I hope y'all know "black on black crime" is a direct result of unjust police intervention in black neighborhoods.
You can't really hit at "black on black crime" w/o hitting at the core of the issue, which is essentially policy failings and administrative negligence of a lot of the economic issues black people face.
When things come to light like:
Nixon administration official admits drug war was used to target blacks
Or read about the Iran-Contra affair in the Reagan administration that had CIA officials trafficking drugs through police into black neighborhoods to profit off of black poverty...
Or the mass incarceration policies of the Clinton era
Or of Bush's gross inaction during the Katrina floods that devastated many black families and resulted in police officers shooting innocent black people trying to find high ground...literally just trying to survive...
...it should open a window into the oppressive circumstances that have allowed "black on black" crime to prevail. And to think that we can eliminate "black on black" crime w/o confronting these institutional defects only speaks to the naivety and ignorance people (especially white people) have on the struggle of black people in America.
the restAnd the reason I've been quoting "black on black" crime this entire time, is because it's simply a construct. White people commit the most crimes against other white people. According to the US Department of Justice statistics, 84 percent of white people killed every year are killed by other whites. But do we deem that an epidemic? Or do we just acknowledge crime as crime? Apparently, when whites commit crimes, it doesn't speak to some instrinsic failure of white people's nature.
Why isn't the same relief afforded to black people? How come when a group of blacks aiming for positive change in their community by chipping away at institutional bias come forward, they're met with "black on black crime" rhetoric? Simple, it's a way to absolve America of the prejudice and institutionalized discrimination engendered for generations against blacks. "We're not obligated to help criminals, so let's paint this picture of the entire black community as criminals whenever they come forward with their grievances." It's a buffer against responsibility, a way to shift blame and deflect cause and effect.
Crime is prevalent in the black community. Why? Because poverty. How do we fix that? By not funneling young black boys into prison and setting them up for a life of crime. By allowing them to navigate life with dignity and a respect for their individuality and autonomy, not frisking them down on the street for wearing baggy pants. Funneling more money into black schools, and so many other solutions I could list that require positive institutional intervention, but I'm sure the answer some of y'all want to hear is the abstract "by stopping black on black crime!11!"
Pin alone >>>
