Racism Mars Community Conversations

I’m about to make a claim for which I have no scientific proof. You have been warned.

Nobody who has read this news is happy about it:

Howard County Police arrest teen, charge him with first-degree murder in weekend shooting, Abby Zimmardi, Baltimore Banner

Or, to be more precise, every response I have seen on social media has been expressed with varying degrees of anger, fear, sadness, and frustration. At long last, Howard County can agree on something.

That’s where the agreement ends, however. Where we diverge is in how we respond, how and if we want to lay blame, or what we think should be done next. I can safely say that some folks want to lay blame a whole lot more than they want to entertain viable solutions.

In reviewing three of those online conversations/threads, I wasn’t surprised to see that some used this inicident as an open door to spew all kinds of racist nonsense and glaringly obvious dogwhistles. The sheer enthusiasm of this kind of online behavior looks less like community concern and more like children on a holiday trip to the amusement park. Perhaps these commenters generally keep their racism under wraps during day-to-day exchanges but, wow - - give them an excuse and the floodgates are opened.

It’s sad. And I would feel sad if it didn’t make me so angry.

It is possible to discuss this topic and not spew racism. I know this because I read through another local online conversation where there was plenty of deep feeling and disagreement but not one incident where racist words were used.

The third conversation was primarily straightforward with a few unhelpful comments. Other commenters called out the racism when they saw it.

It is possible. It is possible to talk about this deeply disturbing incident which combines crime, violence, guns, schools, and students without using it as a free pass to be racist.

Not only is this behavior just plain wrong it also does nothing to address the problems that we, as a community, need to address. In fact, it makes them even harder to solve.

If it isn’t possible for you than maybe you should take a hard look in the mirror.

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