There are those of you reading the headline and asking yourself WTF? But you read the headline correctly.
Kentucky Circuit Judge Olu Stevens recently presided over a case involving an armed home invasion. The defendants where black males and the victims were a white family with a 3 year old little girl. Jordan and Tommy Gray were relaxing at home one night while their little girl watched?Spongebob Square Pants. Suddenly two black men,?Gregory Wallace and?Marquis McAfe broke into the home and robbed?the family at gun point. Both Wallace and McAfe were arrested a few weeks after the robbery. McAfe was?sentenced to?10 years in prison on a because he violated his parole. The judge made his statements during Wallace’s sentencing.
Judge Stevens took issue with a statement issued by the victims, basically saying that their daughter lives in fear of black men ever since the incident. The judge admonished the victims and made the point that if the suspects had been white men, he doubts they would have made that statement.? Here’s a part of the victim’s statement that Judge Stevens took issue with, from the mother,
?Whenever we are running errands, if we come across a black male, she holds me tight and begs me to leave. It has affected her friendships at school and our relationships with African-American friends.?
Stevens set off a firestorm across the Internet, especially on YouTube where racists love to fester and congregate. I was particularly amused by the video Colin Flaherty did on this story.
For those who don’t know, Flaherty is a racism peddler and avid “derailment bingo” player. He makes money off of angry white men, who generally feel that blacks are “sub-humans.” People like him often use generalizations to describe most blacks, saving a few praises for those “enlightened Negroes.” He and others like him believe that?those special black people have miraculously reformed themselves of their blackness in the process becoming true red white and blue (but heavy on the White) Americans.
Now I can say that I agreed with the judge in taking this forum to attack racism, note I don’t think he was attacking the victims, but rather the racist sentiment that they expressed. But I don’t think that he should have given the perpetrator of this crime probation, without rehabilitation he’s a higher risk repeat offender. Of course we all know that sending this young man to prison would most likely not reform him either, he would probably have gotten out in a few years or even months; and in the process became a more dangerous criminal than when he went in. However, I don’t feel probation was the right answer either.
I would have emphasized the victim’s statements while sentencing the defendant and told him that he and his partner are now partly?responsible for spreading racism against their own people; possibly contributing to the death of another unarmed black person. I would ensure that he entered into an actual reform program designed to turn violent criminal’s lives around. Then again, rehabilitation programs like that probably don’t exist where that judge resides. Sorry sometimes I forget this is still old America.
What I think the judge was trying to attack was the myth that whites should rightfully be afraid of black people, especially males. And especially if they are victims of a crime involving a black person.? This kind of fear feeds into the fears?of people who may never become a victim of black on white crime. This rationale feeds into a very racist mindset that travels through every aspect of our society. It is in the minds of police officers when they are approaching blacks who they automatically see as suspects. It is in the minds of defense lawyers who pressure even innocent black defendants to take a plea. It is in the minds of teachers, doctors, judges, politicians and especially voters. I think we should all speak against that mindset, because that is the real danger to our society which has a long way to go before we can truly become One Nation Indivisible.
Here is the video, judge for yourself. (see what I did there?)
