“I was simply trying to protect Reeva,” Oscar Pistorius said as he took the stand in his defense in his murder trial today, referring obliquely to the criminal who wasn’t, the imaginary intruder who Pistorius says was breaking into his home. In fear, he’s said, he sprung out of bed in the middle of the night, grabbed his gun and shot four times through the locked bathroom door. To his horror, he claims, he discovered then that the intruder was a figment of his imagination. He’d just killed his girlfriend. The one she needed protection from was him.
Oscar Pistorius on Trial
And this farfetched story is his defense. The prosecution claims he intentionally killed Reeva Steenkamp in an act of rage. Put aside for a moment the five witnesses who heard Steenkamp screaming before the gunfire, the texts where she said she was afraid of him, and his reckless gun use before the incident. Spare me from prison, Pistorius, in essence, says, I thought I was about to be attacked.
That’s a defense we’ve heard too many times. Fear of crime is often used to explain the shooting of an unarmed non-assailant. In South Africa, whites’ fears of the “black peril” was used to justify its viciously racist separate-but-unequal system for decades. Today, twenty years after apartheid was officially dismantled, millions of blacks continue to live in third world squalor in cities like Cape Town, while many whites live the next neighborhood over in the equivalent of Beverly Hills, only with round-the-clock armed guards, cameras, prison-like walls around their homes, concertina wire, and “rape doors” to protect their bedrooms. I spent a month there in 2012, and saw how massive income and racial inequality continued to divide the nation. Whites not only casually used blatantly racist language discussing their neighbors with me (“blacks are all stupid and violent,” one said) but their three favorite topics, also unsolicited, were crime, crime and crime – the continued dread of the “black peril.” I’d never been there in the apartheid years, but it seemed to me the country had only inched forward since that time, and that until the majority black population was lifted out of its extreme poverty, South Africa would remain painfully divided, its poverty-crime-fear cycle self-perpetuating.
But fear of crime is not uniquely South African. Here in the US, for example, neighborhood watch coordinator George Zimmerman instantly concluded that seventeen year old Trayvon Martin was a burglar, “a real suspicious guy.” Trayvon Martin was armed only with Skittles and a fruit drink and had no criminal history whatsoever. Motorist Michael Dunn saw a magical shotgun in the hands of Jordan Davis, a weapon no one else saw in the teenager’s hands. Police found no gun. Both Zimmerman and Dunn argued that they were scared for their lives. In those cases the defense presented harrowing stories of the defendant’s fear during the incident – suspicions and assumptions which turned out to be unfounded, but which the jury was expected to sympathize with. This strategy was successful. Zimmerman was acquitted, and the jury could not reach a verdict as to Dunn’s killing of Jordan Davis.
In South Africa, and in the US, it’s taken as a given that fear of crime is reasonable, an assumption rarely challenged. Yet while murder, rape and burglary rates are high in South Africa, Pistorius lived in a wealthy, fortified gated community with fortress-like high walls and state-of-the-art security. It had no history of crime, let alone violent home invasions. Nevertheless, according to a former girlfriend who testified, he was scared, with his gun beside his bed, ready to shoot.
Perception vs. Reality in the US
In the US, crime is sharply down nationwide, to 1960s levels. In major cities, crime has plummeted a whopping 64%. The drop has been even more pronounced in the South, where the Trayvon Martin and Jordan Dunn cases occurred. You’d never know this watching the American media, which fixates on gruesome crime stories. The American public remains deeply apprehensive about crime, all out of proportion the odds of its effect on our lives.
If what we fear most is death, homicide isn’t even in the top ten causes of death for Americans. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the leading killers are heart disease, cancer, chronic lower respiratory diseases, strokes, and accidents. If you really want to protect your family, be on the lookout for slippery and uneven surfaces in your home rather than threats from the outside. If you want to fear America’s most prolific killer, fear cheeseburgers.
American law requires each of us, at virtually all times, to behave reasonably. An ordinary fist fight does not legally entitle a participant to pull out a gun and shoot to kill the other. To prove self-defense, American shooters must generally prove they were reasonably in fear of great bodily injury or death. In my book, Suspicion Nation, I show how Zimmerman, who concedes he panicked and exaggerated the threat, did not behave reasonably. In the case of Michael Dunn, shooting into a car full of teenagers after an argument about loud music was far from reasonable.
And more broadly, I show how our widespread fears of black males as criminals are unreasonable. Most crimes in the US are intraracial: white on white, black on black. As a white woman living in an LA suburb, if my house is robbed, it’s six times as likely to be by a white burglar. When Zimmerman got out of his car that night (against police instructions) he was more likely to be hit by lightning than accosted by Trayvon Martin.
Fear is another way of saying we see others as lesser, as unworthy, as deserving of a violent response. In both South Africa and the US, that fear so often is racially tinged. The anxiety itself is corrosive of our national order, counterproductive in our struggle towards tolerance and equality, and too often deadly.
