Black on Black Murder!
Who's to Blame and Who Can Help!
The article flows in an almost poetic fashion while addressing a very difficult topic. It also imparted some statistical information we are, at this point, all too familiar with. It begins by tying the murder of the Professional Football player Sean Taylor, shot in his home at the young age of twenty four, to the murders of all black men who are victims of Black on Black crime.
Mr. Pitts is one voice, a black voice expressing his despair, one black voice of despair amongst the multitude. In his article he states, "We die and it goes unremarked, die so much it's hardly news anymore." He then proceeded to make a couple poignant statements. "...12 percent of the nation is 50 percent of the murder victims and it's mainly business as usual. No Government task force convenes to tell us why this is. No rally cries ring from podiums and pulpits. Crowds do not march as they did in Jena, La., demanding justice."
In my opinion Mr. Pitts couldn't be more spot on in his commentary. I work in the Correctional Field and I witness young Black men coming into the system day in and day out, per capita far in excess of any other ethnic group in America. My position puts me indirect contact with these young men and leaves me with a very unique perspective on the matter. My feelings, based on experience, run deep on this matter. I feel that one of the basic geneses of this problem is a manifestation of the failed family unit in poor Black communities. I suspect that there are many others that hold the same opinion as I do, be they Black or White.
I also believe that there are many in the white community that feel, they don't care what happens in the Black inner city, as long as it doesn't affect them personally. There are many that feel, why the hell should we even try to help out with this situation when they aren't even trying to help themselves. Speaking as a white middle age man with a somewhat unique perspective on the matter, I can see where they are coming from. If for no other reason then racism and mistrust from the Black community towards any effort the white community might employ to help change the problem.
That being said, the Black community must take ownership of this issue. This is something that needs to be addressed by the leaders of the Black community, the mothers and father of these children, religious leaders and educators in the inner city. Otherwise, it will be met with skepticism and mistrust by Black people. The Government and the influences of other ethnic groups can not and shouldn't be expected to change this problem. Any attempt of this fashion is domed to fail.
Until the Black community stands up and fights for their own children, face-to-face and hand-to-hand, the rest of us can't help. Until the Black community tries to solve this problem from within, our White hands are tied, and the Black community will continue to be victims of their own making. A reduction in Black crime, a prosperous and educated inner city population, an inner city without self imposed Black on Black murder is a laudable goal. A goal that must be obtained if there is ever going to be a future for these kids but it must come from within!
Published by Deez
Father, Husband, Brother, Corrections Officer. View profile
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23 Comments
Post a CommentRight on the money for the most part. I do believe that social programs have their place as a stop gap measure but nothing more. Long term social programs breed dependence. I do believe, however, that all people in America regardless of race and socioeconomic status should have free education, primary, secondary and post secondary based on performance. I believe this might just give a little light at the end of the poverty line tunnel.
...poverty is another reason blacks join gangs. "projects, ghettos, no money, no father, no hope," says Dennis Rodman about why so many blacks try for a basketball career seeing it as their only way of escaping that world. Finding the cause of a problem and fixing that is a good way to change the future. Most every person of color living in the US can trace their blood line back to a white person as defined by the people who classify by race rather than ethnicity. When I see "black on black crime" I hear "blacks are more prone to violence than whites" and it irritates me. Eracism was my reason for the first comment I made on this article. Here comes that tsunami wave, we all be running; one race, the human race.
Marquis...bingo!
I didn't say 50% of all murders are black on black, I think you are misunderstanding. I said 50% of all the people that were murdered were black. That is what I am saying. 50% of all murders(not murderers)were black people in the US and they only consist of 12% of the population. As far as your other points, well spoken. Thank You.
Where I live there is a lot of Mexican citizen on U.S. citizen murders. The government term for that is "illegal alien". The truth of that is they are Mexican-Mafia doing a booming biz by living as citizens in the U.S. They commit random murders among rival gangs~usually an innocent family member or friend or mistaken identify~to enforce payment of taxes to them for the right to ply their drug trade. "Freedom Writers Diary" will give you some insight into what causes people living in poverty to be drawn into crime. Ditto: A Memoir Towards World Peace.
Langston Hughes wrote, "You see, unfortunately, I am not black. There are lots of different kinds of blood in our family. But here in the United States, the word 'Negro' is used to mean anyone who has any Negro blood at all in his veins." It is the U.S.'s insistence upon breaking down people according to labels that make articles that bend stats to prove that person's with that "one drop" of African blood that earns them a black label are more prone to crime than white people. The cause of violence might be due to the slave owner's blood in their veins.
Deez: I am not great with math. What is the percentage of 3,727 white on white murders committed by 3,123 offenders versus 3,067 black on black murders by 2,784 offenders? Those crime stat figures makes it look to me that there is more white on white murder than black on black murder. It does not add up to 50% of murders being committed by blacks versus whites, ya see. My head is not in the sand. 50% of those total murders~actual crime stats~would be 3,095, which looks like more whites are a higher % of those who commit murders.
Your words of wisdom have been heard Mike.
looking within ourselves, criticizing ourselves first so that others won't view us as judgmental. -- Mike
You know, Deez, white society still does play a role. Full employment would keep more kids, not all but more, on the proper path. White society also could stop flaunting its wealth advantage all over the place. A few of these young people just seem to crack under the pressure. If you were to go back into their first-grade classrooms, virtually none of them would be hardened. What happens during those elementary years? Indeed there also needs to be a black-on-black solution but white society needs to share some wealth and some tools, to show more caring. Part of your Leonard Pitts quote is that he feels a lot of people don't care about what he describes and what you describe. Also listen please to Alyce, indeed nobody says white-on-white in regard to Columbine, for example. Isn't it odd, individual black-on-black (singular) is more common per capita among blacks, but psycho white-on-whites (plural) is more common per capita among whites. We ALL need to work together and start by looking