No one has to say “I told you so,” I saw it coming…..yes, folks were definitely feeling some type of way after my Dallas Morning News Briefing column hit the streets/internet. Of the three responses I’ve received so far, one ended positively and the other two…..well, they haven’t written back after my replies, so it’s probably sufficient to think that the ‘clap-back’ was too hard for them to recover from.

It goes without saying that racism is a complex and difficult subject to face, much less discuss, particularly when there is a well-oiled system in place that functions at its highest level when it succeeds in shifting accountability and changing the subject. But look at it this way: if your friend felt a cold burst of air and you didn’t, it doesn’t mean that they’re crazy or that there’s no such thing as wind. Racism can be just as invisible and intangible, but someone not feeling or acknowledging its effects doesn’t mean it never existed, wasn’t there or will simply go away.

So, back to the letters: I’m using first names only to protect their identities, but otherwise, these are the verbatim emails sent after these men read my column, all of them using tired, tacky generalizations and patronizing language to say, basically, Michael Brown’s alleged robbery justified deadly force, you people this, black people that….*sigh* My responses is at the end (a lot of it cut and pasted multiple times, why reinvent the wheel every time when one simple shutdown will suffice?).

LETTER FROM BILL:

I brought my children up to respect all races and believe they have never done or said anything to disrespect anyone black in their lifetime. With that said, I am also a veteran of the U. S. Airforce from 1966 to 1970. I have had times in my lifetime that I have seen young black Americans who seem to have a ‘chip’ on their shoulder and are just waiting to be confronted about anything to allow them to have a reason to start a confrontation. I believe this is partly because the way they were brought up by their parents.

Bottom line: The people of Fergerson who did the looting and destruction of the businesses in the town have proven they are THUGS themselves and use an excuse of the shooting to get items they know they could not get otherwise. This action causes law biding citizens of all races to wonder what kind of people would do something like this. It also turns most people in the United States even more against Mike Brown and his supporters.

LETTER FROM VICTOR:

Dear Mrs. Irby

Too many times black people want to pull the racial card and ignore any misgivings on their part. As long as the race hustlers and the people who would rather hop on those crutches blaming every thing and ignoring all the facts black people will never gain equality.

Heartwarming, no? Anyway, those two got almost the same identical response (minus my thanking Bill for his service), which I posted here:

Hello Mr. ________,

Thank you for taking the time to read my article and write your POV. I appreciate the fact that you are a regular reader and that you’re obviously older than I am, but I take great exception to the generalizations and stereotypes that you’ve presented in your response.

There is absolutely no reason to justify the shooting down of an unarmed person, suspect or not. Even if Michael Brown DID do something illegal, the young man will never have the opportunity to stand trial or to defend himself because the police officer stole his civil rights from him, including the right to be ‘innocent until proven guilty.’ No one said that Mr. Brown was an angel, nor should it be required that you behave as one to not be riddled full of bullets by someone who was hired to UPHOLD AND ENFORCE the law.

In all your haste to generalize and label people you don’t know, as if most black parents don’t already guide their children to behave in a lawful and respectful manner, did you ever once think of the white kids who get the option of being seen as ‘mentally ill’ or ‘misunderstood’ instead and taken into custody with care, AFTER THEY’VE ALREADY KILLED MULTIPLE PEOPLE? Do the deaths of multiple innocent students and citizens matter less than allegedly stolen cigars, is that why an unarmed man was on his knees and pumped full of bullets?

In those cases where whites killed and injured people, how respectful were THOSE white kids of ‘following the law’? Did THEIR parents raise them that way? Why did you not expound on the overt discrepancies illustrated in those particular cases? Maybe, before you presume to tell me what I should be teaching my kids, you should read up on more crime statistics and learn which group, overall, is responsible for more global thievery, war-mongering, serial killings, rapes and murders (a hint, it isn’t blacks) and reassess your rigid stance.

As for what you think we blacks should do or not do and ‘playing the race card,’ I’ll leave you with a link leading to a very pertinent article that you would most definitely benefit from reading, since it breaks down so many of the false and presumptive ideals that you hold and so broadly brush all people of color with.

