What  I wrote was: " It sometimes seems that every time one mentions some crime done to Black people, the response offered is that they deserve it, in a sense, that they incurred the harm as a result of their own deficiencies."  I could have been more explicit, and said "...it sometimes seems to me..." but I'd thought it clear that I was speaking for myself.

I don't think it ridiculous to believe that families would be strong if parents were proper parents. Neither is it ridiculous to think schools would have an easier time doing their job if they didn't have to contend with behavioral issues among their children.  What I was trying to get at was a stance I often encounter,  that upon considering these truisms, Black people are properly understood to be responsible for the wretchedness of so many of their schools, for the uncongenial aspects of their neighborhoods, the vexations they experience around employment, the disparities in policing,

(cont)