Black Rage: The Dumb Concept That Won’t Die
Occasionally I get into very heated conversations about race with my friends. Depending on how much alcohol is involved, those conversations can involve disparaging remarks about my friends’ upbringings, general intelligence, or mothers. But I’ve never resorted to physical violence. Columbia architecture professor Lionel McIntyre cannot say the same:
Police busted Lionel McIntyre, 59, for assault yesterday after his bruised victim, Camille Davis, filed charges.
McIntyre and Davis, who works as a production manager in the school’s theater department, are both regulars at Toast, a popular university bar on Broadway and 125th Street, sources said.
The professor, who is black, had been engaged in a fiery discussion about “white privilege” with Davis, who is white, and another male regular, who is also white, Friday night at 10:30 when fists started flying, patrons said.
Via: New York Post
As a friend at the Legal Satyricon explains, I think Professor McIntyre used an ineffective persuasive strategy.
Instead of talking about “white privilege,” Professor McIntyre gives us an opportunity to discuss the idiotic concept of “black rage.”
I was first introduced to the concept of black rage during the surreal Colin Ferguson murder trial. No, not the Colin Ferguson that does an excellent job on the underrated television show, Eureka. I’m talking about the crazy guy who gunned down six people on the Long Island Railroad in 1993.
Crazy Colin defended himself at trial. Among his many insane ramblings, Ferguson (who is black) claimed that being black in America made him have to shoot people. It’s an insulting argument, not just to the victims of Ferguson’s crime — Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy’s husband was one of the victims and the tragedy inspired her to run for office and work tirelessly for enhanced gun control laws. It’s also insulting to, you know, all black people. Sure, it can be tough being black in America, but the “condition” doesn’t make me a raving lunatic.
Image via Wikipedia
Ferguson’s ridiculous defense might well have been lost to cultural history. But then Law & Order had to get involved. In a 1995 episode titled Rage, Law & Order had Courtney Vance play a black stockbroker that snapped, killed somebody, and then used the black rage defense. Ugh. The show treated it like a temporary insanity plea. Like “the blackness” just welled up inside Courtney Vance and diminished his capacity to not kill whitey. Of course, Sam Waterson’s character eviscerated the defense on cross-examination (the show should be called “Horrible Abuse of Prosecutorial Discretion.”)
I believe that non-lawyers get 95% of their knowledge about the criminal justice system from Law & Order (lawyers only use Law & Order when they’re stuck on the bar exam). Having the defense memorialized by the show made a bunch of people think black rage was a real criminal defense. Remember, this was 1995, that’s O.J. time. You could have told white America that every black person had a bigger penis and could dunk a basketball and they would have believed it. Thank God we’ve evolved past that stage in our history.
To be clear, black rage is not a defense. You won’t hear Lionel McIntyre or any of his lawyers use it directly in open court.
But will the cultural concept be offered as “context” for McIntyre’s actions? An Ivy League professor punches out a white woman while discussing race, are we going to hear some kind of subtle “I’ve been oppressed all of my life and then this white woman started running her mouth about things she doesn’t understand and I just snapped” type of argument? If you are one of McIntyre’s lawyers, it might be worth a shot, right?
The problem with the black rage argument is that it is extraordinarily stupid. Are there black people that are angry? Sure. Are there black people who are particularly angry when they experience (or feel they are experiencing) instances of racial oppression? Absolutely. Are black people more prone than other racial groups to react violently when faced with real or perceived injustice? No. Let me say that again: NO.
I can argue that I have to deal with prejudices that my white friends do not experience. And I can argue that dealing with those issues makes me comparatively “more angry” than my white friends. But you know what, when I get angry there are still a lot of things that I can do instead of punching somebody in the face. My name is not Bruce Banner, the melanin in my skin is not a result of exposure to gamma rays.
For instance, I’m very angry right now. I feel like punching somebody, namely Lionel McIntyre for his cowardly act of hitting a woman. But I am not going to punch anybody. It’s a little thing I like to call “autonomous choice,” and it doesn’t go away every time I can’t catch a cab.
If you are feeling black and rageful, consider this post a public service announcement: it’s not acceptable to punch women, white or otherwise. Take an anger management class if you don’t feel you can follow this simple maxim.
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An alternative to all rage is to emerge into a kind of absolute humanity where you regard all social and cultural constructs (race, gender, ethnicity, religion, in fact all sterotypes as relative. As a result of being relative such relative humans are therefore viewed as only PRACTICING to have AGENCY, so that anything they “do” or “say” is TRANSLATED as being “done” or “said” by their IMAGE. In other words I CHOOSE to see insults to me as being PROJECTIONS of someones’ limited humanity. I think to myself, or sometimes I will actually say out loud “You are only PRACTICING to insult me, but you are an EXPERT in insulting yourself.” In other words, I view the “person” as a pre-person that has yet to emerge into agency, has yet to have absolute HUMAN agency, and only is a RELATIVE HUMAN. In this way I can be free from being provoked.
As someone who has endured five years of anger management the best advise came when the instructor laid out all sorts of rage at just about everything, he then produced a shoe box and said he had put all his rage and prejudice and frustration in the box.
He then asked who wants the box. Who wants to own the box? Taking the box is what we do with other people who insult or push their views or ignorance, we take it on, we grab the box add to it and explode. There is usually enough problems in our own box. Never, Never take the box from someone else.
[...] Think. [...]
I agree, black rage is a cop out, a pitiful excuse for a horrific act & whoever brought it up in court should have been fired on the spot for being an idiot! That being said, I also think that those who spend their lives whining about oppression and racism are just to lazy to take control of their lives and need someone to blame. Everyone faces discrimination!!! It’s a FACT! I have been discriminated against for my skin, my sex, my size and kids. This very story has discriminative overtones; “You could have told white America that every black person had a bigger penis and could dunk a basketball and they would have believed it.” Kinda makes caucasions sound like a bunch of morons, huh??I have heard that since I was 8 & never once believed it! Do I spend my life whining & cring about “they won’t make my life fair!” No, I get off my a$$ & take it into my own hands, LEGALLY!!!!!! Are there white people who do everything in their power to undermine black folks? Yes. Are there black folks who do everything in their power to undermine white folks? Yes. Are there just plain miserable people who try to make life unbearable for us ALL?? YES!!!!!
My point, your life is in your hands, YOU have to do something with it, noone is going to just hand you what you want, you have to force them to give it legally. If your to lazy to do that, fine, but don’t go around whining that it’s someone elses fault!!