Viewers are encouraged feel sympathy for the white male home owner who made a mistake.
Mass media then brings us the news of this in a newspeak manner that sounds almost jocular and celebratory, as though no tragedy has happened, as though the sacrifice of a young life was necessary to uphold property values and white patriarchal honor. Patriarchy has taught him that his masculinity has to be proved by the willingness to conquer fear through aggression that it would be unmanly to ask questions before taking action. Capitalism has taught him that, at all costs, his property can and must be protected. White supremacy has taught him that all people of color are threats irrespective of their behavior. The person who is really the threat here is the home owner who has been so well socialized by the thinking of white supremacy, of capitalism, of patriarchy that he can no longer respond rationally. We live in a culture where without responding to any gesture of aggression or hostility on the part of the stranger, who is simply lost and trying to find the correct address, the white male shoots him, believing he is protecting his life and his property.
For example, an adult white male answers the door when a young Asian male rings the bell. We can all tell endless stories of how it makes itself known in everyday life. When I have stayed with friends in these communities and inquired as to whether all the security is in response to an actual danger I am told “not really," that it is the fear of threat rather than a real threat that is the catalyst for an obsession with safety that borders on madness.Ĭulturally we bear witness to this madness every day. Americans spend more than thirty billion dollars a year on security. With guards at the gate, individuals still have bars and elaborate internal security systems. “The growing number of gated communities in our nation is but one example of the obsession with safety.
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