𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐃 𝐀 𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐂𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐙𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐊𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐄𝐋𝐎 𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐍𝐘’𝐒 𝐃𝐄𝐅𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐒, 𝐀 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐎𝐑 𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐔𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐒

There is a question the loudest voices in this debate refuse to ask, and Devory Darkins asked it anyway. The Black conservative commentator spent the past week criticizing the supporters of Karmelo Anthony — the teenager charged in the fatal stabbing of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf at a Texas track meet, whose backers have raised more than $𝟔𝟎𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎 and vowed to defend him regardless of what the evidence shows.
For saying that out loud, Darkins got a message from a Black woman calling him “𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘨𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨” and a sellout, telling him he has no business criticizing Black people because he is Black himself. 𝐒𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 — the demand that a man surrender his own judgment the moment it becomes inconvenient to a narrative.
Darkins did not blink. “𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮”, he said, and then he did the thing the mob never does — he put the numbers on the screen. Roughly 𝟔𝟒% 𝐨𝐟 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞-𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭, the highest share of any group. Seven in ten Black children are born out of wedlock. Black women account for a wildly disproportionate share of abortions in America.
His argument was about culture, not skin — the paradigms, habits, and belief systems that do not prize marriage first, strong families, or financial literacy. And he drew the line honestly: “𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦”, he said, pointing to the many good families who live the opposite of those statistics. He is indicting a culture, not a race — which is exactly why the “𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘵” smear rings so hollow.
𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬 — 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦.

M.A. Rothman