DOS_patos
Unverified Legion of Trill member
Twenty-five years ago, John DiIulio, a political science professor, created and disseminated one of the most dangerous and lethal lies in our history. He coined the term “superpredator,” depicting Black children as remorseless animals who would prey on victims.
Make no mistake, racism propelled the spread of this theory. DiIulio insisted that this younger, more dangerous breed of offender would soon target “upscale central-city districts, inner-ring suburbs, and even the rural heartland.” His warning was clear: White America was in danger. The response was swift and unrelenting. The media immediately exploited and sensationalized his claims.
Politicians from both parties joined to pass draconian crime bills. And the public eagerly consumed the story. The superpredator lie went viral, infecting every single institution that touches children — courts, schools, law enforcement. In the end, it robbed Black children of their youth and the protections of childhood.
But the superpredator prediction was fiction. The crime wave DiIulio predicted never materialized. Juvenile crime rates actually dropped between 1994 and 2000. Of course, that did not slow politicians who nimbly ignored that data and pushed “adult time for adult crime” legislation.
Even when DiIulio admitted being wrong about his predictions, his retraction could not dislodge this country’s already-formed assumptions that young Black males were coldblooded and dangerous. Today, virtually every state still permits middle schoolers to be prosecuted as adults, exposing them to adult punishment. The overwhelming majority of those kids are Black.
What made this superpredator story so easy to swallow — and so stubbornly intractable?
The answer is simple and damning. The superpredator myth glommed onto a deeper lie rooted in American soil and in the American psyche. A lie that insists that Black children do not deserve the care we reflexively offer white children. All that was needed was the barest of information, and our worst beliefs filled out the contours of the story.
Sadly, this lie is an American phenomenon with intergenerational effects. During slavery, white slavers separated children from their mothers because a child could garner a greater profit. This was not just profiteering. This was insisting that Black children were chattel, not human. During the Jim Crow era, white mobs lynched Black children if they dared to cross a racial boundary that white society invented and ruthlessly enforced. Again, the lesson: Black children weren’t like other children. They needed to “know their place” in the racial caste. The nation was primed to expect the disparate treatment of Black children as appropriate or deserved.
the rest at :
www.yahoo.com
Make no mistake, racism propelled the spread of this theory. DiIulio insisted that this younger, more dangerous breed of offender would soon target “upscale central-city districts, inner-ring suburbs, and even the rural heartland.” His warning was clear: White America was in danger. The response was swift and unrelenting. The media immediately exploited and sensationalized his claims.
Politicians from both parties joined to pass draconian crime bills. And the public eagerly consumed the story. The superpredator lie went viral, infecting every single institution that touches children — courts, schools, law enforcement. In the end, it robbed Black children of their youth and the protections of childhood.
But the superpredator prediction was fiction. The crime wave DiIulio predicted never materialized. Juvenile crime rates actually dropped between 1994 and 2000. Of course, that did not slow politicians who nimbly ignored that data and pushed “adult time for adult crime” legislation.
Even when DiIulio admitted being wrong about his predictions, his retraction could not dislodge this country’s already-formed assumptions that young Black males were coldblooded and dangerous. Today, virtually every state still permits middle schoolers to be prosecuted as adults, exposing them to adult punishment. The overwhelming majority of those kids are Black.
What made this superpredator story so easy to swallow — and so stubbornly intractable?
The answer is simple and damning. The superpredator myth glommed onto a deeper lie rooted in American soil and in the American psyche. A lie that insists that Black children do not deserve the care we reflexively offer white children. All that was needed was the barest of information, and our worst beliefs filled out the contours of the story.
Sadly, this lie is an American phenomenon with intergenerational effects. During slavery, white slavers separated children from their mothers because a child could garner a greater profit. This was not just profiteering. This was insisting that Black children were chattel, not human. During the Jim Crow era, white mobs lynched Black children if they dared to cross a racial boundary that white society invented and ruthlessly enforced. Again, the lesson: Black children weren’t like other children. They needed to “know their place” in the racial caste. The nation was primed to expect the disparate treatment of Black children as appropriate or deserved.
the rest at :
Op-Ed: Why America is still living with the damage done by the 'superpredator' lie
The superpredator theory, created 25 years ago, infected every institution to rob Black children of the protections of childhood.
