sounds like it could be but not sure why they would do that with their own people
Yes, it is. Such behavior is what economist/author Tim Harford calls Rational Racism.
There is, however, a few problems with the proposition you present:
1) Even though young black men are statistically significantly more likely to commit crimes than other demographic groups, that assertion incorprates a fallacy called base rate neglect. Overall violent crime per 100k of US population is about 350. Even if young black males double that rate, the chance is 700 per 100,000, or less than a 1 in 1000 chance that the group of young black people causing the purse clutching and door locking are likely to commit a crime.
2) People tend to engage in Confirmation Bias in support of their bigotry. They read about a violent crime in the local paper or see a report on the local TV news, and negelct all the times they DIDN'T see such a report, or the very salient reality that no news agency will report "Today 99.999% of the population DIDN'T experience being a victim of a crime! Film at 11!"
3) So what? No, really. So what? The fact that African-Americans can be just as prejudicial as other demographics groups (for example, there is significant evidence indicating homophobia is more prevalent in the African-American community than among other ethnicities) DOES NOT JUSTIFY the bigotry of anyone else.
You would probably have to ask those black people who "clutch and lock" to know for certain.
Perhaps they're in an unfamiliar area and they don't feel entirely comfortable, maybe from the looks of the group it's made them uneasy, maybe they just cashed their check and their rent money is in there or maybe they lock their doors every time they get in the car. Which reminds me of an incident.
My roommate was working at a shopping mall and as she was departing at closing time she started walking through the covered parking garage to her vehicle. As she got in her car, she locked the doors and started up her car for the trip home at which time she heard someone yelling. She turned to the man and realized he was yelling at her so she rolled her window down to see what the problem was. He was screaming at her that she locked her car because he was black. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. She tried to explain to the man that she ALWAYS locks her car when she gets in it but apparently he wasn't satisfied with her explanation. So she backed up and left him in the lot still yelling as she drove off. Now if he told someone this story that person would probably say she was racist and add her to the list of all those white racist people. But in reality this wasn't what happened. She's definitely not racist but he didn't want to hear her side because he had already judged her actions as negative and had made up his mind (which is why he was yelling at her before she could even say anything to him). I often wonder how many situations such as this had purely harmless intentions but were perceived as racist.
If I were to see a group of black people, I would probably "clutch" too. But then again, I'd do it if they were white or pink, if for whatever reason, I felt unsafe.
The idea that someone can be racist toward their own race is ridiculous.
Paranoia about an approaching group is not racist. It's just profiling. Everyone does it. It has nothing to do with race. It's simply assessing whether the group fit a gang banger archetype. When people see a group of black men in business suits approaching, they don't feel threatened. It's about demeanour not race.
If you do consider black people equally prejudice, or perhaps even more prejudice in certain ways e.g. homophobic, why don't you criticise them for it? The left put all their energy into demonizing the white straight middle class male.
I submit the reason is because the left doesn't really give a sh*t about bigotry. It's just a pretext to strike at the perceived ruling class. Its only interest is bringing down the culture of individualism and capitalism that it perceives as white. It wants to "fight the power" and will ignore blatant violations by minority groups of the principles it claims to stand for.
"Their own people" are all humanity, one species. When it comes to one's own safety, they make the same judgments, with the same things going through their heads, as the rest of us. Maybe these famous quotes will help:
“There is nothing more painful to me at this stage in my life than to walk down the street and hear footsteps... then turn around and see somebody white and feel relieved.”
-Jesse Jackson, Chicago, 1993
“If I see a black kid in a hoodie, and it’s late at night, I’m walking to the other side of the street. If on that side of the street there’s a guy that has tattoos all over his face — white guy, bald head, tattoos everywhere — I’m walking back to the other side of the street.”
-Mark Cuban
Racist? No. Fear? Yes. When I was a biker I used to have people roll up the car windows, lock the doors, and even cross to the other side of the street to avoid me. Was that racist? Of course not. It was done out of fear.
No more than it is racist of me to 'clutch my purse and lock my car doors' when a gang of blonde Scandinavian thugs approach. The racism if any would be to look at a group and conclude they are thugs because their skin is white/black/green or whatever.
Is this a gang of thugs? If you think so, then maybe you should ask yourself some searching questions about racism ;-))
The only group in society that causes me to clutch my purse and lock my doors is politicians.
I think you have mental issues. Severe. Get help. Seriously. You are not funny when you try to be. You are not smart when you try to be. And you certainly are not right when you try to be.
You are suffering from delusions. You have lost so much credibility, no one will even click on your PROOF. Not me, for certain.
No. If an group of people come up to my car.....I lock the door. Doesn't matter their color. If they look threatening, the door is getting locked.
Black, white, hispanic, asian.... any thug looking, biker looking, punk looking....whatever. It is not racist, it is smart. As long as I am not doing it because of their color.
