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The case of Daniel Holtzclaw came somewhat to an end on Thursday when the former Oklahoma City Police officer was found guilty of 18 charges stemming from rape and assault of Black women. On Twitter, a swift debate has been ongoing since the verdict after a user tweeted that Black men were to blame for Holtzclaw targeting Black women as victims.

Twitter user @Branfire, which some outlets have named as an activist, tweeted last night a statement that has been equally supported, disagreed with, and dissected to no end.

“I hope black men can realize that calling black women hoes, thots, loose and every other sexist is a factor in why these BW were targeted,” tweeted Branfire.

He followed with, “If you keep up the narrative that black women overtly sexual and should be treated like sexual objects they will continued to be targeted.”

Black men on Twitter fired back with their own comments, which then turned into an all out debate between @Branfire, his supporters, his detractors and everyone in between.

While Branfire’s assertion was strong, his overall point might have been missed perhaps given to the timing of his message. It isn’t a unique position that he takes as there are other men who have aligned together to combat sexism. What was especially pointed about the message, however, is that Branfire feels that Black men contribute to rape culture while some felt he should have specified his point in a clearer manner.

To Branfire’s credit, he has attempted to explain himself several times since igniting the discussion but he has still been assaulted by critics who feel that the blame lies squarely on Holtzclaw, who is himself a biracial person. Another point that others seemed to have missed was that Branfire said Black men factored in this mistreatment but were not solely responsible for it.

Does Branfire’s point that Black men and especially Hip-Hop help create an environment that Black women are easier targets for a predator like Holtzclaw? Sound off in the comments section.

EDITOR’S NOTE: We ran an earlier story on Branford “Branfire” Jones. We have taken it down and replaced it with this piece as we feel this is a far fairer depiction of events. We’ve also edited the original title of this post where we used the word “blames.” Our apologies to Mr. Jones.

 

Photo: screenshot

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