17-year-old Jordan Davis died of racism.
Michael David Dunn, a middle-aged white man, made a comment to a group of four black teenagers that their music was too loud. They began to argue and Dunn fired at the black teenagers’ SUV between eight and nine times. Two shots hit and killed Jordan Davis. Afterwards, Dunn fled; he was arrested and has plead not guilty.
Although Dunn will be making a Stand Your Ground defense, it’s likely to be difficult for him to prove, because even our racist-ass justice system is (one hopes) fairly clear on unarmed teenagers playing their music very loudly not being a form of attack. Nevertheless, that this murder happened at all is pretty freaking racist, ageist, and sexist. Groups of black teenagers listening to music loudly? Well, they’re a gang, they’re thugs, they’re a threat, they’re something any right-thinking middle-aged white person ought to be afraid of. For far too many people, it’s reasonable to believe that a group of black teenagers is liable to attack you– never mind that teenage black guys hang out listening to loud music in thousands of neighborhoods across the country every night, and the vast majority of them never do anything worse than irritate the neighbors’ eardrums.
And sometimes stereotypes like that lead to death.
I do believe that Dunn legitimately felt threatened by black teenage guys arguing with him. Nevertheless, the fact that this is threatening is something that white people need to question. Why do we assume that black men are violent beasts ready to attack at any moment? Why is the same behavior normal on the part of white adults and an act of aggression on the part of black teenagers? Why is the default assumption that a young black man is going to attack or even murder us? Why are we so afraid?
Until we can answer these questions, more boys like Davis will die. And that is not something I want on my conscience.
Photo credit– armin_vogel/Flickr. A single candle of mourning.
There were only men involved then it’s not sexist. It might not even be racist but of course people will assume it is. Things like this will keep on happening until people people stop annoying others with their car stereos.
Funny how no one gives a damn until a white guy harms a black man. Two black men shoot each other? Not news, no one cares. Black man mugs a white man? Not news.
God, those Stand-Your-Ground cases are appalling. They invite vigilante-ism and basically declare martial law on your property. That’s ridiculous. These laws encourage everyone to shoot-first-think-second.
I do believe that Dunn legitimately felt threatened by black teenage guys arguing with him. If that’s the case, then their actions meet the legal definition of assault: An “assault” is an intentional, unlawful threat by word or act to do violence to the person of another, coupled with an apparent ability to do so, and doing some act which creates a well-founded fear in such other person that such violence is imminent. Mr. Dunn’s stated reason for drawing his weapon and shooting those people wasn’t, “they were playing their music too loud”. It was “they assaulted me”. So, I… Read more »
On second thought, strike that last sentence. Mr. Dunn did not call for police or EMTs after he safely fled the scene. This might be considered Cupable Negligence or Manslaughter.
That is not what assault means at all. Playing music is not the same thing as going up to somebody and saying “do XYZ or I’ll fucking CUT YOU.” Congregating with your black friends while also being black is not the same thing as beating someone black and blue. The only reason to feel intimidated because “the big scary black people were over there listening to their scary black music really, really loud and it made me scared” is RACISM, pure and simple. Mr. Dunn is the only person guilty of any crime here. The teenagers didn’t assault anybody, HE… Read more »
The thing is, Mr. Dunn confronted them about the music. He didn’t open fire just because of some loud music or the fact that they were black and congregating. He opened fire after some sort of argument or altercation. If we hold that Mr. Dunn legitimately felt threatened by black teenage guys arguing with him, this means they must have said or done something threatening.
I think the key word you are skipping over is “unlawful”. I don’t know exactly how this jives with the first amendment, so I’ll leave that to the lawyers, but I imaging it takes more then just saying even something as direct as “I’ll hit you” because people say that all the time. Also, note that they have to fulfill all three parts of that clause. So, not only do they need to UNLAWFULLY verbally threaten him, but they must also have an apparent MEANS to do so, and also creates a WELL-FOUNDED fear of being assaulted. I don’t think… Read more »
“If we hold that Mr. Dunn legitimately felt threatened by black teenage guys arguing with him, this means they must have said or done something threatening.”
No, it means he felt threatened, not necessarily that they said or did something threatening. There is a clear distinction, especially in a country where white people are more likely to interpret the words or actions of a young black man as threatening.
Were I an African-American, this post would make me incandescently angry.
We can be killed by the hundreds, by the thousands.
And nobody who claims to be sensitive to racism gives a rat’s ass. Until one of us, a very rare one of us, has the good taste to be killed by a white man. That’s the only thing that makes us, or our death interesting.
Hell, I’m not A-A and I’m mad as hell.
Little girl named Heaven, age seven, killed in Chicago running for her life when the gangs started shooting. Nothing. She’s a nobody.
God damn it.
Well, it’s harder to argue that someone who got killed by a member of their own race got killed because of racism. Although you might have a point that not enough is being done to prevent those crimes.
@ Abubaca … I work with minorities in a residential setting and see this first hand. There is in fact racisms within races.
I agree. A racist murder gets front page but the continuous murders/shootings/stabbings/beatings in Chicago continue to be ignored. This Chicago, I would imagine that there are plenty more in other cities like LA and New York that are ignored. -Chicago Shootings: 4 Killed, 13 Wounded By Gun Violence -Chicago Shootings: 9 Killed, At Least 37 Wounded In Weekend Gun Murders In Chicago: Weekend -Violence Results In Murder Rate -40 shootings, 10 homicides reported over holiday weekend in Chicago -Another Violent Weekend in Chicago – National It was a banner month …. “November ended last week with 36 homicides, down from… Read more »
Thank you for writing this and asking very important questions. Someone always asks if there’s anything they can do; the answer is yes. Ask and answer questions like these honestly and often. Have discussions with yourself and others about your power and privilege, and consider the idea of either sharing it or giving it up for the sake of equality and justice. I’ve yet to come across anyone with white privilege who is willing to have this conversation. I wonder why that is.
Some time back, I mentioned a particular crime which got just about no ink. One GMP commenter said it wasn’t “sensational” (see “Katie Crouse” and make up your own mind), which is why it got no coverage. It’s possible the commenter would rethink his choice of words. However. This death gets so much coverage and so much outrage because it’s so rare. The murder-a-day of blacks in Chicago–including women and children who aren’t usually thought of as threatening–gets very little ink because, I suppose, it’s so common as to not be “sensational. In fact, this is so rare that dissimilar… Read more »
Man… what a shame…
This makes me absolutely sick. Is there anything we can do?
“Nevertheless, that this murder happened at all is pretty freaking racist, ageist, and sexist.”
Let’s not forget the last item on that list. They were not just shot at for being black or being teenagers. They were also shot at for being male.
Lol, I’m pretty sure the whole sexist thing is meant for the fact that it’s easier to shoot at men. Think about it, if it was a group of black females than the old man probably would’ve only ran his mouth.