Posted on March 3, 2022

WaPo: Ahmaud Arbery Killers Represent ‘Millions’ of Racist Americans ‘Everywhere’

Joshua Klein, Breitbart, March 1, 2022

The killers of Ahmaud Arbery “stand in for millions of Americans” nationwide who believe that skin color deems one “less worthy,” according to a recent Washington Post piece that also accuses many Americans of denying and downplaying rampant racism throughout the country.

The Monday essay, titled “Why I don’t complain about racism to White people,” was penned by Post columnist Brian Broome and began by arguing that Ahmaud Arbery’s three killers who were convicted last week of federal hate crimes were not an “anomaly” or “from a bygone era” but represent “millions” of racist Americans that can be found “everywhere” in the country.

Arbery, a 25-year-old black man, was shot and killed in Georgia while jogging by Travis McMichael, who pursued Arbery, believing he was a burglar. McMichael’s father was also charged and found guilty for joining his son by pursuing Arbery as well as a neighbor, William Bryan.

All three defendants in the trial for Arbery’s case were found guilty, despite questions from some media outlets and activists that justice would not be served in the trial from a majority white jury.

“I’m here to tell you that these killers aren’t exceptions to any rule,” Broome wrote. “They stand in for millions of Americans in their belief that the color of my skin makes me less of a human being. Less intelligent. Less trustworthy. Less worthy in general.”

“These Americans exist from sea to shining sea, and they are not always White, or male,” he added. “They are everywhere. In every occupation.”

In addition, the author claims that even the “other White people” would disregard or downplay his encounters with racism.

“They are so common — and their actions so unavoidable — that I learned a long time ago not to share my encounters with them with other White people,” he wrote.

“The minute I would start to tell White folks about a slight, a snub or an outright ugly racist thing that I experienced, I could see their minds working. I could see them processing the things that I was saying in order to dismiss them,” he added. “Most told me I was being too sensitive or that I was overreacting — anything to minimize my experience,” he added.

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Quoting the late writer James Baldwin as having said, “Every white person in this country … would not like to be black here,” Broome wrote: “I believe this to be absolutely true.”

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