Tuesday, April 28, 2009

PRINCIPLE OF PROGRESSIVE POLITICS -- Minority crime is caused by white oppression

The next time you read about an African American or Hispanic who committed a crime, don't blame the African American or Hispanic, instead blame the majority white population. Whites have historically oppressed people-of-color; this has been occurring for hundreds of years. Oppressed people have limited opportunity for education, employment, promotion, advancement, etc. Such oppression unfortunately manifests itself in the form of violent crime. Ultimately, whites are responsible for such crime.

GANGS & GRAFFITI
Nobody likes street gangs or graffiti. Unfortunately, most street gangs are either Hispanic or African American. However, the reality is that gangs result when whites oppress people-of-color. When a gang member commits a violent crime, the gang member should NEVER be on trial. Instead, the majority white population should be on trial for oppressing minorities... the gang member is the victim and the white population at large is the victimizer.
As a person-of-color myself, it's disheartening to admit that the majority of graffiti in urban America is done by minorities (most studies on graffiti & vandalism show this). However, the next time you drive down the highway and see graffiti, don't blame minority youth for spraying such graffiti. His action is the cumulative effect of white institutionalized oppression. Essentially, it is white oppression which is "spraying" the graffiti, not the young person-of-color. Minorities spray graffiti as a subconscious expression of their oppression. The anger you feel when seeing the ugliness of such graffiti should be directed at white people.

WHAT ABOUT MURDER?
In the case in which a person-of-color commits murder, there should be some, albeit, limited punishment (perhaps a couple years of prison time). But again, such a crime, as heinous as it is, is ultimately the result of white oppression. Rehabilitation, job training, and housing should be provided to the person-of-color upon his/her release from prison.