Arrests Give Lie to Thug Life Depiction of Taylor Murder—and Black Males
The Sean Taylor murder ignited what has to rank as the dumbest, wrong-headed orgy of stereotype laced speculation in living memory. The instant the Washington Redskins all-pro safety was gunned down in his suburban Miami-Dade County home, a pack of talking head sports analysts, writers, and fans filled the airwaves and newsprint with their see I told you so pontifications that Taylor’s alleged thug life style did him in.
The initial accounts of his murder fed ample fuel to the contention of the self-styled experts that the supposed self-destructive ghetto culture has done in countless numbers of young black males. Taylor, of course, was the latest, but by no means the only tragic example of that. They insisted without a shred of evidence that the break-in at his home was not random, that he was a target, and that the killing was a hit.
The initial news accounts were a heavy handed pile on of Taylor’s misdeeds, run-ins and altercations with the law. Subsequent news accounts dropped the obsessive itemizing of the full litany of Taylor’s missteps. But they still managed to do a sneaky broken record sounding reminder that Taylor had had past problems with the law. That further imprinted in much of the public’s skulls that Taylor was a bad guy and that there had to be a direct connect between his past, that really wasn’t past, and the murder.
There were two tragedies in the Taylor murder. The first is the murder itself. It snuffed out the life of a talented, promising, young man who was well on his way to becoming a solid role model and leader for his teammates and other young players, and in time may well have been that same solid role model off the field as well.
The second is that for an enraging instant it gave the legions of know it alls the irresistible chance to point the blame finger at the killer lifestyle that supposedly ensnares all young black males, and that included Taylor. Fortunately, the arrests of the suspects and their confession of what actually happened that fateful evening at the Taylor home gives lie to that notion. But even in Taylor’s death, and even after the truth came out about it, the truth is still a casualty to stereotypes. Witness this, every news account of the arrests, confessions, and background information on the suspects was still punctuated with the reminder of Taylor’s scrapes with the law. The thug life fascination with black males is still very much alive and kicking in some press rooms, and beyond.
Earl-
The death of any young man is tragic, regardless of their culpability in the matter. Even the killing of the lousiest gang thug is a loss, and a poor reflection on society.
But, it is not a matter beyond his own grasp and, sadly, so it seems was the case of Sean Taylor.
The news reports I read make two things very clear.
Sean Taylor had a variety of interaction with the four young men in question. One or more mowed his lawn, attended a party at his home, dated his sister, etc.
And, these four young men all come with lengthy arrest records - drugs, theft, probation violations and fire arms offenses allegedly dot the reupations of these teenagers. He associated with people whose records very much mirrored his own, and it came back to bite him.
I mourn Sean Taylor's loss, as a I do that of any young person.
But it is not the same as a pure innocent being killed. He laydown with dogs and got up with fleas.
Unfortunately, the bite was fatal.
It is sad, but not unexpected. And his criminal record is far from irrelevant.
As long as community leaders such as yourself insist on acting like all people are the same, and criminal records are irrelevant, then there will be more Sean Taylors, and the streets of South LA will continue to bleed.