Again Mr. _______, thank you for reading my column and also for sending this letter, since its points so clearly demonstrate how deeply rooted white supremacy is and how very, very far we still, as a country and generations, have to go.

http://mic.com/articles/96144/11-things-white-people-should-stop-saying-to-black-people-immediately?utm_source=policymicFB&utm_medium=main&utm_campaign=social

Victor didn’t write back, and neither did Jay the Jack@$$ (more about him later), but to Bill’s credit, he reconsidered his stance, applied logic and reason and admitted his flawed train of thought (You know who you are Bill, mad props for owning manning up).

Thanks for your response to my email.

Thanks for your honest assessment of my email. Continue to stand for what you believe in…

And now back to Jay Jack@$$, who has now been thoroughly schooled on Common Sense 101, Rule #1: when writing a professional journalist who takes no shorts and does her research, do the same and use spellcheck. The face you save will be your own….

Lorrie,

I must disagree with one of the basic premises of your 8/17 article (Guilty of being young and black in America). “Centuries of negative propaganda” is NOT what has vilified blacks. What has vilified blacks is their stubborn refusal to integrate into the mainstream of American socirty. As you well know, the majority of African-Americans are unemployed, on welfare and poorly educated. And they take great pride in glorifying the horrendous ideals put out in their rap music. Most black kids are born out of wedlock, and most do not even know who their fathers are! As long as blacks continue to embrace this “culture” by naming their children Dacquan, Latresia, Javari or Zeniqua, NOTHING WILL EVER CHANGE!!

Wow……SEROUSLY?!?

Hello Jay,

Thank you for taking the time to read my article and write your POV. Since we do still live in a free country, you are entitled to having an opinion, but the fact that your disagreement with my article (which is based on MY life and MY experience) is based on shallow generalizations and tired stereotypes invalidates your stance.

The execution of an unarmed person by a police officer hired to UPHOLD AND ENFORCE the law has nothing to do with blacks not doing their part in society, nor does it have anything to do with what certain people name their children and how they choose to have them: after all, whites also name their children ‘odd’ names and purposely opt for single parenting. It is about the pervasiveness and prevalence of racism, which has indeed attempted to justify reducing non-whites to an ‘other’ and ‘less human/worthy’ status in the world, even as that so-called higher class exploits and murders them to maintain that POV. It is more than a mindset or an action, it is a system implemented centuries ago to ensure the survival of a global minority by any means necessary, including genocide, theft, and the subjugation of other human beings (slavery, the slaughtering of Native Americans, etc. There are many, many examples documented throughout the course of history, take your pick).

I don’t know how old you are, but hip-hop has been around only 40 years: white supremacy has been in place hundreds of years. So, in many ways, it can reflect the reality of the people making the music, just as rock-n-roll often describes the hedonistic lifestyles that those musicians live. And just as I don’t let a few ignorant and foul-living people taint my view of an entire group, it would suit you to do more research before dropping empty, asinine statements that demonstrate your lack of spelling skills and the fact that you have no empathy towards, or knowledge about, what ails and negatively impacts the African-American community.

As for your belief that there is no such thing as negative propaganda, I’ll leave you with links leading to very pertinent articles that you would most definitely benefit from reading, since they break down so many of the ideals that you hold and so broadly brush all people of color with. Again Jay, thank you for reading my column and also for sending this letter, since its points so clearly demonstrate how deeply rooted white supremacy is and how very, very far we still, as a country and generations, have to go.

“5. A new report from the Vera Institute of Justice details how police and other elements of the criminal justice system have a remarkable amount of discretion in how they choose to punish or otherwise interact with citizens. Those agents use their discretionary powers to disproportionately and unfairly harass, arrest, and punish blacks and Latinos as compared to white people.

6. Police mirror the broader racial biases of white Americans towards African-Americans. The association between black people and criminality has been reinforced by a racially biased media, educational system, entertainment industry, and other agents of political socialization for centuries in the United States, specifically, and the West, more generally. In fact, researchers at Stanford University have recently demonstrated that white people have been so deeply taught to associate black people with crime that they continue to support racially biased sentencing even when shown that it is unfair.

7. While white people were found to be more likely to have drugs or weapons on their persons, African-Americans and Latinos are disproportionately targeted for “stop and frisk” police searches in major cities such as New York. “Quality of life crimes” and “broken windows” police tactics are disproportionately used in black and brown communities. The systematic harassment of innocent black and brown people by the police creates a space for negative encounters which may end in incarceration or even police violence.”

http://www.salon.com/2014/08/15/10_ways_racism_killed_michael_brown_and_eric_garner/

8 Successful and Aspiring Black Communities Destroyed by White Neighbors

Any questions?