Austin Metcalf’s father asserts that when it comes to the death of his son, “This was not a race thing. This was not a political thing.”

Metcalf, a white high school student from Texas, was fatally stabbed during a confrontation with another student, 17-year-old Karmelo Anthony, who is Black, during a track meet in Frisco.

The altercation is believed to have started after Metcalf attempted to remove Anthony from an area under his school’s tent.

Anthony has been charged with first degree murder and is being held on a $1 million bond. Lawyers for Anthony have asked for a bond reduction ahead of a hearing next week. Meanwhile, Collin County District Attorney said on Wednesday that Anthony will not face the death penalty if he’s convicted.

In a recent interview with Fox News, Jeff Metcalf said: “My son is gone and he will never come home again. I want to clarify something right off the start because I’ve already herd some rumors and gossip. This was not a race thing. This was not a political thing. Please do not comment if you do not know what happened. Try not to turn this into a racial thing. It was not. Do not politicize it. It’s not.”

Jeff is referring commentary from various figures in the conservative media ecosystem to which helped spawn “White Lives Matter” to trend on Twitter and lead to viral tweets like “Legacy media would call this a hate crime if races were reversed.”

There was other racist imagery to boot along with the pathetic co-signs of “reverse racism” from Black cheerleaders such as CJ Pearson, co-chair of the GOP Youth Advisory Council, who posted: “The blind tribalism in the black community must end. The same people who sought to make George Floyd a hero are now trying to make Karmelo Anthony – a murderer – a victim. My prayers are with the family of Austin Metcalf.”

Every other sentient being that doesn’t think the white man’s ice is colder noticed the double standard here in their treatment of Karmelo Anthony compared to Kyle Rittenhouse after he claimed self-defense.

Much as I can understand that Jeff Metcalf is a grieving father making a public plea in earnest, we live in America where everything is racialized, and racism is very much a driving political ideology for many.

To ignore that is to play dumb.

And respectfully, whether Jeff is conscious of it or not, he contributed to the problem.

In a separate interview, though Jeff said that while he did “forgive” Karmelo Anthony, he noted:  “I’m not trying to judge, but what kind of parents did this child have? What was he taught? He brought a knife to a track meet and he murdered my son by stabbing him in the heart.”

Now, does that sound as harsh as podcaster Breanna Morello, who tweeted: “Karmelo Anthony came to a track meet with a knife. The self defense argument is garbage just like the people that raised him.”

No, but the underlying sentiment is all the same for the racists who believe it.

As for the people who raised Karmelo Anthony, according to a statement from Bill Clark, an attorney from Anthony’s new legal defense team, “Karmelo and the entire Anthony family are sincerely saddened that a life was lost and offer their condolences to the family of Austin Metcalf.”

While extending condolences, Anthony’s family has also asked for the public not to rush to judgment about Karmelo.

According the arrest report, one officer who responded to the scene said Anthony told him unprompted, without being asked any questions about the incident, “I was protecting myself.”

Moreover, as he was walking toward the squad car, Anthony “was emotional,” reportedly saying unprompted, “He put his hands on me, I told him not to.” And once in the back seat, he also reportedly asked if Metcalf was “going to be OK,” according to the report.

Another officer reported that the suspect was “crying hysterically” while being walked away from the stadium, the report said.

Jeff Metcalf has a right to hurt, but he tells people not to insert themselves into a situation they don’t know while he makes inferences about the characters of people he doesn’t know.

Again, whether he intended to or not, he played into pathologies about Black men and Black families with that comment.

I wasn’t there, but Karmelo Anthony doesn’t sound like the violent angry Black brute raised by morally deprived savages being depicted on the most racist corners of the internet.

He certainly sounds far less arrogant and vengeful as Rittenhouse often has in interviews and online.

Doubtful facts will disrupt his critics’ perceived narrative, though, but fortunately for Karmelo people are trying to make up for the imbalance in treatment.

As of Wednesday afternoon, a fundraiser for Anthony hosted on GiveSendGo has raised nearly $300,000 for his legal defense.

One assumes all those contributing have seen enough to conclude in spite of what anyone says, Karmelo Anthony situation is very much a “race thing” and a “political thing.”

Michael Arceneaux is a New York Times bestselling author whose most recent book, “I Finally Bought Some Jordans,” was published last March.

SEE ALSO:

Op-Ed: I Get Karmelo Anthony, I Carried A Knife To School Too

Trump’s Anti-Police Reform Executive Orders And How They Impact Black/ Latino Citizens