Let's Talk About Jacksonville
Crosses and vigil candles in memory of Angela Carr, Anolt Joseph Laguerre Jr., and Jerrald Gallion. They were shot and killed on August 27, 2023, in Jacksonville, Florida | Photo Credit Sean Rayford/Getty Images
Let’s Talk about Buffalo Jacksonville
Ever since my wife shared with me the news of the most recent attack on a Black neighborhood in Jacksonville, FL - I have been thinking about the all too common conversation around “Why?” As a society, we easily slide into debate posture, with two clear sides emerging: “I know THE problem, and the problem is this one bad apple.” and “I know THE problem, and the problem is guns/racism/white supremacy.” Both sides have virtually infinite evidence that their side is THE correct side, and endless debate continues.
We’re having the wrong conversation.
If we didn’t care about our side winning, or the validation that we accurately understood THE problem, we might actually sit down and have productive conversations. Conversations that might yield real solutions because we might actually understand the full complexity of the problems that lead to these kinds of horrors. We might understand the real human impact, and move forward as a society with empathy and resolve.
You see, there isn’t just ONE problem. Anyone who boils down a complex issue into “THE problem” is likely wrong as they are incomplete. The reason that both sides of the debate have so much evidence is that they are both right. One person did perpetrate this heinous crime. “One bad apple.” One man who made it an intentional point to murder Black folks. One man who used an assault-style weapon. One bad apple. AND ALSO - bad apples grow from trees - the same trees that produce good apples. Usually, the number of bad apples remains relatively low every year, but over time, it becomes evident that there have been a fairly high number of bad apples. Any productive farmer, when recognizing a pattern of infrequent, yet consistent bad apples, goes to the tree to explore what in the environment allowed for these apples to grow like this.
It is possible to acknowledge that one man did this AND ALSO explore what influences and structures might be present in our culture that allows for these bad apples to continue to kill Black people.
One thing that helps folks overcome the emotion associated with this conversation is looking at data. Here is some data that help paint a clearer picture of the culture.
Black folks make up 13.6% of the US population (US Census Bureau 2022)
Hate crimes against Black folks make up 31.2% of all hate crimes in the US (US FBI Data Update, 2021)
Black men are perceived as larger/stronger/more dangerous than identically sized white men (Wilson, Hugenberg, and Rule 2017)
31% of Americans erroneously believe that there are genetic distinctions between races (Northwestern University, 2018)
Let’s acknowledge that there is a problem. Let’s acknowledge that the problem might be bigger or smaller than we imagine, but we will never know unless we truly explore it. Let’s do whatever we can, building the culture such that these atrocities never happen again.