So many black people are arrested everyday. They obviously benefit more from Stand Your Ground laws right?

Just when I think Senator Ted Cruz can’t give me any more reasons to slap my forehead, he does. In this week’s episode of Ted fuckery, Cruz insists that Stand Your Ground Laws benefit African Americans. He plainly stated that “in Florida, the data show that African-American defendants have availed themselves of the Stand Your Ground law more frequently than Anglo defendants.”

And he brought along some friends in this fuckery. According to ThinkProgress:

GOP witness John Lott, president of the Crime Prevention Research Center, also argued Cruz’s point at length. “Poor blacks who live in high-crime urban areas are not only the most likely victims of crime, they are also the ones who benefit the most from Stand Your Ground laws,” he said according to prepared testimony. Later, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said he found Lott’s argument “compelling,” and that he did not see how the law “has a racial injustice about it.”

No Lindsey, there is no racial injustice to be found in the over policing that happens in communities of color, resulting in more arrests; or about the barriers to access and education that contribute to violence in “poor black communities”. Nope, no injustice here. Because we only need to look to Marissa Alexander or the family of Trayvon Martin to see just how much black people benefit from Stand Your Ground Laws. *rolls eyes*

Teddy obviously didn’t do his research.

A report from the Congressional Research Service on inter-racial shootings nationwide shows disparity at work. Without looking specifically at Stand Your Ground, CRS found a clear racial disparity in shootings that were ruled to be justified, as well as an increase in cases of justifiable white-on-black homicides after states began enacting the ALEC model legislation in 2005. According to the report, white-on-black shootings were considered justified far more often than black-on-white shootings.

More than the sheer idiocy of their arguments; the audacity of Cruz, Graham, and Lott to ask black people to believe that the institution that has systematically discriminated against us has actually been working in our favor is just too much for me to handle. The slap in the face to victims and survivors of gun violence, and those unfairly targeted by the law stings; as does the insult to my intelligence.

Sesali has had to occasionally search for loved ones (all black) on the Illinois Department of Corrections website since she was in high school.