Turn the Other Cheek If the Hand Is Black

Black-on-white attacks are uncomfortable for Americans. While network TV shows imagine that there is an epidemic of white supremacists attacking innocent minorities, reality paints a different picture. FBI data shows that interracial violence is disproportionally black-on-white rather than white-on-black. Despite being roughly 13 percent of the population, blacks are responsible for at least 60 percent of murders.

Americans are reluctant to acknowledge this reality–even when it affects them. Too many whites treat their loved one’s murder at the hands of a black assailant as an act of nature. It’s like a tornado you can neither change nor control.

A white victim’s family rarely turns their loved one’s death at the hands of a black assailant into a crusade. In fact, they will go out of their way to forgive the killer. This reaction is incentivized by the media and social forces. They want you to forgive, move on, and make no fuss about your tragedy.

It’s very different  in the case of a white-on-black crime. The victim’s family has no problem demanding social and political change over their dead relative. Absolution is rarely offered to the white assailant. Derek Chauvin, the McMichaels, and George Zimmerman (a “white Hispanic”) were never forgiven.

The ideal white response to non-white predation came from the Tibbetts family. Mollie Tibbetts, an Iowa college student, was raped and murdered by an illegal alien in 2018. When prominent conservatives highlighted the murder to show the dangers of illegal immigration, the family mobilized–to defend Hispanic immigrants and their food. “To the Hispanic community, my family stands with you and offers its heartfelt apology,” Rob Tibbetts, the father, wrote in an op-ed. “That you’ve been beset by the circumstances of Mollie’s death is wrong. We treasure the contribution you bring to the American tapestry in all its color and melody. And yes, we love your food.” He emphasized that his daughter would find anyone using her death to criticize illegal immigration as “profoundly racist.” The family was lionized by the press.

There are four more recent cases that showcase how whites react to non-white attacks. In two of the cases, the families forgave the assailant/s and were praised by the media. In two other cases, the family did not forgive the assailaint/s and were criticized by the media.

Elijah DeWitt, a star football player in Gwinnett County, Georgia, was fatally shot by two blacks during a robbery last October. His parents and girlfriend immediately forgave the killers. “Forgiveness is for the forgiver,” Craig DeWitt, the father, told local media. “We don’t want the hate in this household.” Elijah’s girlfriend, who witnessed his final moments, said her deceased boyfriend would’ve wanted people to move on from his death. This response earned plaudits in the media.

Landen Hoffman was a 5-year-old boy thrown off a balcony at the Mall of America by a Somali man in 2019. He fortunately survived the attack and his attacker was sentenced to 19 years in prison in 2022. His mom spoke out about the crime to ABC last month. She forgave the assailant in the interview because she said “it was a decision you have to make so that God can do what he needs to do in your life.” This attitude was warmly greeted by her interviewer.

The same positivity did not greet the parents who refused to forgive and forget their loved one’s killers. Ethan Liming, a star baseball player, was beaten to death by three blacks over a prank in Akron, Ohio. Liming and two friends (who were black) shot a water gun at three black guys playing basketball. The black assailants knew it was a water gun when they attacked Liming and his friends. Despite that knowledge, prosecutors decided to go easy on the attackers. All three had murder charges dropped and one was only convicted of misdemeanor assault, resulting in a mere suspended sentence. The other two face involuntary manslaughter charges.

The father, Bill Liming, was angered by this decision. He spoke out against the lenient charges, saying race played a role in the miscarriage of justice. He even claimed some of the prosecutorial team felt his son deserved to die.

“When I asked Brian LoPrinzi [the prosecutor] in the initial prosecutor’s meeting I had with him, I asked him if race made a difference, if my son’s skin color made a difference in the way in which they are approaching it, and he said yes,” Liming told a local TV station. “A source who was at the initial prosecutor’s meeting between the detectives and the prosecutors describe the prosecutor’s meeting as being very contentious. Some of the prosecutors wanting felonious assault charges and murder charges, others basically wanted no charges at all, with one of the prosecutors saying that Ethan received ‘hood justice,’ which was a new term to me. I was unfamiliar with the terminology ‘hood justice,’ I guess implying Ethan got what he deserved.”

