1/5/2017

KING: Don't use Chicago's white assault case against BLM movement - NY Daily News

KING: Don't use Chicago's white assault case

against BLM movement
SHAUN KING
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Thursday, January 5, 2017, 10:33 AM

Autoplay: On | Off
In Chicago, at least four young black men and women did something truly awful. On a damn Facebook Live video made
public Wednesday, they allegedly kidnapped a mentally challenged white man, beat him, humiliated him, cut his hair, and
yelled f--k Donald Trump and f--k white people while lming it for the world to see.
I just arrived back in America this morning after a week away and just watched the video moments ago. Its awful. I have
deep empathy for the victim. Twenty years ago, a racist mob of young white men beat me so badly that I missed 18 months of
high school recovering from three spinal surgeries and fractures to my face and ribs.
I hate violence. Nearly 100 people are killed with guns per day in this country. Every 98 seconds someone is sexually
assaulted in this country. Hate crimes are on the rise from coast to coast. Our incoming President of the United States
admitted that he sexually assaults women. Women all over the country came forward to allegedly con rm it. His rst wife, in
a sworn deposition, said that he raped and brutally assaulted her. Ivana Trump later said she didnt want the allegation to be
considered in a literal or criminal sense.
This country is sick.
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1/5/2017

KING: Don't use Chicago's white assault case against BLM movement - NY Daily News

However, I see thousands of white folk online asking me why Im not speaking out about it.
Beyond the fact that I literally just got back in the country a few hours ago with my wife and ve kids, my answer is simple.
As soon as I clicked on the rst of cial story about the incident, I saw that four people had already been arrested for it. If
more people were involved, whether it was two more black folk or 20, guess what, theyll be charged and arrested, and
convicted, and sentenced, and jailed for it as well. We will see their mugshots and videos of them walking into court with jail
clothes any minute now. Thats how justice works in America.
This country does not need me to speak out on crimes committed by black folk because nobody in this country is held more
responsible for the crimes they commit, and even the crimes they dont commit, than black folk in America. Right now,
young black men in America are incarcerated at a rate higher than South Africans were at the height of Apartheid.
I speak out on injustice. What happened to this man in Chicago was terrible. It was criminal. I hate it, but guess what
justice was swift. It was miraculously swift.
Justice is always swift and easy when black folk mess up, but you know whos not in jail right now? George Zimmerman.
You know whos not in jail right now? The of cers who red 41 shots at and killed Amadou Diallo on the doorstep of his
Bronx home.
You know whos not in jail right now? The of cers who killed Eric Garner and Rekia Boyd.

Chicago Police are investigating a since deleted Facebook Live video that shows a young white male being held hostage
and tortured. (FACEBOOK LIVE VIA TWITTER)
You know whos not in jail? The men who murdered Emmett Till.

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1/5/2017

KING: Don't use Chicago's white assault case against BLM movement - NY Daily News

Neither are the two white men who recently lured a mentally challenged black student into a locker room and rammed a
hanger up his rectum.
We march for them. We protest for them. I write about them and Facebook and tweet about them because justice has not
been served in those cases. It almost never is.
Just Tuesday, a video surfaced of a police of cer in a North Carolina high school slamming a petite 15-year-old black girl so
hard on her head that he gave her a concussion.
Do you think hes in jail? Nah. Hes on paid leave.
Thats always the story. These are the people and families I spend my limited time advocating for.
So no, I wont be writing angry tweets about what these folk did in Chicago. They are already in jail. They will be punished, I
am sure, to the fullest extent of the law, but Ive written about case after case after case of drug offenses and incidents of
sexual assault and even murders committed by white folk where the system gave them a helping hand. The Stanford
swimmer, Brock Turner, who was caught in the act of raping a woman, but spent a summer in jail for it instead of the 10 to 20
years he deserved, comes to mind.
Black folk and white folk both use and sell drugs at almost identical rates, with the rates for whites actually being slightly
higher in both categories, but African-Americans are sent to prison at four to 10 times the rates of whites for various drug
offenses.
Black folk are held super-responsible for every mistake and criminal offense made. We rarely have to march for justice in our
communities. American prisons are full of black folk who are being held responsible for every mistake theyve ever made.
I have a childhood friend in prison right now, a good man, doing 10 hard years in prison for selling weed. He was a full time
barber, a father, who sold weed on the side, but the system had no mercy on him whatsoever.
Now I actually see thousands of other whites saying I caused this
assault. Of course I reject that foolishness altogether. Whats most
disturbing is that I hardly see many whites who are particularly angry
about the crime speaking sympathetically about the victim. They are
mainly using it to advance their racist agenda and demonize random
black folk who had nothing to do with such a thing. Furthermore, I
have routinely seen tens of thousands of African-Americans standing
up and ghting and protesting for white victims of police brutality and
toxic masculinity. The Alt-Right Movement does not care about
violence in this country. Thousands of whites murder people every
year, but youd be hard pressed to nd a protest or march headed by
their movement on white on white crime.
As I type, the top trending topic in the country is now
#BLMKidnapping. BLM stands for Black Lives Matter. The people in the
video never even suggested such a thing. The Black Lives Matter
Movement has never advocated such a thing. I have never advocated
such a thing.
Chicago of cials said Thursday that the victim was attacked because of
his mental disability, not because hes white.
What we are witnessing here is that fact that when particular AfricanAmericans commit a crime, many whites use the crime to cast
aspersions and stereotype all black folk. Its a ridiculous double
At least four young black men and women
tortured a young white male. (FACEBOOK LIVE VIA

standard rooted in racism and oppression.

TWITTER)

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KING: Don't use Chicago's white assault case against BLM movement - NY Daily News

Human beings do ugly stuff. I see it all over the world. Sometimes we learn what motivates people to be vicious, sometimes
we dont. I can think of a lot of people throughout history who this ugly crime in Chicago could be inspired by, but it damn
sure isnt me or the Black Lives Matter Movement.
I have never once heard one person in this movement mock the disabled. You know who I did see and hear mocking the
disabled? Donald Trump. You know I did hear openly advocating violence from the microphone at his rallies last year?
Donald Trump. He has drastically lowered the standard of decency for this country to a level that I have never seen before.
Ill close with this nal thought.
Yes, Dr. Kings words are true Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, but what we have right now is a
system that clearly applies justice differently depending on three factors: the color of your skin, your zip code, and your bank
account. I am glad the people who assaulted this young man were swiftly arrested. Thats how justice should work for all of
us. But you and I both know that swift justice in this country primarily happens when black folk commit crimes.
This young man doesnt need hashtags blaming me or a movement, he needs compassion and counseling. He also doesnt
need me advocating for justice. It will soon drop like Thors hammer without my help.

2016NewYorkDailyNews

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/king-don-chicago-white-assault-case-blm-movement-article-1.2935825

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