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QOTD: Not Who You Think
“If there was no crime and violence in communities of color, who would suffer?” — Graffiti on sidewalk outside of CTA Roosevelt Station, Chicago, Illinois
I first ran across this graffiti (clearly done with a stencil and pink paint) a month ago, and it got me thinking. Who would suffer, actually? We can see who the author believes would suffer: https://twitter.com/crimedrought has plenty of trashing of the police, and Trap House Chicago is apparently a “restorative justice clothing store” down on the South Side. (Obviously, CoC violations galore there.)
First, let’s take a step back and look at the quote. Crime and violence are written about like weather, just something that happens. There’s no agency — no criminals or violent people. If there’s no crime and violence in their hood, the criminals are going to have to leave their community and go commit crime elsewhere. Not sure if that counts as suffering, though. Also, communities of color is only something woke liberals say. Actual Black and Hispanic communities are not too fond of each other. During the riots last year, the Latino gangs ran any suspected rioters out of their territory with force. The urban talk radio station had plenty of callers upset that construction crews were hiring Mexicans rather than their brothers.
With that out of the way, let’s take a look at the usual suspects here:
- Police: Do people think that most police in fairly peaceful communities want to have more crime? I suppose there might be a few adrenaline junkies, but most police probably wish they didn’t have people shooting at them, or people thinking that they are racist because cops took Dad to jail and shot their cousin. If someone made a patrol in Austin as easy as one in Rogers Park or Hegewisch, cops are not going to suffer.
- Suburban/rural white people: I’ll let you speak for yourselves in the comments below, but I never felt any joy over urban crime from outside of the city, even as a high school edgelord into fascism. Generally, the sense is apathy and resignation. It has been this way long enough we thought it always would be that way. The only other element is fear of the crime coming to you. No one wants to deal with gangbangers. If urban crime stopped being a problem, you would probably see more visitors to cities. I don’t see any suffering here.
- Corporations: Big business wants customers and profits. Crime both directly hits the bottom line (theft, vandalism) and reduces the ability for consumers to buy products. Every business from Amazon to the corner bodega is going to be cheering on a drop in crime, and Wall Street would be doing the happy dance as the Dow climbed. Suffering? Not a chance.
- Politicians: Surprisingly, I don’t see this as a group that benefits from minority crime. Most politicians rely on bringing the pork home and making their constituents happy. Crime is a real problem that requires tough solutions. Expanding government power directly angers voters here, making it more challenging than issues like climate change or poverty. No politician would suffer from cities getting Canadian crime rates.
- Minority activists: Activists derive their income and importance from having a problem to deal with. People like Al Sharpton and Black Lives Matter need to have racial tensions to address, or they are not going to matter anymore. You can see this because they keep talking about how bad it is now, as if the civil rights movement never happened. As if Barack Obama did not get elected president, as if Black actors have to be hidden on U.S. posters like they are on Chinese posters. Any progress might cut off the money spigot.
The answer: Activists like the graffiti man would suffer. Would there be much of a market for a restorative justice clothing store if there was not a crime problem in minority communities? Would anyone follow the man behind this graffiti if there were less racial tension? His profiting from the suffering of Black people would make plantation owners rise from their graves in a standing ovation.
Published in Group Writing
Class and race grievance grifters would suffer.
Yes. People like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton would suffer, or at least find their speaking engagement calendars much more empty and their coffers much less full.
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I’m glad you were able to figure out what that statement means, as it made no sense to me. I can think of one additional group that might suffer if crime went down – sellers of metal grates to cover windows and doors and other extraordinary security equipment. But, I suspect most of them would quickly find something else to sell.
For all we know, the graffitist is based.
Expanding on the premise behind the question:
Who do you think would suffer if everyone were healthy?
Who do you think would suffer if everyone were well-adjusted?
Who do you think would suffer if more children were home-schooled?
Who would suffer if government jobs were reduced by 90%?
Who do you think would suffer if government bureaucracies were simplified?
And who do you think would suffer if the tax laws were reduced to one page?
New word for me to learn?
Edgelord (n) – slang term for a person using deliberately harsh or offensive beliefs and language to appear tough or cool. Usually associated with rebellious teens, and usually not a deep belief. See also edgy (a)
Sounds like urban dictionary trash.
As far as I can tell, “edgelord” combines somebody seeking to be edgy with the arrogance of being a/the “lord” of something. It is a mild pejorative, hence that ascription of “wants” to the person so called.
I loathe the faux seriousness of urban dictionary. It’s everything that’s wrong with Wikipedia, with none of the redeeming features.
I wrote that off the top of my head, BDB. I just made it look fancier. I didn’t know if he knew what edgy meant, so I went into more detail.
In that case, well done sir.
I know now. I did go to look it up after posting my comment. I was hoping it meant something else, and in my disappointment didn’t bother to report back. Thanks for going to the trouble.
Yesterday I pulled into a gas station in Louisville that appeared to be in prison, there were so many steel bars on the windows and doors. The clerk was behind the thickest bullet-proof glass I’ve ever seen.
Did you ask why? I think I would have.
I have specifically driven away and not bought gas from gas stations that I have pulled into and seen lots of metal grates and bullet-proof glass (the most recent episode was in Albuquerque, NM). [One of a couple of reasons I avoid letting the level in my fuel tank get too low, so I preserve options on where I get gas.]
Likely a wise thing, especially at night, although it could have been an over-reaction by owner and/or employees from a single event X years ago.