The Problem of Promulgating Racial Pathologies and Radical Freedom

Pew Research released a question a few weeks back: Does the Shooting Michael Brown raise racial issues? CNN similarly reported on those results: 80% of blacks in America think that the shooting of Michael Brown brings out underlying racial issues opposed to 37% of Whites.

Charles Blow, an African-American political commentator, noted that people make their choices in the context of their situations and environments. But conservative pundits tend to respond to this type of thinking as an exercise in deflecting personal responsibility.

This brings up an issue that demonstrates how such political types are notoriously convoluted in their thinking. On the one hand, it is suggested that people are the sum of their choices, and because of this everyone can exercise radical freedom in the way he or she chooses to make those decisions and project our lives. One example that is supposed to show responsibility is the way tax-paying citizens contribute to the welfare of society. Rarely, however, do you hear how fear of penalty or jail-time aids us in our “ethical duties.” On the other hand, those same voices in this school of thought demand that there must be a racial pathology towards violence among blacks. Those bold enough to say it out loud ask: “Why, do blacks destroy their own community in response to perceived violence perpetrated against them?”

To be fair, the liberal media suggests it is only some of those people committing such acts, and therefore fall victim to the same logic. Here you simply can’t have it both ways. You can’t propose radical freedom and at the same time propose that a people have a pathology towards violence. Inclination is not a possible existential option once you’ve made it clear that the exercise of freedom dictates one’s actions. The fact of the matter is that African-Americans responding in perceived police brutality cases do not have radical freedom because the influence and force of their circumstances are often overwhelming. They are also not entirely determined to violent behavior, as there are plenty of cases of peaceful protests and even people protecting community stores. We ought to avoid extremism in our public narratives.