The roiling controversy over an Alabama basketball player and a senseless murder bear all the earmarks of the culture of death, says Jason Whitlock in a scathing commentary featured by The Blaze. Brandon Miller, the freshman star of the second-ranked Crimson Tide, provided the murder weapon that was used to kill a 23-year-old mother named Jamea Harris.
A grand jury declined to indict Miller, projected as a first-round NBA draft pick this summer, because he cooperated with authorities. Michael Davis used Miller’s gun to murder Harris. Davis and Miller’s Bama teammate Darius Miles were both arrested.
This tragedy makes perfect sense for a litany of cultural negatives frequently and courageously cited by Whitlock in his commentaries. The tragic murder of Harris also plays into the 1991 movie 'Boyz N the Hood,' the story of three black teens coming of age in South Central Los Angeles. The Harris murder occurred in Tuscaloosa, where the University of Alabama is located. Whitlock says it’s an example of "Boyz N the Hood" mentality overtaking the suburbs, though there are many cultural forces deserving of blame.
Corporate media, the music industry, Hollywood, ESPN, Fox Sports, and professional sports leagues “have mainstreamed, normalized, celebrated, and imposed the gang culture depicted in the movie 'Boyz n the Hood' on young people, particularly black youth,” Whitlock charged.
Miller made a horrible choice on Jan. 15 because “the culture demanded that he do so or face excommunication from the black race,” Whitlock opined.
Racial solidarity trumps “the truth Black young men have to be down for their ‘boyz’ or anything defined as ‘black, regardless of right and wrong,” Whitlock continued. It also explains why almost no one in the NFL questioned Colin Kaepernick’s social justice crusade.
The NFL platformed gang culture by featuring Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg at the 2022 Super Bowl. Hip-hop music and its toxic lyrics fill the venues of college and pro sports.
By hating on police, boyz in the hood solve dangerous disputes with violence. Failing to do so renders one, like Miller, a punk with no street cred.
Idolatry rules America, too, Whitlock said. “Racial idolatry is the culture’s weapon of mass destruction. Corporate America and the Silicon Valley-controlled social media algorithms forbid objection to whatever degeneracy is classified as ‘black culture.’”
Miller is said to be “a great kid” from a great family, but he’s also trapped in a destructive culture that is wrongly tolerated. Men are submitting to a toxic culture and celebrating criminals. NFL owners spend millions of dollars on the “Inspire Change” criminal justice reform movement that demonizes cops.
“America is doing something wrong when the mistakes of criminals warrant an abundance of compassion and the errors of good people are unforgivable,” Whitlock lamented.
Showtime Sports is complicit in this violent culture for featuring ex-NBA player Stephen Jackson and his bragging about hanging out with gangbangers on “O Block” on Chicago’s violent South Side.
While people debate the decision not to arrest Miller, Whitlock believes punishing him is not the solution. “Acknowledging and deconstructing the racially idolatrous culture that has captured America is what we need to do. Or maybe ‘Boyz n the Burbs’ is what we deserve,” he said in closing his hard-hitting commentary.
The culture is a huge problem, and Whitlock correctly identified several elements of it that bear complicity. However, Miller knew his gun wasn’t going to the shooting range for target practice, and he does not deserve a complete pass while he and his team seek March Madness glory. While he collects his millions from the NBA this summer, the victim’s family should receive some share of that for restitution.
