Opinion: For all of American history, the criminal justice system has considered Black men in white communities dangerous. With the Arbery verdict, could that be changing?
, and then subsequently use self-defense laws, such as “stand your ground,” as justification for their use of force.
The consequences of subjective uncertainty are not limited to killings. Rather, there is a trickle-down effect of the criminalization of Black lives. It carries over to Black people having police called on them. It allows people to treat them as suspects and pursue them in virtually every quotidian aspect of their lives: while traveling, exercising, delivering packages for companies like Amazon and viewing a new home or business property.
. Black people know instinctively that “we just wanted to talk to him” is code for “we wanted to put him in his place.” This is at the heart of it. It is not what Arbery was doing. It is about who he was, what he looked like — his chocolate skin being the biggest threat of all. Black people in white communities pose danger. That’s a narrative we’ve seen play out in pop culture, such as in the classic film “The Birth of a Nation” which depicted Black people as simpletons in Congress picking their toenails and as as violent brutes attempting to rape innocent white women.
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