Right-Wing blogs are claiming that we don’t care when black people kill other black people. I think we care, but we just don’t know what to do about it.
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There were two mass shootings last week. Chances are you heard about one. A man with a gun killed 12 people and himself at a Washington D.C. Navy Yard. The media, Facebook, Twitter, and every water cooler in America were in a frenzy, trying to figure out what the hell brings someone to such barbarity. I’ve seen video games mentioned, along with gun culture, PTSD, mental disease or defect, and a few more ridiculous suggestions. We want to know why someone does these things for a few reasons: we want to know how the hell to stop it. We want to know how the hell to avoid it. Lastly, plain old morbid curiosity.
The other shooting, which you may or may not have heard about, was a shooting at a basketball court on the South Side of Chicago (known for years as “the baddest part of town”). This shooting resulted in 13 victims injured but no deaths. One of the injured is a three-year old boy who was shot in the face. Three. Years. Old.
The Right-Wing Attack Machine has rolled onto this subject with the usual finger-pointing and obfuscating. The standard line is that liberals in the United States ignore the killing of blacks (did I mention the victims are black? Did you assume?). According to the Right-Wing Attack Machine, liberals ignore these killings because they don’t fit some kind of agenda designed to “take our guns away.”
Well, being someone who is liberal and very personally invested in reducing the killing of black males, I disagree. Here’s why:
1) The media is full of stories about this shooting. A large amount of these stories are about the fact there are no stories about this. (Don’t think about that too long, you might hurt your head.)
2) We understand it. We know what makes young black males in poor socioeconomic situations into violent predators. We know about the twisted sense of pride trained into them, the idea that any slight or perceived disrespect has to be addressed violently. We know about crime in poor areas. We know that crime and poverty breed more crime and more poverty (See: Broken Windows Theory).
3) We don’t know what to do about it. If a random man shoots twelve people because he is mentally ill, then we know that we must address firearms and mental illness. What do we do when a man shoots thirteen people because his entire upbringing has led to it? What do we do when he grows up in an area with a dearth of quality jobs and a lack of male role models? In an area where criminals are more respected than college graduates? Where he’s already treated like a dangerous person just for living there?
I wish the finger-pointing would stop. We don’t need to play a game of oneupmanship, trying to figure out who cares about which murders more. That’s silly and unproductive. No one wants any more tiny coffins; we just don’t know how to stop it.
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Photo– Flickr/DFID
Hello Iben,how are you?Corporal punishment is now and has for a long time been out of control in the black community.Many credit getting their butt whupped with being a successful adult.I raised my children,as a single father, without corporal punishment because I knew from personal experience the incredible harm it can do to a child.Making it illegal in America would be almost impossible.Considering black people’s history to brutal punishment used to control their behavior,they should know better.But black’s reliance on Protestant religious values keeps them prisoners to using brutality as behavior modification.I never once spanked my children because I felt… Read more »
Hi Ogwriter Thank you,I am fine and enjoy the beautiful autumn weather here north. ✺”I am certain that these youngmen come from homes where empathy is rare and excessive,persistent, corporal punishment is frequently administered at a young age”✺ You did a fantastic job breaking this vicious downward spiral in your family! I am impressed by the story you tell about your life. This brutal way of raising children are seen in many parts of the world today. It must be possible to educate adults about the long term terrible consequences of corporal punishment. As you know yourself ,children can be… Read more »
Conservatives do not trust the “solutions” to gun violence that are brought out by Progressives for very good reason. These laws would restrict weapons that are rarely used in violence and tend to be owned by people who do not commit the vast majority of gun crimes. President Obama’s executive orders banning the reimportation of “military grade” rifles is a prime example of this. These weapons are usually Korean War era rifles like the M1 Garand. These are purchased by hunters, collectors and enthusiasts. When is the last time you heard of a crime being committed with an M1 Garand?… Read more »
That’s not what this article is about. This article is about the accusation from *some* conservative blogs that liberals only make noise about violence perpetuated by white people. I wanted to respond to that accusation. Please, don’t try to make this about gun control.
