(ThyBlackMan.com) A Black teen killed a white teen with a knife at a high school sporting event.
For too many Americans, that’s all that matters. The events that immediately precipitated the violent death don’t matter. Neither does the alleged history between the victim, the victim’s twin brother, and the boy who is accused of the killing. The fact that two families’ lives will never be the same doesn’t matter. And, in a real sense, even the names of the young men who are at the center of this tragedy don’t matter.
The only thing that matters for most Americans is that the young suspect is Black and the boy who was killed was white. That is the uncomfortable truth — a truth that is being played out in hundreds of thousands of comments on social media and in news links. White Americans often ask Black Americans, “Why is it always about race?” This incident is a concrete answer to that phony rhetorical question.
It’s always “about race” because it’s always been about race in America. This is not to say that every time an unpleasant interracial event occurs it’s only about race. I’m saying that if Black people and white people are involved, race is either the subtext, the pretext, or the actual text.
This story is, in microcosmic form, our national story. One does not have to be an acolyte of Critical Race Theory to understand the role that race has played — and continues to play — in our history and in our daily lives. That is why this story will never simply be about “two kids” who should be looking forward to the summer.
The 17-year-old young man who is accused of committing this crime is named Karmelo Anthony. He is being held on a $1 million bond. His attorneys are attempting to get that amount reduced and are asking the public not to rush to judgment. The latter request has failed; we’ll see about the former.
As we have witnessed countless times, little things matter in big cases. While I haven’t seen nearly all the thousands of articles that have saturated the news, it’s safe to say that the vast majority of them show Anthony’s mugshot as opposed to more neutral photos (e.g., him participating in sports). The fact that he is an honors student is an afterthought.
The victim, also 17, was named Austin Metcalf. Like Anthony, Metcalf was an athlete. Unlike Anthony, we have seen multiple images of him smiling, dressed in athletic gear, or spending time with family and friends. While the sharp contrast in the types of pictures that are shown of the victim as opposed to an alleged perpetrator makes sense to most people, research has shown that Black victims of violent crime are usually depicted negatively in the media. At the same time, white perpetrators of crime generally are depicted positively.
Though initial reports suggested that this was a random encounter between two students who didn’t know each other, later reports have stated that there is a troubling history between Metcalf, his twin brother Hunter, and Anthony. There are even allegations that at least one of the Metcalf brothers had previously called Anthony the “N-word.”
Further, it is now coming to light that, before the stabbing, Metcalf attempted to physically remove Anthony from his (i.e., Metcalf’s) team tent. According to witnesses, Anthony warned Metcalf about “putting his hands on (Anthony).” Metcalf, according to witnesses, did not heed that warning. At that point, Anthony is alleged to have retrieved a knife and fatally stabbed Metcalf.
We should wait for the trial to learn all the relevant facts regarding this case before drawing a conclusion. But we won’t. That did not happen with Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman. It did not happen with George Floyd and Derek Chauvin. It did not happen with Jordan Neely and Daniel Penny. It literally never happens in these cases.
The reason is simple. Even when race is not at the center of these issues, it is at the heart. In other words, when facts are competing with the heart, the heart nearly always wins.
Don’t believe me? Consider a counter-factual: Suppose that Karmelo Anthony was white and Austin Metcalf was Black. Metcalf would have been hailed as another Kyle Rittenhouse or Daniel Penny — a “hero” who was protecting others. We all know that the narrative would have literally been written differently.
Ready for the really bad news? Things are only going to get worse as the president and his allies are working assiduously to dismantle the exceedingly timid initiatives, collectively known as “DEI,” that often are designed to foster racial reconciliation.
The challenge is that there cannot be such reconciliation without recognition of truth. And truth is a casualty of the attempt to impose “alternative facts” on our collective memory. Those “alternative facts” are a frontal assault on our lived experience.
The only way out is through. And the only way through is by clinging to the truth, no matter how painful it is.
Written by Larry Smith
