A couple of days I ago I ran across
this piece on a Black Lives Matter (sic) movement gathering in which the following was said by a Patrisse Cullors in which she made the claim:
Cullors also asserted, “Black-on-black crime is a myth.” She called comments on the phenomenon a “distraction” and “an unnecessary debate,” then encouraged the audience that when a conversation goes in that direction to “shut it down.”
I am still in shock that someone who claims to value black lives would be so cavalier about black on black crime, which most certainly exists. but go so far as to say that the phenomenon is a "distraction". I would agree that it is an "unneccessary debate" in that no one who is
informed on the subject would be debating the topic. It exists and the
only debate needed is how best to address it. And I'm following in the tradition of Amos Wilson, our ancestor who literally
wrote the book on the subject. I know these black lives matter people don't read but I suggest that anyone reading this do themselves a favor and read the book. Now lets move on to the definitive post on black on black crime.
The Source Of The Confusion
Why is it that there are so many people who believe that "black on black crime" doesn't exist? It's because the term "black on black crime" is admittedly a poor choice of words to describe the actual situation and lends itself to confusion. Here's why: As anyone who studies crime statistics can tell you, in general violent crime happens between people of the same race. Generally. And because of this fact, most people jump to the easy conclusion that there is no difference in rates of black and white crimes. That conclusion is false.
The Real Deal
Why is this false? Well we have to keep a number of things in mind. Black people only make up 13 % of the US population. All things being equal you would expect that black crime (particularly violent crime) would be in proportion to the population. It is not. Not by a long shot.
Back in 2005 I wrote a piece in response to Bill Bennett's comments on
aborting black babies in order to reduce crime:
White males are represented by 717 male inmates per 100,000 white males. In 1988 the white/black population ratio was 6.44. If we assume this number to still be accurate then our hypothetical white male population would be 128,800,000 people. Doing the math we did for the black population, we would get another 923,496 inmates. If we put these numbers together we get close to the total prison population of the US as of June 2005 (2,131,180). What immediately jumps out is that following Bennett’s logic, if we aborted every white baby, we would see the same drop in crime, since eliminating all white babies or all black babies would produce, mathematically, the same drop in inmates, and the crimes they committed. [note: My apologies to Lashawn Barber. She was right on this subject and I was wrong (and being emotional) ]
The important part is that blacks make up nearly 50% of the prison population yet are only 13% of the total US population. Whenever you have half of your crimes done by less than 15% of your population, you have a population with serious
issues.
Furthermore when we look at
the leading causes of death we see a similarly disturbing reality:
For black males, Homicide is the second leading cause of death for 10-14 year olds.
10 to 14 years of age.
Homicide is the number one cause of death of African-American males between the age of 15 -34.
15 to 34.
...
White males between the ages of 15 and 19 have homicide as the number 3 cause of death (compared to number one for black males)
White males between the ages of 20 -24 have homicide as the number 3 cause of death (compared to number one for black males).
White males between the ages of 25 and 34 have homicide as the number 5 cause of death (compared to number one for black males).
This data shows that unlike white folks, black males have a far higher chance of being killed. Don't take my word for it. Take the
NYPD's word for it:
Murder and non-negligent manslaughter
Ummm does ANYTHING at ALL stand out to you?
Blacks are 62% of those arrested for murder and whites are 3%. Not only are blacks committing more crimes in NYC, but they are over an order of magnitude (times 2) more than whites. But there IS NO BLACK ON BLACK CRIME PROBLEM!
And since so many black women are into feminism...
Rape
Clearly the white frat boys are not the problem they are being made out to be. And notice this:
Though whites are 17% of rape victims they are only 5% of those arrested for rape. So exactly who is doing the other 12% of rapes on white people (mostly thought not exclusively women)?
More..
Felonious Assault
Translation: If you are assaulted it is MOST likely you will be black. It will also be likely that the person assaulting you is black. In both cases if that person is not "black" it's someone named Gonzalez, Ramirez, or some other "ez" or "es". Remember though, this isn't REALLY happening.
Grand Larceny
If you get robbed in NY. You're likely white. The perp is probably black or hispanic (and may be both at the same time. It happens). And lastly:
Shooting Incidents
Do you notice those huge long bars for Black? Victim, Suspect and Arrestee?
Lets look at this chart carefully. In NYC, 75% of the shooting crimes are committed by black persons. Seventy. Five. Percent.
Whites are 1.7% of the shooting victims. Yet are arrested 1.1% of the time. That means almost one half of white shooting deaths were caused by non whites. Blacks are 23% of the population of NYC. Males are about half that. so about 12% of the city's population is likely responsible for half the white shooting deaths.
I don't need to go on because the
dataspeaks for itself. Black on Black crime is a real thing. We, those who actually care about black folks, have known this for a long time. Those persons who are claiming that this epidemic in our communities not only doesn't exist but isn't worth "debate" are either ignorant of the facts or have an ulterior motive. Because of the actions of these people, there have been more dead black people in places like Baltimore than at any time since the 1990s. These people most metaphorically have blood on their hands.
It's time for these white media organizations like Huffington Post, Atlantic, Salon, etc. to be held accountable for allowing their mediums to be used to spread outright lies about black people. It's time they stopped giving platforms to black folks who only know sound bites and catch phrases. It's time for universities to stop giving jobs and opportunities to folks who's ideologies and works have lead to actual deaths in black communities. It is time for black media outlets like TheRoot, Ebony, Essence, etc to be called to account for using their platforms to allow for falsehoods.