Fair enough. Sorry- I was trying to give some background as to why some feel that way. I can see how I went too far down the line of thought though.
Christian, you know I respect you so I hope you don’t take offense to what I may say. Again, we go back to the right and left, conservative and liberal. Once we define sides, liberals and conservative move toward a defensive mode rather then working together for a common goal. This is not to derail but a perfect example is feminists and MRA’s. Nothings getting done because they are concentrating on defending their position rather then dealing with the issues. I’ll be honest, I’m about as conservative as you can get yet I’ve spent the last 15 years working on… Read more »
Hi Chritian Coleman I know nothing about the situation you describe. I don’t live in America. But here is one though. Why don’t you look to other countries. Find countries that are successful at rehabilitate criminals and study what they actually do. I am not saying all black men are criminals .But good rehabilitation of persons is based on research and theories of what works and what don’t work. And what is out there for them after rehabilitation ? Are there any good jobs, proper housing , new network of friends and real possibility of a new life? Any real… Read more »
Hi OGwriter
What you say makes sense:
✺ “Corporal punishment in the black community has always been heavily relied upon to teach discipline.In the hands of a young, stressed out,poor and hopeless young mother or father,maybe exascerbated by drugs and alcohol, it can quickly be used improperly” ✺
But is this legal in America? You use the phrase “used improperly”
In my country it is against the law to use corporal punishment. Period.
Some troubled families and Immigrants from other cultures still do,and socialize kids into the use of violence as a solution to conflicts and more….
How about we put the issue out in public, front & center as we do we the issue of violence against women, treat as a the number one issue in the black community, search high and low for a solution, look at all the reasons way it’s a predominantly an issue in the black community , is it because of lack of father’s around these boys (divorce, single mother’s, broken families and homes) anything & everything that might be the source, because it’s definitely a bigger issue then just poverty & heavy handed law enforcement, we have tried all that,… Read more »
Hello Tom.There is a simple reason why most don’t understand what to do about so called black on black violence.It is percieved wrongly,therefore the solutions are also misguided.Racializing the issue prediposes one to follow a fairly predictable path towards resolution.Instead of viewing this as black violence,as if all black people behave this way,we must use common sense.Attributing violence to race and gender is discriminatory and perpetuates the notion that violence can be defined along racial or even gender lines.Remember the all men are violent mantra and the mess that lie has made of things?! We can start by looking at… Read more »
“I humbly suggest that the answers to these problems we seek are in the one place no one wants to examine, the home. The home is the most powerful influence in their lives”. I don’t disagree with you about this, and I doubt many other people do either. So here’s the next question: what can we do about that? The way that parents raise their children is essentially a personal choice, and there aren’t many (if any) routes for anyone else to intervene in that. So how do we (1) reshape homes and/or encourage parents to raise children who, say,… Read more »
Hi Angel, you’re right about the home. I was encouraged to write an article about the families I’ve dealt with for the past 15 years but I’m still thinking about it. I have seen things change in 15 years and they’re not changing in a good way. It wasn’t until a couple of years ago that I felt comfortable monitoring family visits. Of course we have to have a watchful eye on the clients that they not pull a fast one and try to smuggle cigarettes or something but two hour family visit days were generally pretty calm. That’s until… Read more »
Rant away.
If you’re interested in writing a full article (or multiple), email me at christiancolemanoped[at]gmail.com
My wife, her brother and I all grew up in a worse neighborhood of Chicago, Lawndale/Little Village area which BTW was once one of the more affluent areas in Chicago… but I digress. I have been asking the same questions for literally, decades. It seems the solution for some is that we have stricter gun laws. Ummmm, ya think the gun(s) used were legal? Ya think these guys went to a store and showed ID and bought them? It seems that every time these shootings occure it becomes a platform for fire arm debate, and in the meantime, the killings… Read more »