We may demonize individuals like George Zimmerman, Michael Dunn or Oscar Pistorius, but that’s so much easier than acknowledging what we may have in common with them: suspicion toward our neighbors and a fear-based culture where guns blaze and innocents fall. When we question the reasonableness of shooters’ fears – and our own — we begin to get at the root cause of a great deal of gun violence, and we can ultimately save lives.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Avvo.
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20 comments
Ron Dolce
What I think is the biggest problem of "Stand Your Ground" laws is that, in allowing the gunman to fire with a "reasonable suspicion" of threat it takes away the law's protection from a person who's not actually threatening anyone. I have a case in point. A couple of years ago I was accosted on the street by a mentally disturbed individual who thought I'd said something to him. I 'm a trained martial artist with a background in amateur boxing and because of this I was able to ascertain that he was not a threat. Had I not had that background I probably wouldn't have decided this and if I had been carrying a gun he might have died for the crime of not taking his psych meds. In a "Stand Your Ground" state I would have gotten off.
Eric
@David: THANK YOU SO MUCH for stating that very obvious point! Believe it or not, in the ENTIRE TIME that has passed since this murder occurred, this is genuinely the VERY FIRST TIME I've heard ANYONE state that very simple & obvious point: You don’t fire blindly into a wall (or a door) to shoot an unknown (and UNVERIFIED) threat. Unless maybe you're drunk or high or something. By now, though, I think we'd have known if Mr. Pistorius had been under the influence of any substance. Personally, I believe he shot her on purpose, in cold blood, and is using the "fear of an intruder" defense as an excuse. But even in a society where that sort of fear is more widespread & palpable, you don't shoot BLINDLY into a CLOSED DOOR . You wait until the threat presents itself, THEN you act (or not), once you have more information. Mr. Pistorius' defense is flimsy at best. I'm not sure if the prosecutor has made this very simple & obvious point (I haven't been following the trial closely), but I hope he has. I don't know how it has managed to escape everyone else.
Grey
Is your house a white woman? Are you really a writer? Zero credibility for the "writers" who can't spot dangling modifiers. This article belongs in garbage. You don't think whites in a South Africa should fear for their lives? Tell this to whites in Zimbabwe. What whites in Zimbabwe? Exactly!
p
Stupid article....I live in the hood..why dont you do just a little research and find out how bad and cruel black on white crime is. Around the corner from zimmermans two blacks 15 & 17 yrs old beat an 85 yr old man to death in his garage with a hammer to rob him of really nothing cuz he had nothing...travon had a history of breaking into houses in miami and was drinking a codeine cocktail as he pelted zimmermans head into the concrete..how did the witness say? Mma style...
Ed
You hit it on the head when you said the majority of crime is intraracial. Far more often than the type of shootings you describe are the outright violent assaults (gang related, armed robbery gone wrong, domestic violence, etc) . I suggest that more disturbing than the cases you highlight are the everyday 'plead it down' in front of the judge Defense / D.A. strategies that never make headlines
Barb
FEAR...When adrenalin shoots thru the body - when that 'fight or flight' response kicks in?? That's neither black or white. But inciting an incident w/o provacation, no matter the color or size or hoodie covering of the person, while being told to not follow (Zimmerman); or to get ticked over load music and assumed disrespect to lower the volume, and then shoot aimlessly at a car full of any color of people (Dunn); or to shoot 'to kill' , again, no matter the color of a possible intruder, at a closed/locked door while basically living in a nearly armed fortress type housing community when not knowing where your girlfriend, spouse, mate, or children are first (Pistorius), tells the story of risking taking the life of another, (murder), intentional or not. Ms. Bloom's opinion is eye opening for many reasons both for black and white or any color of peoples. It never hurts to think twice while holding a gun, no matter how grave the threat is or 'appears' to be, UNLESS THERE IS A DIRECT IMMINENT THREAT TO ONE'S SELF OR FAMILY OR OTHERS! Color isn't the criteria here. Fear is. May the families of the deceased find some form of comfort, and may justice be served as best our often multi opinion societies differ... Red blood runs thru ALL of our veins, no matter the color of anyone's skin color or location at the time we are afraid! And dead is dead and final! Thx, Ms Bloom for trying. Let's all agree to disagree with dignity and hope for a better care for each other...
David
Was he drunk? You don't fire blindly into a wall to shoot an unknown threat.
David
I believe Zimmerman's account, I don't believe the runner's. Two very different cases. Her simplistic, race based, but eloquent piece is pure liberal fantasy.
Arturo Delmoni
Rubbish Ms. Bloom - rubbish!
Mary
Oooops. My apologies to Mr.P. as he hasn't been convicted yet. He deserves his fair trial. However someone is still dead and is unable to talk about it.
