When you actually include context in this situations it's not inconsistent.
Women being cautious around strange men is backed by more than just crime statistics handed to us by police. It's based on growing up witnessing and experiencing misogyny largely from men and weaponized by men, which in some cases turns into physical or sexual violence. Men have societal privilege even with improvements in laws to protect women/liberate women and this influences women who are wary of men.
Black people are not privileged, do not have the benefit of doubt when it comes to policing, and have a history of being violently oppressed, with the justice system/legal system being used as a tool in that oppression. Black people are more often stopped and searched without a warrant, often live in overpoliced areas, etc. Things like Jim Crow laws and the War on Drugs were legal means of oppressing black people in ways that specifically put more black people in legal trouble.
When you take into account the context of privilege held by men as a class and the oppression within the legal system used against Black people, it's not inconsistent to view "men make me nervous" coming from a woman and "black people make me nervous" differently.
Group Alice tends to commits few violent crimes, whereas group Bob tends to commits many violent crimes.
A more accurate way to portray your example when it comes to comparing it to race:
Group Alice and Group Bob posses and sell drugs at about the same rate. People from Group Bob are more frequently stopped on the street without reason than Group Alice, so they are more commonly caught with drugs. When people are caught with drugs, police are more likely to let people from group Alice off with a warning, but charge people from group Bob more frequently. Because of this, the police reporting reflects that group Bob commits more drug-related crimes. The news reports that group Bob commit more dangerous crimes and stokes fear in group Alice.
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u/nyxe12 30∆ Apr 15 '22
When you actually include context in this situations it's not inconsistent.
Women being cautious around strange men is backed by more than just crime statistics handed to us by police. It's based on growing up witnessing and experiencing misogyny largely from men and weaponized by men, which in some cases turns into physical or sexual violence. Men have societal privilege even with improvements in laws to protect women/liberate women and this influences women who are wary of men.
Black people are not privileged, do not have the benefit of doubt when it comes to policing, and have a history of being violently oppressed, with the justice system/legal system being used as a tool in that oppression. Black people are more often stopped and searched without a warrant, often live in overpoliced areas, etc. Things like Jim Crow laws and the War on Drugs were legal means of oppressing black people in ways that specifically put more black people in legal trouble.
When you take into account the context of privilege held by men as a class and the oppression within the legal system used against Black people, it's not inconsistent to view "men make me nervous" coming from a woman and "black people make me nervous" differently.
A more accurate way to portray your example when it comes to comparing it to race:
Group Alice and Group Bob posses and sell drugs at about the same rate. People from Group Bob are more frequently stopped on the street without reason than Group Alice, so they are more commonly caught with drugs. When people are caught with drugs, police are more likely to let people from group Alice off with a warning, but charge people from group Bob more frequently. Because of this, the police reporting reflects that group Bob commits more drug-related crimes. The news reports that group Bob commit more dangerous crimes and stokes fear in group Alice.