Liam Day wants to know: Why are we so afraid?
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Those famous words were spoken by Franklin Roosevelt almost 80 years ago on the occasion of his inauguration into office.
Since then, we’ve been witness to Father Coughlin, America First, the House Un-American Activities Committee, Senator Joseph McCarthy, Lyndon Johnson’s 1964 campaign ad implying that a vote for his opponent, Barry Goldwater, was a vote for nuclear war, George H.W. Bush’s infamous Willie Horton ad, a war on drugs that has imprisoned millions of non-violent offenders, and, in the wake of 9/11, a burgeoning national security apparatus that, in its bloat, sometimes seems ominous and at other times ridiculous.
Despite our best rhetorical attempts to suppress it, the paranoid streak in American public life is both fairly large and rather persistent. And as if we needed further proof of this, the past month has provided a string of examples, beginning with George Zimmerman’s alleged murder of Trayvon Martin on February 26th.
Whether or not it was racially motivated, George Zimmerman’s behavior on that fateful evening was clearly motivated by fear. Fear of crime was the reason for starting the neighborhood watch to begin with. Hell, fear of crime lies at the root of the construction of the gated community in which both the shooter and the victim’s father lived. I mean, doesn’t a certain fear of crime lie at the root of the very idea of gated communities?
The New York Times reported that the number of housing units in gated communities in the United States grew by 53% between 2001 and 2009. The total number of housing units behind gates in this country now represents 10% of all occupied homes.
At the same time, America is as safe from crime as it has been in half a century. Even a cursory Google search will pull up articles touting D.C.’s lowest homicide rate in 50 years, L.A.’s lowest crime rate in 50 years, and the lowest rate of deaths of law enforcement officers in 50 years. Nationally, the homicide rate declined 51% between 1991 and 2010.
Still, a meme has persisted in the commentary on Trayvon Martin’s death of the high rate of black-on-black crime. Usually, it’s spouted as a response to those who would believe that race played a vital role in the case and, by extension, continues to play a role in all our lives and the institutions that govern them.
To begin with, the application of black-on-black crime to the Trayvon Martin case is completely fallacious. That the existence of black-on-black crime may be statistically true in no way invalidates the existence of institutional racism in America or the role it may have played in Trayvon Martin’s death. All of the following can be simultaneously true: that a young black man is much more likely to be killed by another young black man, that racial stereotypes continue to, at least in part, define our institutional responses to crime and punishment, and that George Zimmerman was influenced by those same racial stereotypes. The existence of the first in no way cancels the second and third suppositions.
This brings us to the next glimmering example of fear writ large in the public realm: John Derbyshire’s screed in Taki magazine. As it has been widely reported both here and elsewhere, I won’t bore you by recounting what he wrote. What I will say is simply this: that John Derbyshire’s article is both perhaps the most cynical use of the black-on-black crime meme I’ve seen and, at the same time, a clever advertisement for the construction of gated communities.
Nowhere in his article does one get a sense that, though, yes, black-on-black crime remains an issue, it has fallen as dramatically in the last 20 years as white-on-white, white-on-black, or black-on-white crime. Or, for that matter, as Edward Wyckoff Williams pointed out in The Root, that, as 84% of white murder victims were killed by white suspects, white people should be far more afraid of other white people than of black.
However, that doesn’t bother me quite as much as Derbyshire’s none-too-subtle argument for resegregation. By supposedly advising his children to avoid black neighborhoods and public places where groups of young black people might congregate, John Derbyshire is essentially instructing his children to segregate themselves. And what better way to segregate yourself from the world and eliminate possible interaction with people who have a different skin pigmentation than to build a wall, which has been employed as a means of security since the founding of civilization’s first cities.
To read the John Derbyshires of the world, civilization is under seige. We must keep the barbarians at bay. Man the towers, reinforce the gates, bring the women, children, and provisions inside.
How sad that the data clearly tell us that none of this is true or necessary? Of what are we so afraid?
Photo: AP/Gary Green
Hmmmmm. Either this article ONLY attracted racists or the mods are suppressing dissent. 3 comments? Anyway, it’s true most crime is intraracial, the facts are that of interracial crimes of property and violence whites are far more likely to be victimized by blacks then vice-versa. We may wonder if this is because of poverty, reverse racism, lack of fathers in the home, or some other factors or combinations of factors but it is nonetheless a fact at the current time for whatever reason. I live in Baltimore MD, I’m a white guy, and yes, I have been attacked before because… Read more »
Liam Day: ” I mean, doesn’t a certain fear of crime lie at the root of the very idea of gated communities?” For sake of argument, let’s say “yes.” Now, let me ask you some questions: Doesn’t a certain fear of crime lie at the root of the very idea of car keys? Doesn’t a certain fear of crime lie at the root of the very idea of house keys? Doesn’t a certain fear of crime lie at the root of the very idea of internet passwords? Doesn’t a certain fear of crime lie at the root of the very… Read more »
If I may, there are 5 major myths relating to crime & race. 1. Black-on-Black crime is uniquely bad. False: intraracial crime is the norm. Most crime, specifically murder, is as racially segregated as America. 2. Violent crime is on the rise. False: crime has gone down drastically over the last decades. 2010 was 13% lower than 2006, which itself was nearly half the amount of crime i 1991. I believe the author talked about this a little as well. 3. Justice is applied equally. Haha, well, we in the MRM know this to be false. For instance, Blacks make… Read more »
“Since then, we’ve been witness to Father Coughlin, America First, the House Un-American Activities Committee, Senator Joseph McCarthy…Despite our best rhetorical attempts to suppress it, the paranoid streak in American public life is both fairly large and rather persistent. ” Paranoia is a feature of HUMANS not just Americans. One thing that is conspicuously absent from your article is the fact that gate communities are a world wide phenomena. If you want to understand them you cannot just focus on America. You will find them in Russia, China, India, Saudi Arabia. I personally know many people in India and some… Read more »