On March 29, 2025, blood was spilled once again, this time at a track meet in Frisco, Texas. Austin Metcalf, 17, a white football and track star, lay dying from stab wounds inflicted by Karmelo Anthony, also 17, a black-student athlete who attended a different high school.
What should have been a day of friendly athletic competition and celebration became a day of mourning — and another grim statistic in the epidemic of violence claiming our young men.
The facts of this case are clear and disturbing: Anthony had entered a tent belonging to a school that was not his own. When Metcalf, acting within his rights, asked Anthony to leave the area, the confrontation quickly escalated. According to eyewitness reports. Anthony had a knife in his backpack and issued a threat, saying “Touch me and you’ll find out.” When Metcalf attempted to escort him from the area, Anthony pulled out the knife and stabbed him multiple times.
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Anthony was arrested at the scene and charged with first-degree murder. He is claiming self-defense.
But this wasn’t self-defense — it was a deadly response to a perceived lack of respect. A young man lost his life not because he posed a genuine threat to someone else’s life but because another young man felt disrespected and chose violence as his response.
Within hours, before evidence could be gathered or witnesses properly interviewed, the predictable circus began. Civil rights groups descended, declaring Anthony a victim of racial harassment. Media outlets raced to frame the narrative in racial terms. And once again, truth became the second tragic casualty.
Tribal identity vs. God’s truth
This pattern has repeated itself too many times to count. Without knowing what truly happened, thousands declared Anthony’s innocence simply because he shares their skin color. This tribal reflex, this automatic defense of “one’s own” regardless of evidence, reveals an idolatry that’s destroying communities from within.
God’s Word warns us explicitly: “Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong” (Exodus 23:2). Yet we’ve cultivated a culture where group loyalty trumps truth, where accountability is optional if your skin is the right shade. This isn’t justice according to Scripture. This is the chaos that ensues when we elevate any identity — racial, political, or cultural — above our identity in Christ.
Let me be clear: Defending someone solely because they share your skin color isn’t biblical solidarity, it’s spiritual rebellion. And it teaches children the devastating lie that truth is secondary to tribal identity. As Christians, we are called first to “truthing in love” (Ephesians 4:15), not protecting those of our same background at truth’s expense.
Biblical manhood vs. cultural counterfeit
While talking heads obsess over race, they intentionally ignore the uncomfortable question at the heart of this tragedy: Why are so many young black men conditioned to respond to perceived disrespect with deadly violence?
The standard explanation of fatherlessness doesn’t apply here. By all accounts, Karmelo Anthony had an intact family. He wasn’t abandoned. He wasn’t raised without structure or guidance.
Yet something went terribly wrong. And that “something” isn’t systemic racism or white supremacy. It’s a poisonous cultural definition of black manhood that has infected our communities like a virus — a definition that stands in direct opposition to biblical manhood.
Mainstream rap and hip-hop culture often glorify a distorted version of masculinity where respect is paramount and violence is the default response to disrespect. Young men consuming this media receive consistent messaging that “real men” respond to challenges with aggression, that backing down equals weakness, and that respect must be maintained at all costs — even lethal ones.
Young black men are being discipled today — not by churches, not by Scripture, but by a culture that preaches a false gospel about what it means to be “authentically black.” This counterfeit gospel has its own commandments:
- Never show weakness.
- Never walk away from disrespect.
- Retaliate when challenged.
- Prove you won’t be “punked.”
- Value pride over peace.
Anthony’s social media posts, now removed, illustrated this distorted image: the tough poses, the aggressive posturing, the constant performance of a cultural script that says manhood equals dominance. This isn’t rebellion, however, it’s conformity — conformity to a deadly lie that stands in stark opposition to God’s design for masculinity.
And make no mistake: It is a lie. There is nothing authentically “black” about violence. There is nothing in our melanin that makes us more prone to aggression. These are cultural pathologies, not racial attributes. And they must be rejected by all who claim Christ as Lord. Culture shouts that manhood is found in power, aggression, and pride. Christ declares that true manhood is found in humility, self-control, and sacrificial leadership.
The Apostle Paul writes: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves” (Philippians 2:3). This stands in direct opposition to the cultural image that says a man’s worth is measured by how feared he is or how quickly he responds to disrespect.
Jesus Christ — the perfect man — demonstrated strength through restraint, not retaliation. When mocked, beaten, and disrespected to the point of death, He who commands legions of angels chose not to destroy His enemies. Instead, He prayed for their forgiveness. This isn’t weakness. This is strength under sovereign control. This is biblical manhood in its purest form.
The path forward isn’t found in more race-based explanations or empty cultural pride. It’s found in Christ alone. We need to stop pretending that race is always the primary problem. The foundational problem isn’t race, it’s sin. And sin doesn’t just live in systems; it lives in hearts that need regeneration through the Gospel.
The cultural idol of “authentic blackness” has become a spiritual stronghold, enslaving our young men and convincing them that violence is necessary for survival and respect. But Scripture promises freedom: “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36).
These young men need to be handed the Word of God, which tells them:
- They are made in God’s image with inherent dignity (Genesis 1:27).
- They are called to holiness, not cultural conformity (1 Peter 1:15-16).
- Their primary identity is found in Christ, not in cultural performance (2 Corinthians 5:17).
- True strength is found in self-control, not dominance (Proverbs 16:32).
- They are called to be countercultural, not culturally captive (Romans 12:2).
A call to the truth, repentance, and the hope found in Christ
What happened in Frisco was preventable. And until we reject the lie that equates blackness with aggression, our sons will continue to die — or kill — in service to a false image of manhood.
The Church must love these young men too much to stay silent about this. We cannot sacrifice another generation on the altar of a destructive cultural narrative. These young men deserve better than to be told that their racial identity requires them to react with violence when disrespected.
We need men — fathers, pastors, teachers, and mentors — to rise up and model biblical masculinity. We need to show our sons that walking away from a fight isn’t weakness; it’s wisdom. We need to demonstrate that controlling your emotions isn’t “acting white,” it’s acting like Christ.
Culture is what people do. Race is a part of who they are, but no one’s racial identity should be held hostage by a culture that glorifies sin and death over the ways of God.
The path forward isn’t through more racial grievance but through repentance, truth, and the transforming power of the Gospel. That’s the only foundation strong enough to build a future where tragedies like the one in Frisco become unthinkable.
As Christians committed to biblical truth, we must speak clearly even when culture demands silence. We must love our communities enough to name the idols destroying them. And we must point to Christ as the only true source of identity, dignity, and liberation.
The freedom that young black men truly need isn’t freedom from systemic oppression — they need freedom from the oppression of sin and false cultural narratives about manhood. That freedom is found in Christ alone. And that’s a truth worth standing for.
Originally published at the Standing for Freedom Center.
Virgil L. Walker is the Executive Director of Operations for G3 Ministries, an author, and a conference speaker. He is the co-host of the Just Thinking Podcast. Virgil is passionate about teaching, disciple-making, and sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Virgil and his wife Tomeka have been married for 26 years and have three children. Listen to his podcast here.