The media and prosecutor’s office weren’t that thrilled with Mr. Liming’s claims. Unlike in police-involved shootings, the national press didn’t cover the father’s story. It didn’t highlight the travesty of racially-biased justice. Reporters didn’t tweet out #JusticeForEthan. Instead, the only response Liming received was the prosecutor’s office calling him a liar.

It unfortunately could be worse. The defense attorneys for the assailants insist their clients shouldn’t be charged for anything. They apparently acted in self-defense against a water gun.

The worst part about Liming’s plight may be the harassment his family faced following Ethan’s death. “We’ve received emails celebrating the fact that my son’s head was crushed like a watermelon and laughing how his chest was stomped, and I’ve been called a white moron,” Liming said.

Liming is a pastor, but even he knows it would be wrong to forgive or forget this. That’s why his story is ignored and cretins taunt him about his son’s death.

A similar story comes from Fargo, North Dakota. Daisy “Jupiter” Paulsen was a 14-year-old girl stabbed to death by a Liberian immigrant as she skateboarded home. Unlike in the Liming case, prosecutors charged the killer with murder. But like the Liming case, the father, Robert Paulsen, didn’t forgive and forget the crime. He demanded hate crime charges over the killing and condoned efforts to tie the murder to mass immigration (Fargo now has a large Liberian community). That didn’t make him a popular figure in the media.

The Washington Post published an article about the case in November. The real victim of the story wasn’t Jupiter Paulsen–it was Fargo’s Liberian community. The immigrants are faced with the absolute terror of… flyers. Yes, flyers that mention the Great Replacement are a far bigger problem than actual murder, according to the Washington Post. Offensive words are more deadly than murder weapons, depending on who wields them. The Post connected the flyers to mass shootings, implying that the pieces of paper could lead to such violence in North Dakota. In contrast to the flyers, the Paulsen murder was treated more like an act of nature you just have to get over. The newspaper even tried to insinuate the murderer may be blameless because he has mental problems.

Mr. Paulsen seemed to have backed away from politicizing his daughter’s death when the Post interviewed him. He said he had no problem with the Liberian community and that he doesn’t associate with the white nationalists who propagandized about the case. But he did not forgive his daughter’s killer. He also stated a bold point that the Post didn’t want to hear. “I don’t want it to be a Black and White thing, but what I agree with is: If the roles were reversed, it would be a different story,” Paulsen told the paper. “There would be riots. People would be burning stuff down.”

That’s 100 percent true. If a white man stabbed a black girl to death, it would be front page news across the country. Hate crime charges would be filed without hesitation. Prominent figures would demand dramatic social changes to ensure this never happens again. A number of leftists and black leaders would blame all of white America for the murder. Anti-white graffiti and propaganda could proliferate without condemnation. No newspaper would blame the killing on “mental health,” nor would any newspaper harass the victim’s family for associating with black nationalists.

This is the America we live in.

Every family grieves in a different way. It’s not our place to say how they cope with that grief. Some may feel the best way to cope with the tragedy is to forgive the transgressor. If the transgressor shows contrition and accepts a stiff sentence, then forgiveness is understandable. It’s less understandable when forgiveness is awarded immediately to killers who have yet to admit guilt.

The bigger problem is not the family’s choice to do so–it’s the expectation whites must do this. Forgive and forget is the only positively rewarded option. If a family chooses to make a fuss about it, they’re harassed and derided. A good white person decides “hate” is far worse than the crime.

One shouldn’t be so harsh towards a family that forgives (the Tibbetts family excepted). But that shouldn’t mean we shouldn’t praise it either. They’re unwittingly following a playbook for accepting non-white crime and attacks as normal. That deserves no praise.