The Racism Playbook is pretty standard by now. You can see it at work with the Trayvon Martin case. It is the entire reason the defense team continues to attempt to find something that will make this child’s death his fault by demanding records of pretty much everything he ever did, said or wrote.

He said he felt threatened! It makes sense! Just look at the crime statistics! OK, let’s look at the goddam statistics. As an aside, “just look at the statistics is #2 on the List of Things You Should Avoid Saying To Or Around Isobel Because She Will Answer You And You Will Be Sorry.  We could probably abbreviate that title to Are You Sure List or the Be Careful What You Wish For List. It means pretty much the same thing. What’s #1 on the list? “What do you think?”

Table 43A

Offense charged	Total arrests					Percent distribution1
	Total	White	Black	American Indian or Alaskan Native	Asian or Pacific Islander	Total	White	Black	American Indian or Alaskan Native	Asian or Pacific Islander
TOTAL	9,499,725	6,578,133	2,697,539	142,422	81,631	100.0	69.2	28.4	1.5	0.9
Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter	8,341	4,000	4,149	105	87	100.0	48.0	49.7	1.3	1.0
Forcible rape	14,611	9,504	4,811	170	126	100.0	65.0	32.9	1.2	0.9
Robbery	82,436	35,443	45,827	619	547	100.0	43.0	55.6	0.8	0.7
Aggravated assault	305,220	194,981	102,597	4,540	3,102	100.0	63.9	33.6	1.5	1.0
Burglary	227,899	151,934	72,244	2,095	1,626	100.0	66.7	31.7	0.9	0.7
Larceny-theft	977,743	670,768	281,197	15,122	10,656	100.0	68.6	28.8	1.5	1.1
Motor vehicle theft	50,902	32,575	17,250	658	419	100.0	64.0	33.9	1.3	0.8
Arson	8,965	6,479	2,302	107	77	100.0	72.3	25.7	1.2	0.9
Violent crime2	410,608	243,928	157,384	5,434	3,862	100.0	59.4	38.3	1.3	0.9
Property crime2	1,265,509	861,756	372,993	17,982	12,778	100.0	68.1	29.5	1.4	1.0
Other assaults	952,421	625,330	304,083	14,875	8,133	100.0	65.7	31.9	1.6	0.9
Forgery and counterfeiting	53,791	35,239	17,695	295	562	100.0	65.5	32.9	0.5	1.0
Fraud	127,664	84,919	40,621	1,140	984	100.0	66.5	31.8	0.9	0.8
Embezzlement	12,454	8,155	4,032	65	202	100.0	65.5	32.4	0.5	1.6
Stolen property; buying, receiving, possessing	71,727	47,434	23,191	542	560	100.0	66.1	32.3	0.8	0.8
Vandalism	182,482	132,850	45,055	3,029	1,548	100.0	72.8	24.7	1.7	0.8
Weapons; carrying, possessing, etc.	117,820	68,453	47,515	859	993	100.0	58.1	40.3	0.7	0.8
Prostitution and commercialized vice	44,090	23,555	19,227	255	1,053	100.0	53.4	43.6	0.6	2.4
Sex offenses (except forcible rape and prostitution)	52,891	38,422	13,189	729	551	100.0	72.6	24.9	1.4	1.0
Drug abuse violations	1,171,866	783,564	371,248	8,275	8,779	100.0	66.9	31.7	0.7	0.7
Gambling	6,507	1,937	4,351	40	179	100.0	29.8	66.9	0.6	2.8
Offenses against the family and children	87,586	56,973	28,183	1,848	582	100.0	65.0	32.2	2.1	0.7
Driving under the influence	924,210	788,175	111,480	13,618	10,937	100.0	85.3	12.1	1.5	1.2
Liquor laws	380,663	312,106	51,446	12,896	4,215	100.0	82.0	13.5	3.4	1.1
Drunkenness	413,723	339,019	64,268	7,619	2,817	100.0	81.9	15.5	1.8	0.7
Disorderly conduct	447,201	281,531	153,840	8,771	3,059	100.0	63.0	34.4	2.0	0.7
Vagrancy	22,375	12,989	8,794	447	145	100.0	58.1	39.3	2.0	0.6
All other offenses (except traffic)	2,693,823	1,794,893	837,095	42,869	18,966	100.0	66.6	31.1	1.6	0.7
Suspicion	1,150	634	506	5	5	100.0	55.1	44.0	0.4	0.4
Curfew and loitering law violations	59,164	36,271	21,343	829	721	100.0	61.3	36.1	1.4	1.2

Keep in mind that these statistics make it clear that crime is overwhelmingly likely to be committed by white people and that is taking into account that these are just arrest statistics. Black people are overwhelmingly more likely to be arrested for violent crimes than white people.

This is the greatest flaw and shame in our society. We simply value PoC less and do everything we can to lay blame when said people are victimized by whites.  This is especially common when the victims are black males and the assailant is white.

This is a systemic problem but it is most common here in Florida. Why? Castle Law, which pretty much sets this state up as hunting season for anyone seen as threatening and puts the burden of proof on the victim. This is especially convenient if the victim is dead.

Let’s make this clear. This isn’t one incident or three incidents of people being killed for walking, talking or existing while black. This is the state of Florida opening and recently affirming hunting season on PoC.

Now to the question, the most important question. What are we going to do about this?