Writing at Clutch magazine, Kirsten West Savali says that the reaction to Sharmeka Moffitt's story of a racial assault, which turned out to be fabricated, should make us wonder why we don't get as upset when we harm one another.
Where was this outrage when Latonya Bowman, 22, was abducted, set on fire, and then shot in an ambush set by her ex-boyfriend? If her attackers had been white, there would have been t-shirts and protests. The fund created for her would have been heavily publicized, and she would have definitely been invited to share her story on television.
Let’s be clear: This is not to mitigate the very real fear that comes with "Walking While Black," as Moffitt was doing on the night that she alleged that she was attacked, nor the excessive nature of the alleged crime. It is merely to address this racial demagoguery that compels us to channel our collective energy into fighting "The Man," even in phantom acts of racism, while rarely holding the people that look like us accountable — even with tangible evidence staring us in the face.
What are we so afraid of?
We jump on issues such as these as if to say: "See, this is what we face in this country. Look at what we have to go through at the hands of white America." But we spray air-freshener on our own sh*t and blame the stench on racism. Whatever emotional and/or psychological issues Moffitt faces, in the same class as Tawana Brawley, she was still able to grasp the fears and prejudices of black America, and many of us fell right in line, picket signs at the ready.
Read Kirsten West Savali's entire piece at Clutch magazine.
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