RussApr 19, 2023
Pax Ahimsa Gethen

I see a lot of the stories about the Black teen who was shot for the crime of ringing a doorbell mention that he was an honor student and musician. That's great, but also irrelevant IMO. If he had been a high school dropout who watched TV all day, it still would not have been OK to shoot him. As a Black person myself, I've had enough of respectability politics.

Edit 4/19 to clarify: #RalphYarl is seriously injured, but not dead.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/apr/18/ralph-yarl-mother-interview-kansas-city-shooting

#BlackLivesMatter #BlackMastodon

‘Buckets of tears’: mother of Black teen shot after going to wrong address speaks

Cleo Nagbe speaks out after white man charged with Missouri’s equivalent for attempted murder for shooting Ralph Yarl

The Guardian
Apr 18, 2023 at 5:31pmWeb
Show threadPax Ahimsa GethenApr 19, 2023

Since this post has gotten so much attention (thank you), I just expanded my thoughts in a blog post on @medium:

https://funcrunch.medium.com/guns-racism-and-respectability-politics-e1b7fae9cdf4?sk=53cb906644466d4de0694407d7b57c63

Guns, Racism, and Respectability Politics - Pax Ahimsa Gethen - Medium

The recent shooting of Black teen Ralph Yarl for the crime of ringing a white man’s doorbell has captured a large amount of media attention in the U.S. Yarl, who was seriously injured, has received…

Medium
Show threadArmy GirlApr 18, 2023
@funcrunch I had the same thought. MSM seems to think they MUST mention that.
Show threaderrgApr 18, 2023
@funcrunch I've been thinking exactly the same thing
Show threadNicole ParsonsApr 19, 2023

@funcrunch

These narratives are similar to the phrasing used by Victorian England:
"The deserving poor".

It allows the cognitive dissonance of supporting charitable work, as a bandaid, but without the genuine empathy needed to do the deep work to end an issue entirely.

It's intended to preserve the status quo behind the problem, by throttling support.

Fix the disease, not the symptoms. The disease is racism

Narratives about the "worth" or "value" of this young man's life are irrelevant

Show threadThestaroftheworldsApr 19, 2023
@funcrunch it doesn't make Great news though. Drama does. I would argue that just because the news doesn't report something doesn't mean it's not important. They report on what grabs attention but not what really matters. I tell people to update their computers due to a critical vulnerability. People are bored by it, barely acknowledge it. If I say we were hacked everybody takes notice. Not less important. But not dramatic or news worthy. It's human nature
Show threadJudith PakosinskiApr 19, 2023
@funcrunch I always look at all that praise for the victim as an announcement of what all of humanity lost when a horrible angry bigot shot a child who had the misfortune to ring the wrong doorbell. It’s an acknowledgment of the hole their death created in their immediate world.
And the high school dropout who watches TV all day would also be a loss to the universe. Who knows what they might have done. They had a role to play, too.
Show threadPax Ahimsa GethenApr 19, 2023

@JayPako

To clarify, the victim in this case has not died (though he was seriously injured).

Show threadBoots ChantillyApr 19, 2023
@funcrunch 💯💯💯
Show threadBruce ElrickApr 19, 2023
@funcrunch
Truth
Show threadStop ThatApr 19, 2023
@funcrunch Honestly, I’ve been just glad that, for the first time it feels like, they’re not searching for a way to make him have deserved it, like the media usually does.
Show threadMemphisDaPlaya 🎲🎲Apr 19, 2023
@funcrunch
Absolutely!
Show threadTransitBikerApr 19, 2023
@funcrunch agree.
Show threadSchroedingerApr 19, 2023

@funcrunch Totally. He is not an honor student and musician. He is dead.

His past life is not relevant to the fact he is now dead, because some prick saw his skin colour and shot him.

Racist fuck. In a country that is looking more and more broken. And that is from the UK so no gloating here.

Show threadPax Ahimsa GethenApr 19, 2023

@SteveClough

He is not dead, but he was seriously injured in the shooting.

Show threadSchroedingerApr 19, 2023
@funcrunch My bad. I got confused with all the murders of black people.
Show threadEricVikingAusApr 19, 2023
@funcrunch Absolutely agree. Justice is blind. NOT
Show threadSuzan BallmerApr 19, 2023
@funcrunch totally agree
Show threadBill DayApr 19, 2023
@funcrunch point well taken. “Respectability politics” is a new idea to me. At the same time, I think it is also important to work on breaking down stereotypes that play on people’s fears and prejudices. The image too many people in “my community” have is not one of high school dropouts who play video games but murderous thugs coming to rape, burn, and pillage. And even the notion of high school dropouts feeds a long held notion that it is OK to regard black people as inherently inferior.
Show threadJeff FeckeApr 19, 2023
@funcrunch Definitely. It underlines how cruel this was, but the kid was shot because he was Black. No amount of achievement would have made him "safe" in the eyes of the man who tried to murder him.
Show threadmʕ•ﻌ•ʔm bitPickupApr 19, 2023

@funcrunch

> If he had been a high school dropout who watched TV all day,

true, sounds like a classical "house negro" statement.

Show threadCherrilynApr 19, 2023
@funcrunch you are right, sir. The fear this incident instills is overwhelming my brain.
Show threadJapopetteApr 20, 2023
@funcrunch you are right stay strong love is power All humanity
Show threadJyrgen NApr 22, 2023
@funcrunch
That is what I have been thinking the whole time. It comes down to the worth of a person's life not depending on their achievements or popularity and things.