The White Male: The New Mental Illness

[6cjanelle]

www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/05/24/shooter-kills-at-least-six-people-in-rampage-near-uc-santa-barbara/

Before this post is a link to an article, that was made in May, about a 22 year old white man that shot and killed 6 people, injuring others, on a beach front in Isla Vista, California. The man was found and killed in a shootout between him and the police, and his case had raised speculation.

The man, told by witnesses and police, was "mentally ill", yelling and screaming about the wrong that had been done to him during high school and life in general. Now, even though this article was made in May, I stumbled upon this article, coincidentally after talking about this subject in class, while scrolling through my news feed on tumblr.

Here is the link to tumblr member constitutiveoutsider's own post: constitutiveoutsider.tumblr.com/post/86742938137/the-mental-illness-we-refuse-to-name-white-male


In her tumblr post, she talks about a situation that many of us have been lacking to name: the law system in which we all abide under that privledge to this the white man. Statistically, 75% of mass shootings are commited by white men. Even though statistically the numbers are higher, about 72% of white men and women who are arrested undergo a psychological procedure before police decide to further take action against them. It seems like in order for a white man or woman to kill an innocent victim, they "have to be crazy". What's funny to me is that for other minority races, the procedure is very different. Cases where the race of the criminal is non-white statistically end faster than cases of white people.

Not trying to make any assumptions about every white and black man to ever kill anyone, but doesn't it seem a little odd that when someone is accused of killing, most of the time they are considered a "rowdy and misunderstood person" or a "thug" based on race alone? This, to me, is just another way white privledge still exists today. We are letting these men and women get away with murder and manslaughter just because they might have gone through a lot. Minority people go through a lot. Do we not consider the psychological mindset it takes to gun down an enemy in the street? I'm not trying to justify murder in any means, but it should be a fair trial for everyone. Just like rowdy and misunderstood teenagers come in all shapes and sizes, so do thugs.

[10slev]

Im pretty sure anyone who commits a mass shooting has to go through a psychological procedure, regardless of race. It makes sense that 72% them got psychoanalyzed. Like, it really dosn't have anything to do with white privilege.

[3sanna]

i completely agree with you on how the treatment of crime in our country is greatly skewed depending on race. it's like how the media was very quick to try to excuse the boy who committed the newtown mass killing, and very quick to try to find fault in trayvon martin and michael brown. they (they being the media) don't necessarily try to excuse the crime, but excuse the person.
it's also interesting (and by interesting i mean infuriating) how the word terrorism is quick to be used against people of all other races but when 75% of shootings are committed by white men it isn't called what it is, domestic terrorism.
I do have to disagree a bit with what she says in her post that "So let’s name this “mental illness” and call it what it is: white male entitlement. This special brand of misogyny is acquired through prolonged exposure to toxic masculinity, white supremacy, rape culture, and white and male privilege." Maybe it's just the way she's worded it but i just feel like it's very dangerous to cancel out all instances of mental illness in a white man. While her point is extremely valid in most respects and i do agree with it mostly, it's just to me an uncomfortable assumption to make that all white men can't suffer from a serious mental illness. other than that it's very well written.

[10ganja]

I agree that the way the media portrays certain figures involved in violent or tragic events differs in terms of race. I remember when I first started reading about the shooting in UCSB in Santa Barbara, I was horrified to find that some articles were all too eager to point out all the ways the shooter had such a difficult life, how he was such a tortured kid who, due to his mental illness, simply broke down. I do not believe they were justifying the fact that he shot down 6 people in cold blood, but they were quick to paint a picture of a lonely soul that could no longer deal with his pain, when he was killer without remorse. However, in cases like Eric Garner, the media was all too eager to point out that Garner had been selling untaxed cigarettes, saying that if he didn’t want to put himself in a risky situation with the police, he shouldn’t have been committing a crime. Once again, I don’t think the media was trying to say he deserved his death, but it is unnerving to see that the shooter, who took 6 innocent lives, was being granted an explanation while the victim of police brutality was being attacked. This is a trend that occurs all too often, and it isn’t fair that certain people are treated differently because of race.
Nevertheless, it is also unfair to completely rule out the fact of mental illness. A person who kills a mass of people for any reason would surely be forced to undergo a psychological procedure before facing any consequences, regardless of race. I agree completely that the media warps the character of certain individuals based on race, but to say that we are letting these killers get away with manslaughter or murder is a bit of an exaggeration, because although the Santa Barbara shooter didn’t live to see his day in court (he shot himself), it is safe to say that he would never be a free man again, even if he was a white man and allegedly mentally ill. But knowing this, it is still a fact that Eric Garner was demonized in a case where he was a victim, and same goes for cases like Trayvon Martin and Mike Brown, and it is important to point out this bias in the media, and that it has the potential to turn a killer into a “tortured soul” in the eyes of the public, which is unacceptable.

[10patemma]

I entirely agree with Anja, that portraying murderers as "tortured souls" is only glamorizing mental illness as well as completely making our justice system weak and more flawd. There's no denying that there are many race issues in American politics, no matter how much we like to deny it. It is statistically proven that significantly more minorities are incarcerated on minor charges than white people. Its disgusting how in 2015 we can still be so prejudiced and judgmental. The only way to change this is by admitting it is a problem, and punishing those racist people in power. It isn't fair that African Americans are 21 times more likely to be shot by cops than white people, and that every 21 hours a minority is killed by a cop. The sentencing for crimes is also extremely biased, and the investigation system. I often like to use the hypothetical of a white woman kills a black man and claims he was attacking her. She fills out a few forms, is treated at a hospital, and is sent on her way. The same thing happens but with a white man, and an investigation is set, they dig into her past to show some kind of in credibility, and probably she gets punished. It's simply sickening.