I just saw this (already controversial) article by Race-Talk.Org which is said to be spreading like wildfire across various forums.
http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy/2010/04/23/we-are-not-your-weapons-we-are-women/
A journalist in Haiti is trying to argue that criminal behaviour by Haitian men is owed to nothing but poverty and lack of opportunity provided by everyone else for them.
Truly, I have witnessed as a journalist and human rights advocate the many injustices inflicted upon Black men in this world. The pain, trauma and rage born of exploitation are terrors that I have grappled with every day of my life. They make one want to strike back, to fight rabidly for what is left of their personal dignity in the wake of such things. Black men have every right to the anger they feel in response to their position in the global hierarchy, but their anger is misdirected.
Women are not the source of their oppression; oppressive policies and the as-yet unaddressed white patriarchy which still dominates the global stage are. Because women–and particularly women of color–are forced to bear the brunt of the Black male response to the Black male plight, the international community and those nations who have benefitted from the oppression of colonized peoples have a responsibility to provide women with the protection that they need.
The United Nations, western women’s organizations and the Haitian government must immediately provide women in Haiti with the funding that they need to build domestic violence and rape crisis centers. Stop dividing Black families by distributing solely to women, which only exaggerates male resentment and frustration in Haiti. Provide both women and men with job training programs that would allow for self-sufficiency as opposed to continued dependency on whites. Lastly, admit that the issue of racial integration might still need addressing on an international level, and then find a way to address it!
It’s times like these when I want to quote the absolutely amazing piece of writing by Rothbard which was:
In dealing with crime, liberals like to concentrate on “root causes” rather than on crime, whereas conservatives want to zap the criminals. The two concerns are not really mutually exclusive, however; the real problem is that the liberals are concentrating on the wrong “root causes.” That is, on “poverty” or “child abuse” instead of a rotten immoral character and the factors that may give rise to such a character, e.g., lack of respect for private property, unwillingness to work, and emphasis on short-run “kicks” instead of forethought about the future.
If only we stopped using these idle ideas of Karl Marx - that once materialistic and socio-economic desires of people are satisfied, crime will somehow disappear on its own.
Human action comes from inward desires and motivations - just the way disrespect for the wellbeing of your fellow man is what results in the given person raping a woman.