What is Wrong with This Picture, and It's a Self Portrait to Boot!?

I was browsing the Bureau of Justice Statistics web site today and some of these statistics floored me. Overall violent crime has decreased across the board but is still high amongst the African American community. Here are just some of the stats that speak for themselves.

The demographic characteristics of homicide victims and offenders differ from the general population.

Based on data for the years 1976-2005:

Blacks are disproportionately represented as both homicide victims and offenders. The victimization rates for blacks were 6 times higher than those for whites. The offending rates for blacks were more than 7 times higher the rates for whites.

Males represent 77% of homicide victims and nearly 90% of offenders. The victimization rates for males were 3 times higher than the rates for females. The offending rates for males were 8 times higher than the rates for females.

Approximately one-third of murder victims and almost half the offenders are under the age of 25. For both victims and offenders, the rate per 100,000 peaks in the 18-24 year-old age group. (Bureau of Justice Statistics)

Lifetime likelihood of going to State or Federal prison

If recent incarceration rates remain unchanged, an estimated 1 of every 15 persons (6.6%) will serve time in a prison during their lifetime.

Lifetime chances of a person going to prison are higher for men (11.3%) than for women (1.8%)

Blacks (18.6%) and Hispanics (10%) than for whites (3.4%)

Based on current rates of first incarceration, an estimated 32% of black males will enter State or Federal prison during their lifetime, compared to 17% of Hispanic males and 5.9% of white males. (Bureau of Justice Statistics)

Characteristics of jail inmates

An estimated 40% were black; 19%, Hispanic, 1% American Indian; 1% Asian; and 3% of more than one race/ethnicity. (Bureau of Justice Statistics)

Black Victims of Violent Crime

Presents findings about violent crime experienced by non-Hispanic blacks. Data on nonfatal violent victimization (rape/sexual assault, robbery, aggravated and simple assault) are drawn from the National Crime Victimization Survey. Data on homicides are drawn from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program's Supplementary Homicide Reports. Comparisons are made with the victimization experience of other racial/ethnic groups. Findings include violent victimization rates by victim characteristics. Also examined are crime characteristics, including weapon use, offender race, police reporting, and police response to violent crime incidents. Trends in violent victimization are also discussed. Highlights include the following:

Blacks were victims of an estimated 805,000 nonfatal violent crimes and of about 8,000 homicides in 2005.

Blacks accounted for 13% of the U.S. population in 2005, but were victims in 15% of all nonfatal violent crimes and nearly half of all homicides.

During the 5-year period from 2001 to 2005, the average annual rate of nonfatal violent victimization against blacks was 29 victimizations per 1,000 persons age 12 or older. For whites the rate was 23 per 1,000, and for Hispanics, 24 per 1,000. (Bureau of Justice Statistics)

BLACK AMERICANS WERE VICTIMS IN 15 PERCENT OF ALL NONFATAL VIOLENT CRIMES AND 49 PERCENT OF ALL HOMICIDES DURING 2005

WASHINGTON -- Black Americans accounted for 13 percent of the U.S. population in 2005 but were the victims of about 15 percent of all of the nonfatal violent crime and about 49 percent of all homicides, the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) announced today. Blacks were victims of an estimated 805,000 nonfatal violent crimes (rape, sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault and simple assault) and of about 8,000 homicides during 2005.

The rate of nonfatal violent victimization against blacks was stable between 2001 and 2005 after declining about 57 percent from 1993 to 2001. The rate for the overall population declined 54 percent from 1993 to 2001 and was stable between 2001 and 2005.

The average annual rate was 29 victimizations per 1,000 blacks 12 years old and older between 2001 and 2005. For whites the rate was 23 per 1,000 whites. Only American Indians (at 57 per 1,000 individuals) had a higher rate than blacks.

In 2005 black homicide victims tended to be younger than white victims with about half being between the ages of 17 and 29, compared to about 37 percent of white victims. About half of homicides against blacks occurred in cities with a population of at least 250,000 people. Among single victim-single offender homicides, about 93 percent of black victims were murdered by black offenders. About 77 percent of black homicide victims were killed with a firearm.

Between 2001 and 2005 serious nonfatal violent victimization (rape, sexual assault, robbery and aggravated assault) made up 48 percent of all nonfatal violent crime against blacks, compared to 31 percent of violent crime against whites, 31 percent against American Indians, 42 percent against Asians and about 40 percent against Hispanics. During that period blacks were more likely than whites and Hispanics to experience an aggravated assault or a rape or a sexual assault. Serious violent crime usually involved serious injury to the victim or the presence of a weapon.

According to the victims, offenders were armed with a weapon in about 35 percent of nonfatal violent crimes against blacks that occurred between 2001 and 2005. Black victims were more likely than victims or any other racial group or Hispanics to face an offender with a weapon. In about 14 percent of nonfatal violence against blacks between 2001 and 2005 the victim faced an offender with a firearm, the highest percentage among the groups in the study.

The percentage of violent crimes against blacks reported to police (55 percent) between 2001 and 2005 was higher than that for whites (48 percent). Police responded within an hour to 91 percent of the reported violent crime against black victims. This was similar to that for whites and Hispanics. About 9 percent of black victims of violence used the services of a non-police victim assistance agency. They were as likely as white victims, but more likely than Hispanic victims to seek such assistance.

Violence by individuals perceived by the victim to be gang members made up about 9 percent of the violence against blacks between 2001 and 2005. In about 43 percent of the violence against blacks the victims were unsure whether the offender was a gang member. Of the homicides against blacks during 2005, about 5 percent were considered to be gang related.

The data are based on BJS' National Crime Victimization Survey and the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program's Supplementary Homicide Reports. (Bureau of Justice Statistics)

It seams to me that this is a self reinforcement of all the negative stereotypes other races use to justify prejudice attitudes towards the African American population (males in particular). I'm not trying to race bate or stir up a controversy, I'm just trying to understand the facts as they are presented and I'm trying to understand why.

It also has become apparent that this trend has been a constant throughout the years. It would seem to me that over time any community subjecting itself to this type of self persecution would put forth a Herculean effort to rectify their problems and clean itself up. Is it the lack of leadership, the lack of hope, the cycle of poverty, or is it all of these things combined?

Being in the Law Enforcement field myself, I know that the African Americans (male youths in particular) are over represented in the prison population compared to the African American per capita population. I don't have any answers or suggestions in an effort to rectify this problem. I guess I put this forth today in hopes of getting some explanations as to why.

I would like to get feedback from everyone who reads this, but in particular I would like to get feedback from the African American readers. You folks may not have any answers either but I would like to hear your opinions on the matter. Maybe someday a great leader like Martin Luther King Jr. will come along and help push your community forward but until then, what?

Here is to a world without prejudice and violence. A world where we all live as the friends we should be and the brothers and sisters that we truly are, one race, the human one.