Black-on-Black Crime
Imagine growing up in a community where you are more than likely to have lost friends and families to violence. Imagine living in a place where you are scared to walk to school or walk alone. This is what it is like for many people in poverty-stricken neighborhoods, especially black dominated neighborhoods. In such neighborhoods exist black-on-black crime and people have become too familiar with violence amongst each other. In analyzing black on black crime, it is important to try to understand what black on black crime is, what may be the causes of this type of crime, and solutions that can be implemented to eradicating this type of crime from society.
Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines black-on-black crime as crime
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Department of Justice, within the years 1980 and 2008, 47.4% of homicide victims were black (Cooper & Smith, 2013). When one considers that the black population accounts for less than 15% of the United States population, it is apparent why this percentage is problematic. Of this 47.4%, 93% of these victims were killed by other black people (Cooper & Smith, 2013). Black-on-black crime is not limited strictly to homicides. From the year 2001 to 2005, of all violent victimization of African Americans, 77.1% of these victims were assaulted by other African Americans (Harrell 2007). Violent victimization includes but is not limited to gang-related violence, physical assault, and aggravated …show more content…
Black-on-black crime is the result of years of an “unjust society that has instilled the wrong values in them, failed to make them feel worthy and placed insurmountable barriers before them” (Tesfamariam 2012). Many of the perpetrators of this crime are young black men that have inherited the obsession over material possessions. These are people that are born into poor social and economic situations. Countless people in neighborhoods that have a black majority are born into broken homes. Children in these homes grow up to be accustomed to domestic violence, child abuse, neglect, and out-of-wedlock births. These families are also at an economic disadvantage since they often cannot acquire higher paying jobs, either due to underprivileged public education, or because they must support their family around the house. This creates a cycle of poverty that is often too hard to overcome, so some people result to gangs and crime, in hopes of supporting themselves and their families. Once a person has chosen a life of gangs and crime, they may have to sustain a tough appearance to other gangs and criminals that live within their communities. Since the communities are subjugated by blacks or other people of color, the results are the large percentage of black-on-black crimes.
Although many of these offenders
According to the guardians who track police killings the police have killed at least 258 black people. Out of 258 , nine died in police custody, four were killed with stun guns and 232 were shot. The washington post found that 34% of the victims were unarmed black men. Black men from the ages of 15-34 are nine times out of ten more likely to be killed by an police officer. Police officers are not being held accountable
African American males has a six times greater chance than the general population and eight times greater chance than white males in becoming a murder victim. Chapter 18 focuses on crime and
The document brings us close to understanding the issue of brutality among the blacks and how the issue is ignored. It also gives us insight to understanding the issue not only at community level but also nationwide and
Increasing Awareness of Unjust Police Shootings Through The Hate U Give The Chicago Police Department kills African Americans at an annual rate of 8.9 per million and Caucasians at 0.4 per million (Police Brutality Center). It is saddening to think that there is such a statistical difference in murder rates just because of the color of their skin. In Angie Thomas’s The Hate U Give, she writes a story of a character named Starr that goes through her life between her neighborhood which is African American to her predominantly white school where she experiences instances of police brutality and racism such as the murder of her childhood friend Khalil.
A study by the California Judicial Council Advisory Committee on Racial and Ethnic Bias in the Courts found that the justice system gives little attention or resources to investigating crimes against minorities and that minority defendants receive harsh treatment compared to white defendants in similar circumstances. The study also found that black-on-black crime or Latino-on-Latino crime is not taken as seriously as crimes against whites. Judges seem to believe that violence is more "acceptable" to black women because they are viewed as coming from violent communities. Minorities were judged by white, middle-class values in family law matters, and were the victims of racial and cultural stereotypes, which affects the courts '
Wes Moore examines the affect of drugs in not only his community but other predominantly African American communities as well. “There was so much money to be made that… turf wars became deadly… In 1990, there was 2,605 [homicides in New York City] … and the victims were concentrated in a single demographic: young black men.” (51) As the demand for drugs heightened in the 70s, so did the supply, leading to greater and stronger drug rings.
Hate Crime is a “criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender's bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity.” If an African American commits the same crime as an Caucasian it is more likely for the black person to be charged and arrested due to the racial issues we have today. There are many pros and cons towards the issue of racial crime, but hate crime is still a very difficult issue for our country to overcome. In order to overcome the issue of hate crime it would require changing legislation, public and police attitudes.
“Of those students, black and Hispanic students made up more than 70 percent.” (Washington Post) The deaths of Freddie Gray, Trayvon Martin and John Brown and the outrage these cases stirred, proves that racism does exist in the criminal justice system. Therefore, to prevent racial disparity in the criminal justice system it is crucial that America steps up in changing the way that officers respond to a victim of another race, reducing discriminatory mindsets, and lessening the victimizing that is set on these other groups of people.
In “Just Walk On By: A Black Man Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space,” author Brent Staples addresses the racial profiling issues that we have in our country and the things that cause them. He discusses how it feels to be a black man in society and how people, especially black males, should carry out their daily lives. Staples implies that racial profiling is caused by both black males that commit crimes and our society because the media portrays the majority of criminals as being black males. Black males participating in street crime is the basis of racial profiling.
The United States criminal justice system is diminishing millions of lives every day. Ironically, the amount of inequalities that the criminal justice system portrays goes against the term ‘justice’. There is a 33% chance that a black male will end up in jail in his lifetime, while white males have a 6% chance. There are 4,749 black males incarcerated while there are only 703 white males. Prisons receive revenue of 1.65 billion dollars per year which makes them willing to incarcerate anyone that they can (“Enduring Myth of Black Criminality”).
American Journal of Political Science. Hurwitz and Peffley write on how stereotypes about African Americans have an effect on people’s attitudes towards crime and policy. The authors discuss the link on race and crime and how the media has a lot to do with it. This work will be helpful to my research because of the stereotype linking blacks to crime. It will support my thesis on how race is spread throughout
Police Brutality in America and the 1990s The legal system in the United States has been broken since it’s inception, disproportionately attacking, and punishing anyone who is not white. As the country grew, improving, growing prosperous, the broken system continued its work. One result of this broken system is police brutality, and overstepping of police power. In fact, according to a 2013 Pew Research Center survey, of the black people questioned, 70% said they felt they were unfairly treated when dealing with police.
Synthesis Research Paper Everyday growing up as a young black male we have a target on our back. Society was set out for black males not to succeed in life. I would always hear my dad talk about how police in his younger days would roam around the town looking for people to arrest or get into an altercation with. As a young boy growing up I couldn’t believe some of the things he said was happening. However as I got older I would frequently hear about someone getting killed by the police force.
According to the article Racism and Police Brutality in America, “Whites believe that Blacks are disproportionately inclined to engage in criminal behavior and are the deserving on harsh treatment by the criminal justice system” (Chaney 484). The justice system has unfortunately followed this idea. The African American race has been a minority in the legal system in the past; however, it has been much worse as of 2015. Some individuals assume it is acceptable to refrain from acknowledging this fact. Racism is an issue in the midst of police brutality, and it should be resolved.
Poverty’s effects on crime can be explained through a variety of reasons. There is a higher rate of mental illness among the poor than the rich. Poverty can lead to high levels of stress, which in turn drive individuals to commit theft, robbery or other violent acts. Moreover, poverty may lead to actual or perceived inferior education. Youth with less access to quality schools, jobs, and role models and opportunities end up spending time on the streets associating with gangs.