Out with the ‘Knock Out Game’ Hysteria

Courtesy of mass media institutions wanting to stir up public hysteria, we have a renewed focus on groups of young people, especially Black youth, supposedly roaming the streets looking for people to assault for no apparent reason at all - except for the sheer thrill of it. Truth be told, this Knock Out Game hysteria is the latest iteration of a historical phenomenon, both the reality as well as the fiction surrounding it.

Of the various reports I've read, the one linked below ("Don't Believe all the Media Hype…") is one I've found most helpful in putting this craziness into perspective. With equal parts reporting, sarcasm and disgust, it's an appropriate response to this newest attempt at demonizing African American youth, and stirring up demands for more punitive policing efforts - all while violent crime continues to decline in most parts of the country.

Much appreciation to journalist and Hip Hop activist Davey D for this piece.

A brief excerpt first, and then the link just below...

I could go on listing things, but the larger point I’m getting at is that sadly mob violence is as American as Apple Pie. From the ‘Knock Out Game’ and ‘Beaner Jumping’ to lynchings and vigilante justice. There have always been cowardly folks who hid behind large numbers, weapons and badges who have reigned sheer hell upon innocent people. Its bullying 101 and folks of all stripes have had a hand in this. None of it is excusable. None of it should be accepted. It should not be excused as boys being boys or teens just doing a little mischief-making.  This is why the knock out game reporting has been so troubling, because it acts like this is something new and isolated to one group of people vs it being systemic with deep-seated roots in our country’s psyche. In fact the media sensationalizing and outright lying about a trend that doesn’t exist could be characterized as a game of Knock Out by proxy, because the end result will be folks reacting aggressively and maybe even fatally to imagined dangers conjured up by media hype. The case of Jordan Davis, Trayvon Martin and now Renisha McBride are examples of this over reaction.

 

Don’t Believe all the Media Hype about the Knock Out Game-It’s Propaganda 101