Rattlesnake Slim II

🚨 Dr. Stacey Patton, a professor at Howard University, wrote an article in which she blamed Austin Metcalf – and his family – for Karmelo Anthony's decision to murder him. Titled "Dear Jeff Metcalf: Your Son is Dead Because You Failed to Teach Him That Black Boys Have Boundaries," the article argues that Jeff Metcalf failed to teach Austin that "black children have boundaries." In other words, Jeff should have taught Austin that black people will try to kill you if you ask them to stop violating social norms. While Patton falls short of outright defending Karmelo's decision, the entire purpose of the piece is to rationalize his behavior. Kind of like "Sure Karmelo shouldn't have stabbed him, but it was Austin's fault at the end of the day." She writes, "We have to talk about Austin's decision to approach and confront." As if Austin didn't have the right to tell someone from another school to leave his school's tent. As if somehow that minor confrontation justifies stabbing him in the heart. It is complete insanity. Patton ties Austin's behavior to "a long cultural tradition of policing black bodies and space." Right. Patton's Substack has nearly 50k followers. He has 300k followers on Facebook. She is an accomplished professor and journalist. The article received thousands of likes. We've all seen the low-class black people causing a scene outside of the courthouse. But it appears that even many educated blacks believe that people of their race have the right to murder anyone who asks them to stop playing music in public, respect physical boundaries, and so on. "Let us do what we want or we'll kill you" appears to be the message being broadcast by a sizable share of the black community. You don't have to be a far-right radical to recognize the many unsettling implications this holds for the future of American race relations.