Michelle Bernard is a former Republican/now “independent” women\’s rights activist who is, among other things, a contributor to the Washington Post, Huffington Post and is a legal analysis for MSNBC (that certainly verifies the “former Republican” part, doesn\’t it?).
She also is a Black woman, who, on Monday\’s “Hardball” show, told us that her 11 year old had asked her if someone was going to shoot him (like they did Michael Brown)….which probably is a good indication of how the Michael Brown incident has been related to this young man.
Here is what Ms. Bernard told him:
“Idon\’t have an answer that is palatable to be able to look mychildren in the face and say there are people in this country who – not only do not like African-Americans, but they despise Black men. There is a war on Black boys in this country. In myopinion, there is a war on African-American men…it\’s going to turninto a genocide if it doesn\’t stop.”
The good news (in terms of accuracy, not content) is that everything Michelle Bernard said is true. The bad news is that the first sentence is almost completely unrelated to the rest of her statement.
Here is how I would answer Ms. Bernard\’s son:
“There are people in this country who do not like anyone who is Black, and they especially don\’t like Black males – both men and boys.
“Part of the reason is that there are people who are just haters. They come in all colors and they hate all colors. There are White people who hate Black people, Black people who hate White people, and haters of every other kind you can think of.
“It is impossible to explain why they have this hatred, because there is no good reason for it. But they do, and they are out there – lots of them.
“Black males – even Black boys your age – are a special target. One of the reasons is that Black males – even Black boys your age – commit much more crime than non-Blacks – including violent crime such as beating other people up or even killing them.
“I know you don\’t do any of those things, and I\’m sure you never will. Most Black men and boys don\’t. But, because so many do, a White person who does not know you may be afraid you are one of them.
This is very, very unfair to you. But, fair or not, that is the way the world is, and you will have to deal with it now, and probably all your life.
“Another fact that is very unfair to you but you will have to deal with, is that, if you are worried about someone hurting you, your greatest fear should not be White people, it should be other Black people.
It hurts for me to have to tell you this, but you asked a question and, as your mother, I would be wrong not to give you a truthful answer. Black people are about three times as likely as non-Blacks to commit violent crimes and about four times as likely to commit murders compared to their percentage of the population. Most of these violent crimes are commited by Black men and boys. And, over 90% of the time, the people they commit these crimes against are not Whites, but other Black people.
“Again, this does not mean that you have done a thing wrong, or ever will. But it does mean – and I say this with a very heavy heart – you stand a much greater chance of being hurt by someone who is Black than someone who is White, or a police officer, or just about anyone else.
So how can you stay as safe as possible?
“Though you can never know for sure, one way of deciding whether you are safe or not is to see how people dress, talk and generally behave. For example, if you see someone in funky street clothes, with his pants down below his butt, talking trash and using a lot of bad language, I don\’t care what color he is, you probably should be more concerned about him than someone who is dressed, more normally and is acting in a less threatening way.
At 11 years old I hope you know this last part without my telling you, but I just want to be sure.
Now: what would you like for lunch?”
