For those not paying close attention, the issue of Black Texas teenager Karmelo Anthony’s alleged stabbing of high school football star Austin Metcalf during a busy track meet seems cut and dry: Anthony murdered someone and he should pay the consequences. At least that’s what the MAGA faithful would have you believe.
We also have Terrance K. Williams, a proud MAGA shuck-and-jiver, posting videos going on and on about how sad he is that Metcalf lost his life, while wearing the reddest “Make America Great Again” hat you’ve ever seen — without considering that what happened might have been a bit more complex.
The story is too complicated for these simplistic takes. We should not rush to say that Anthony is completely innocent, but we also have to protect him from people who want to throw him in jail without hearing all the evidence, as almost all of the conservative commentators seem to want to do.
There are three reasons why this case is far more complicated than the good folks on Fox News want to make it out to be.
What happened is likely wildly different from what was reported.
Initially, we were told that Metcalf simply asked Anthony to move, and Anthony was so angered that he took out a knife and stabbed the victim. But anyone who said that is a liar and the truth ain’t in them.
Anthony’s family insists that it was raining and their son went under the tent because he needed shelter. Metcalf apparently didn’t like that and confronted Anthony, leading to some kind of altercation that led to Austin being stabbed. Of course, none of us were in the tent to see what happened, but what we can’t do is allow white folks to throw a Black kid in jail without him getting a fair trial.
Anthony wasn’t a thug or a gang member.
He said he felt scared and defended himself. If this was premeditated murder, then why did he go immediately to the police as soon as he left the tent? Something doesn’t add up. The same logic that protects white citizens when they shoot unarmed (mostly Black) folks should work for Karmelo.
Kyle Rittenhouse. Remember him? The white kid who shot and killed two people because they were protesting the shooting of a Black man? He got off for self-defense. What about George Zimmerman, the man who killed Trayvon Martin and started the Black Lives Matter Movement? Yeah, he claimed self-defense and got off. That should work with Anthony…especially in Texas.
But, of course, it probably won’t. Because…well…you know why.
Metcalf’s father said he does not want race brought up in this case.
Jeff Metcalf told Fox News, “This was not a race thing. This was not a political thing. Please do not comment if you do not know what happened. Try not to turn this into a racial thing. It was not.”
Except that’s an impossibility: A Black kid is accused of killing a white one. Conservatives brought race into this. We must protect Anthony and make sure he gets the opportunity to defend himself in a court of law.
This whole situation is a tragedy. Metcalf died and Anthony’s life will never be the same. But in a different era, they would have hung Karmelo Anthony on the steps of the courthouse without a second thought; with the administration we have, we need to protect Anthony and others from suffering a fate near it.
Lawrence Ware is a professor of philosophy at Oklahoma State University and co-director of the Center for Africana Studies. This piece was originally published in The Root. For more information, visit www.theroot.com.
It isn’t complex. Anthony sought out conflict, then escalated it into murder against an unarmed peer. He has no reasonable claim to use of deadly force even if he has a claim to self defense – which is very shaky. He will go to prison.
Not a conservative. Not a liberal. But this entire article reads like a racist liberal attention piece. This isn’t reporting. The undermined and underlying racism in the “well these white folks got self defense so Anthony should to”. The FACTS are in every single case mentioned within this article the person who got self defense was attacked and tried to retreat before using EQUAL force to end his assailants. Anthony 1:made no attempt to leave 2:used considerably more force than was applied to him and 3: according to the police report his words were “hey do you think I could claim self defense” not “could this be considered self defense” the wording is important here as we are talking about a teenager and the implications between the 2 sentences are huge. The former implies he was looking for an out for a premeditated murder. The later implies he is curious if a jury could see it as self defense. Please if you are going to write articles leave your bias out of it.
Yes it does
The case isn’t complicated. Anthony sought out a conflict, likely because of racism, and then escalated the situation to murder against an unarmed peer. He will go to jail.
Wow. It sounds like you’re commenting and you don’t know what you’re talking about and you weren’t there either. Lawrence Ware you are clearly a woke Democrat and probably a far left extremist, You think you can get into the mind of MAGA or a conservative. i’m a conservative i’m not making any judgments until all the facts come out. Democrats are the ones that bring race into every trial and political forum when it’s black versus white. Do black people get charged with hate crimes against other races when the only reason why they attacked them was due to the color of their skin. Your article disgust me, and I would probably find you to be a disgusting human being. It’s sad that you have the opportunity to shape young minds.
Why the hell do we need to protect a kid who brought a deadly weapon to a school meet, and verbally aggregated his own situation. There is no reasonable escalation of force from verbal to deadly. He will be found guilty of 2nd degree murder – and we should be focusing resources on the family who actually can’t see or hear from their child again because he was *checks notes again*, needlessly murdered at a school event because words.
What a horrible, race baiting article.
Be so much better, if you can.
This is some of the worst race baiting, zero accountability, political dividing shit I’ve read in my entire life. Lawerence is only concerned about the one thing in this entire article. Race. Journalism is about truth not opinion hit pieces. This journalist should be fired and left with ZERO credibility.
Thank you. I find hope in these replies because it’s a disgusting piece that shouldn’t have a place on the internet because it is created to cause division.
Well that’s a retarded take, 30+ eye witnesses all reported pretty much the same thing. The police report has statements from 3 different people. Karmelo initially ran, and tried to dispose of the knife.
Fuck this kid.
This is a genuinely awful article
Wow, complete horse $hit from start to finish. The only racist person is YOU.
That is not at all what happened with Kyle Rittenhouse. And what is your opinion on the justice of that case? You are using a case with an outcome you disagree with as an example of the outcome you want in this case just because the killer is black.
he threw the knife away lol
Being scared is not a reason to take a life. There are always choices to be made short of taking a life. Unfortunately young Mr. Anthony made a poor choice and will have to pay the price. So stop with this racism crap. I wonder if Mr Anthony was raised in a fatherless home?
This is one of the most disingenuous things I’ve ever read.
Wait, so you’re saying that we should wait to make our judgement until ALL of the evidence has come out?? Hm, sounds a lot like what all those “Conservatives” were saying with Kyle Rittenhouse, George Floyd, Michael Brown, and all the other cases those “Liberals” were just fine throwing to the wolves without all the evidence being presented. Funny how NOW you want to wait to persecute until we have ALL the evidence. But we all know damn well that if this case was reversed and it was the white kid that killed the black kid you all would be out of your minds calling for his blood. There would be no “waiting for judgement”. No waiting for the facts. You say it’s the “Conservatives” who brought race into this but it’s been about race long before this case because the “Liberals” have made damn sure of that. Absolutely disgusting example of how journalists and journalist is utterly failing us as a country right now.
Oh my God gtfoh! Why was Karmelo out in the rain and not with his team? You know black I black crime is at an all time high if you want to hurt each other that’s fine it’s just another day in the hood but you will not take out your savagery on other people (taunt them ) and call it self defense !!! Karmelo has to pay this isn’t about colors it’s about justice. Acting like Karmelo was some innocent by stander. He had his knife in his hand and said touch me see what happens !! A grab doesn’t equal a stab
Rittenhouse had a gun pointed in his face, comparing that to this is immensely asinine.
Such a perversion of the situation when no one here was there. This whole post is so one sided with its labeling is obviously targeted to cause division. Shame on you for your prejudice..
Hi from the future. This article still SUUUUUUUUCKs.