I extrapolated from these numbers that black men [6% of the population] commit over 63% of the total murders.
Commonsense and wonder - Long overdue
Failing To Be Our Brothers' Keepers
(JOSEPH H. BROWN - Tampa Tribune)
Published: Jan 16, 2005
I have to give it to Jeff Rawlins, assistant principal at Jefferson High School. Frustrated by the recent murders of Kwane Doster and John Simmons, he challenged the community in last weekend's Saturday Forum to start a movement against black-on- black crime. I have to give him his props because he, a white man, has shown more outrage about the staggering homicide rate among young black men than any black person around here.
Doster, 21, and Simmons, 15, were shot to death over ``trash talk,'' the in-your-face banter that goes on between young black men over the most trivial of issues. It happens too frequently, and Rawlins, a career educator who has ``spent too much time crying with scores of concerned parents and grandparents,'' has had enough.
Need I recite the sad statistics?
In 2002 the United States had 14,054 homicides, according to the FBI's Uniform Crime Report. Black men accounted for nearly 40 percent of victims, and black men committed 95 percent of those murders. Those are alarming statistics for a group that makes up about 6 percent of the population. So why, as Rawlins wondered, haven't national black organizations put the issue of black fratricide front and center? The reasons are as old and outdated as some of their agendas.
Reinforcing Stereotypes
If whites were responsible for 95 percent of black homicides, there would be all-out mobilization by black organizations. They would march holes in their shoes, giving speech upon speech upon speech about how ``this genocide of our young black people'' had to stop.
Unfortunately, black groups are reluctant to put black-on-black homicide out front for fear that openly acknowledging this social pathology would verify what racist whites believe. Still, that's no excuse. And I thought we had stopped worrying about what racist white people thought back in the 1960s. I guess I was wrong.
An old college roommate of mine, a psychology major, once told me of a theory that I still find valid: When pathological behavior extends over long periods of time, even the most pragmatic individuals begin to suspect genetic reasons for the pathology. So the code of silence on the high black murder rate only reinforces the most negative of stereotypes.
If Only They Wore Hoods
On Monday the nation celebrates the birthday of Martin Luther King, a man whose tactics to achieve equality for black America stressed nonviolence. There will be much talk of his ``dream,'' but there will be little talk of the fact that King considered self-criticism an essential part of the struggle for equality. In his 1958 book ``Stride Toward Freedom,'' he wrote:
``Negroes must be honest enough to admit that our standards do often fall short. One of the sure signs of maturity is the ability to rise to the point of self- criticism. Whenever we are objects of criticism from white men, even though the criticisms are maliciously directed and mixed with half truths, we must pick out the elements of truth and make them the basis of creative reconstruction. We must not let the fact that we are victims of injustice lull us into abrogating responsibility for our own lives.''
King went on to say: ``Our crime rate is far too high. ... Negro leaders must develop a positive program through which Negro youth can become adjusted to urban living and improve their general level of behavior.''
But don't expect any black ``leaders'' to do that any time soon.
``Maybe black criminals can start wearing white hoods,'' Hakim Hasan of the Urban Institute wrote in Savoy magazine a few years ago. ``Perhaps then, black leadership will address black-on-black crime.'' Joseph H. Brown is a Tribune editorial writer
Posted by Jerry Scharf at January 16, 2005 02:59 PM | TrackBack
Comments:
The FBI uniform crime statistics are somewhat off. 16,204 murders for 2002. The 14,054 number comes from a chart that doesn't include victims whose age was unknown. 48.5% of victims were black. 92.3 percent of them were killed by black offenders. 84.7 percent of white victims were killed by white offenders. Black people make up about 13% of the U.S. population.
Posted by: Greg January 16, 2005 04:07 PM
Greg,
Excuse me for pointing this out, but if black "people" make up about 13% of the population, then black "men" probably do make up about 6%. Joseph Brown is rather courageously bringing into the light of day some sad facts that many would prefer to hide. Let's not quibble with the details, but understand that there is a frightful emergency within our country, and mobilize our best minds and best efforts to save our country's children from perpetuating these horrors.
Posted by: Alvar NC de Vaca January 16, 2005 06:06 PM
Alvar, You are correct. I did overlook that they were speaking only about "men". I agree with the main point of the post and the correct numbers still make the same points valid. I disagree, however, with your opinion that we shouldn't quibble with the details. We should hold a higher standard than Michael Moore or Dan Rather. "Fake but accurate", just doesn't cut it. |