Mary
My son was a soldier. He served in the Army National Guard. He went to Iraq in 2009 and returned in 2010 without a scratch. My soldier son was murdered in his apartment while he was trying to sleep on his sofa. His killer was a former soldier. The killer stood over my son with my son's self-defense weapon and pulled the trigger twice. He said nothing happened the first time he pulled the trigger! His lawyer got him a plea deal. He is serving 3 years in prison and then 5 years extended supervision. My son's killer never had to have a public trial. There seems to be many similiar personality traits in both of these murderers. Killers kill because they want to kill.
Chris
I'm not defending Pistorious at all. But I do take issue with the author's assertion that South African's fear of violence is unfounded, and then comparing their situation with ours here in the US.
The article makes it sound as if the citizens of South Africa are paranoid, and their fears of violent assault or crime unfounded. They are not.
After two trips to South Africa, specifically to Jeffrey's Bay, just outside of Port Elizabeth, I can testify that the threat of violence is very real.
During my first trip there, vigilantes murdered two suspected rapists by dousing them with gasoline and making them wear tires around their necks in the shanty town just outside of J-Bay. An elderly women was car-jacked and beaten 3 blocks away from where we were staying on my second trip there. I had to stop reading the paper because of the carnage and brutality one saw there daily.
The disparity of the living standards of whites and blacks in SA is very real, and there are a myriad of social ills that plague the country, including rampant government corruption with the current ruling party the ANC. (Mandela's party)
The problem is a complicated one, and does not lend itself to easy solution. However, this author's perspective as seen entirely through the rose colored glasses of the American perspective is erroneous.
Back to the point. Is Pistorius using the current crisis as an excuse? My guess is yes. But don't dismiss the current climate in SA as just an us versus them or black and white issue. It's too simplistic and ignores the scope of a very complicated social problem.
Gwenell Eastman
My son and I were trapped in a 2 alarm three\explosion gas fire that originated from next door. We were treated unfairly and not compensated for any of our valuables. I fired the attorney I had because he acted unethically. He filed false documents in court and was compensated. We got no charitable contributions. any help would be greatly appreciated. thank you.
Gillian Amas
Hi Gwenell,
I'm sorry to hear that. It sounds like you have a question for an attorney and I would suggest posting it to Avvo's Q&A forum here: http://www.avvo.com/ask-a-lawyer. Attorneys do not answer questions through our blog, but they will when posted in the forum.
Regards,
Gillian
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BrianB
I think that your written piece speaks volumes on the topic.
I don't think that I've ever heard such a well reasoned argument -- and coming from a lawyer!
Your article is thought provoking, serious, and speaks not only to the motivations of the fearful, but also to the virtual daily torment and victimization of the feared.
The world needs more people like you.
jewli
I think some people didn't read the fine print in Ms. Bloom's report on Pistorius case. I wasn't of the impression Ms. Bloom was defending the (Zimmerman/Dunn) "shooters' action" as OK out of fear for their life. I think she was trying to show how often in these circumstances of cultural difference, people can use fear as a defense. I don't see how she could have spelt that out another way. But her report was well presented, and that's how I read it. Line by line. We need to focus more on realty. As a well traveled person of color, I think I got it! And by the same token, Pistorious is trying to use that as a defense. It's obvious the would be burglar in his case would be assumed to be black. Anybody of any color trying to break in a place like where Pustorious was living would have to be crazy. And that's where his defense could break down. But he has to stick to that story. What other story is there? It took four shots for him to realize his girlfriend was not in the bed? And even if it was a burglar, guy was shooting to kill. No can do. According to SA law he would still be in deep s**t for that. There are too many holes in his story that don't make sense.
Ernesto
It is not my purpose to defend or condemn Oscar Pistorius. I will let South Africa's legal system determine his guilt or innocence,
However, I do know something about living in a society, in a country, where fear (unlike anything found in the USA) is an integral part of one's life. It is very easy for somebody like the person who wrote this article, who I would guess has never had to live under such circumstances, to speak in abstract and/or theoretical terms about what it must be like to for somebody to fear for one's life every minute of the day. It is a feeling that is totally incomprehensible to the average American, other than those soldiers fighting wars in places like Afghanistan.
Does that mean I am defending what Oscar Pistorius did? Of course not. All I was trying to say is that I believe I probably know a bit more than the author about fear, fear for one's life, fear for one's security. That said, I'll be happy to compare notes with Ms. Bloom to see which one of us life experiences best resembles what it must be like to live in certain parts of the world where an individual's life has little or no value.
lilli
Then you believe Pistorious' story that he shot out of fear, not anger?
Esther
Good job on the Oscar Pistorius article, Lisa! There will always be inequality as long as we allow fear to prevail. We must enable love to replace fear, laughter to replace tears, and abundance to replace loss. Thanks for keeping us enlightened.
Joanne Pacicca
Nice comparison of cultural differences; however, you underestimate the power of fear and panic versus rationality. South Africa is not the U.S. but one cannot judge their justice system on your own emotional response, nor can you take a position of superiorty within the culture clash and grade this trial on that basis alone.