Viral Twitter Stream Exposes Deadly, Racist Fears
The killing of yet another young black man--Jordan Davis--and the subsequent refusal of a jury to convict Michael Dunn of murder sparked outrage over the weekend, which immediately spread onto social media.
The hashtag #dangerousblackkids was one of the ways that outrage was expressed. The hashtag was started by Mikki Kendall, a writer, and Jamie Nesbitt Golden, another writer. Both of them are prolific Twitter users who run the website HoodFeminism.
Many black people on Twitter sent out messages as a way to counter the deep-seated racial fears of some whites--that blacks are inherently dangerous. This racial fear certainly played a part in Dunn’s decision to shoot Davis, who was sitting in a car, unarmed, with his friends when Dunn tried to get them to lower their music. Dunn then fired multiple shots into the car, three of them hitting Davis and killing him. Dunn then drove to a motel and ordered pizza.
Dunn was acquitted of murdering Davis, but was found guilty on other charges and faces decades of prison. Still, many watchers of the case were incredulous that he got away on the murder charge.
The Twitter response was something to be seen. Here’s some of the tweets picked up by other news outlets:
Jordan was a respectable black kid in the ROTC. All Dunn saw was #DangerousBlackKids in a car. And he shot at all of them.
— Mikki Kendall (@Karnythia) February 16, 2014Officer: we got to keep an eye on these two. they're wearing blue. #dangerousblackkids pic.twitter.com/snpkCfn8aT
— Asmaa Lov (@AsmaaLov) February 16, 2014he's getting aggressive, his temper is flaring, omg I FEEL FEAR!!! #dangerousblackkids pic.twitter.com/oZttyCuuoj
— bahia bahia (@bahiawatson) February 16, 2014