Michael Wiik has a theory that appears to fit the facts as I know
them:
>> I have been told (but have not independently confirmed), that at one
>> point, one high-profile African-American said that there was no more
>> terrible feeling for him than to be walking down the street at night,
>> hearing footsteps, and being _relieved_ when he saw that the other person
>> was white.
>
> Such things have routinely been commented on by black columnists in the
> Washington Post. Here's my theory:
>
> For this purpose we can divide blacks into two groups, 'raceless' and
> 'fictive kinship'. These are terms from a Washington Post magazine
> article. To put it way too simply (for contrast), 'raceless' blacks want
> to fit in to american culture, study hard, and generally do well as a
> result of this, especially among young people. (I note many many more
> mixed groups of kids today than when (for example) I was in high school,
> and regard this as a very good thing). By contrast, 'fictive kinship'
> blacks see most if not all whites as the enemy, promote black culture,
> and regard 'raceless' blacks as Uncle Toms.
>
> So I can suppose that 'fictive kinship' blacks see themselves as living
> in an occupied state. In this scenario, 'raceless' blacks are
> collaborators with the oppressive government, and can be thusly
> considered legitimate targets. I would suggest that 'fictive kinship'
> blacks are therefore targets for police discrimination, though what the
> media reports is typically when this profiling results in a 'raceless'
> black being stopped or detained.
>
> So if you're a well-dressed black person, who might be identified as
> 'raceless', your possible attackers could be a) muggers, b) white
> racists looking to beat you senseless, or c) 'fictive kinship' blacks
> that regard you as a collaborator. Of a, b, and c I gather the smallest
> group is b. If muggers are mixed evenly by race, then there are still
> more black people to fear than white people.
Sounds good, but criticism is needed.
Lee
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