… is an attribute of blackness.

That is to say, in any given setting, if perhaps 20% of white people would display willful defiance, perhaps 30% of blacks would.  The actual differences in proportion are probably much greater.

We will examine first the evidence that this is so, and then consider the ramifications for black prosperity.

I do intend the evidence to be exhausting.

Evidence

Defiance of COVID orders

It is true that white people eventually began defying orders about wearing masks and practicing social distancing.  Defiance by blacks, however, came first, and in force, and often with deadly results.  As to that last aspect, one does not read any such reports about white people.

Police: Man who narrated ‘We don’t give a f*** about this coronavirus’ video arrested – 2020-04-04

Baltimore man killed while streaming party on Facebook Live – 2020-04-06

California party that violated stay-at-home order and drew around 400 comes to ‘bad end’ with 6 shot – 2020-04-15

5 shot, 1 dead at Mulholland Drive mansion party in Los Angeles – 2020-08-04

1 dead, at least 20 injured in shooting at apparent D.C. block party – 2020-08-09

Philadelphia police evade gunfire to rescue victims as bullets fly at large block party – 2020-08-16

“What did I do?”

The young man waiting in line to get into the shelter created a disturbance; and then merely repeated the post title again and again when told (again and again) to go to the end of the line; and again (again and again) when told to leave the property.

Student: Response to professor who called police not enough – 2020-01-24

“The dispute arose when [student Sultan] Benson declined [professor Shaheen] Borna’s request to change seats because he was charging his laptop. The professor, who requires assigned seating, responded with giving Benson the option to either move or he would call the police.”

A white student would have moved.  One notes from his name, that the professor is probably not white.

Wikipedia – Death of Sandra Bland

The article has changed since I last read it, and no longer says what I recall.

There is no excusing the conduct of the police officer, Brian Encinia.

That said, my recollection is that he directed her to exit the vehicle, and more than two dozen times, she refused.

What was that about?

Dwight C. Wells – 2019-02-04

A group of teens organized by Wells occupied a major intersection in Florida to ride their bikes around and do stunts.  A massive traffic jam ensued.  There was no law enforcement until a frustrated white motorist brandished a gun.

The Ph.D. and her pettiness – 2018-12-08

Tirza Wilbon White got her dander up when the white owner of a Dunkin’ Donuts asked if she meant to buy anything.  One can weigh the pettiness by the fact that this became news.  The same post mentions another pattern of willful defiance among blacks:

California expands ban on ‘willful defiance’ suspensions in schools

The law is specifically racially motivated, a response to the wildly disproportionate number of black students being suspended.  Suspension is a very severe punishment, and will only be applied in a very severe case.  Now, the conventional wisdom of those who preach a “preschool-to-prison pipeline” is that white kids are no less disruptive than black kids; it’s only the black kids who get punished.  In light of the numbers involved here, that cannot be believed.

“In 2017 and 2018, African American student suspensions represented 17% of total suspensions across the state, even though African American students made up less than 6% of total students in the state, according to California Department of Education data.”

The Atlantic – What’s Lost When Black Children Are Socialized Into a White World – Dani McClain, 21 November 2019

From this author’s findings, willful defiance is indeed the one thing that’s “lost” in these circumstances, and she clearly regards it as very much a loss.  She treats it as essential to blackness.

Discussion

Race relations

… is not my first concern, but it must be addressed.

Willful defiance is one of the great differences between black folk and whites, that is a constant irritation to white people.  The normal response of a white person,  no matter what the color of the defiant person, is to become alarmed and defensive.  What is this (defiance) really about?  Is it worth it?  What’s really at stake here?

White people are reluctant to question anything a black person does, because one is so likely to get a hostile response.  Thus the commonplace among white people, “You can’t talk to ’em.”

Gerald Gaffney walked down the street eating from a chicken box, tossing the bones this way and that.  The old woman scolded him.  So he came back and shot her.

It may be that white culture places relatively more value on harmony and cooperation, and black culture relatively more value on pride.

Related:  Two Jews, three opinions

Either way, as long as the value systems of each group remain as they are — and I see no indication either one feels there’s any need for change — this friction will remain a cause of prejudice and racism.

The literature on the “preschool-to-prison pipeline” finds that teachers of every race and sex scrutinize black boys’ conduct more than that of white children or girls.  It also finds, however, that black boys are punished less often when their teachers are black men.  This suggests a different response to willful defiance, that other teachers would do well to learn.

Black prosperity

My first concern is for the shalom of black America; its prosperity, peace, harmony, happiness and health.

Is willful defiance a desirable attribute, to that end?  Dani McClain seems to hold that it’s a desirable attribute, regardless of any end.

What of the energies released when willful defiance is displayed?  Are they light or dark, positive or  negative? — and on that question, everything about the community’s shalom turns.  Can the emotion involved be called hostility?  Can it be called contempt?  What spirit does this inject into the ‘hood?

How often do these confrontations escalate into violence?  Do they play into the disproportionate murder rate among blacks?  How many men, for reasons I can’t possibly fathom, feel it’s necessary to fight the police?  Sure, you fought ’em; was it worth the bruises and fractures?

What is at stake?

What are the ramifications for employability and personal and community wealth formation?

If willful defiance can be socialized out of the black experience, as Dani McClain indicates, then there is an element of choice; the trait is not purely genetic.

Related: Wisdom teaching in poor black homes

Black folk can decide for themselves what is good.

To the best of my knowledge, potable tap water — tap water that’s safe to drink — only exists in those countries that speak Teutonic languages: Germany, Switzerland, Scandinavia, the U.S., Canada and the U.K.  A ton of cooperation by tens of thousands of people over many centuries was required to obtain this outcome.  “Whatchoo lookin’ at?” did not bring portable tap water to Europe, and it hasn’t brought it to Africa, either.

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Related:  Podcast – Are you big enough to take it?

Related:  ACLU sues California school district over special education and bias against black students.  Quote:  “The students are almost twice as likely to be suspended and more than five times likely to be suspended for willful defiance.”

Related:  An incident at DD 12/20/22:  This tall young man was loitering at the east end of the wall outside, and the guard told him to move along.  He got defiant, and said he should tell me to move along, and the guard explained that I’d bought something.  As this went on, the young man tore off his jacket and threw it on the ground, and jumped over the fence and really got in the guard’s face.  He wound up intimidating him, so that the guard just walked off.  I was surprised he didn’t call the police, since by that point the young man was clearly trespassing.  Walking around the end of the fence/wall, the young man muttered to me, “Y’all don’t do your own like that.”  Fact is, a white man would have followed directions to start with.