In his article, Jason Whitlock writes about the death of former NFL player, Sean Taylor. Whitlock uses Taylor’s death to support his assertion that the “Black KKK” is responsible for what has happened, and claims that they are still a threat to all black men today. He feels that “black men are targets of black men” and until the Black KKK has not been stopped, nothing will change. Whitlock also discusses the impact of hip-hop on the young black culture. He believes that it is responsible for giving them the impression to live in a “culture that celebrates murder, ignorance and incarceration”. Whitlock believes that this Black KKK is to blame for the death of Sean Taylor, and any black man or boy could be next.
Jason Whitlock argues that “if you're a black man living in America, you've been reminded once again that your life is in constant jeopardy of violent death”, and I disagree. Your life is not in danger simply due to the color of your skin. I do not agree that every black man is destined to a violent death, such as Whitlock claims. It is true that African Americans were once degraded, mistreated, and left undefended in United States history, however, it would be unacceptable for anyone to look at blacks in such a way now. They are no longer viewed as inferior members of society, and assumptions should not be made that they remain “in danger” and subject to “violent deaths” as a result of their race. Whitlock jumps to conclusions in assuming the present view on blacks in America.
An example of parallelism used in this article is the comparison between the “White KKK” and the “Black KKK”. Whitlock states that “rather than whine about white folks' insensitivity or reserve a special place of sorrow for rich athletes, we'd be better served mustering the kind of outrage and courage it took in the 1950s and 1960s to stop the white KKK from hanging black men from trees”. This strengthens the article by fulfilling Whitlock’s statement that the Black KKK needs to be stopped. His parallelism to the White KKK proves that it took courage to put an ending to this similar problem in the past, and it shows that maybe the same courage is what’s required in stopping the Black KKK today.
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Kristin,
I totally disagree with what your have said in your article about Whitlock’s perspective being wrong. I feel that if you look around society today and think of urban crimes and violence, it is black people, not whites, who are associated. The point that Whitlock is trying to convey is not one to demoralize his fellow African Americans, but to give them the wake up call they need. Because the fact of the matter is, as long as senseless crimes like these occur, blacks will be looked down upon; even if that’s not the way it’s supposed to be. You need to get your mind right and realize that blacks and whites will never be viewed as equal by each other. Not as long as whites are viewed as stuck up rich people, and blacks as seen as ruthless drug dealing killers. Sides, Mr. Whitlock is an African American and his opinion on other blacks will count more than yours and mine ever will.
-B$
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