For some reason, whenever there is an apparent crime or false allegation against a black person which gains notoriety in the news, there are a few "conservative" accounts that automatically, almost on reflex, try to argue the point that the black person deserved it.

Why?

On the one hand, there have been some cases that have gained attention over the years in which things which were originally portrayed to be crimes involving race haven't been (like Jussie Smollett, the Duke Rape case). And it's important that people get due process. I get that.

But when there is hard, tangible evidence that somebody is subjected to treatment that is absolutely indefensible, why do some people who identify as "conservatives" just automatically jump to assume that the person deserved it?

Doing this isn't "conservative." It's bias.

I know the so-called conservative cool kids think that a reflexive rejection of any and all narratives that come out of any mainstream news outlet is what God put you on this earth to do. But it's really not.

You're reinforcing every stereotype about "the right."

More people in this country than would like to admit it think, deep down, that when something bad happens to a black person, that person invited it. And they don't apply the same standard to white people.

And when a white person is held responsible for doing something to a black person, somehow, they feel more sympathy for the white perpetrator than they do for the black victim.

These people are racists. Don't be one of them.

(Yes, before you even go there, there are certainly people who think all the same things in the opposite direction. I've said over and over again that any person of any race can be guilty of racism. And decent people have to constantly oppose all of it).

But for my entire life, I've known that if somebody ever did something to me, there would be a non-trivial subset of Americans whose first thought would be that I did something to bring it on. And if the person who wronged me is white, some would feel sympathy for them, not me.

This is an ugliness that lies within the American experience that we've never gotten rid of and which some in our country, for various reasons, want to reinvigorate.

But whatever you want to call it, it's NOT Conservative. Or Christian. Or Patriotic. It's simply sin.