Black on Black Crime Essay

Black on black violence is an enormous problem in the African-American community. Living in a neighborhood that is mostly minority, many may have witnessed a lot of black on black violence. The black on black violence has continued to arise in many communities and continues to be a problem around the world. Black on black violence is ignorant, and many black Americans should be coming together instead of killing one another. African-Americans people should be helping each other achieve in the world, instead of putting one another. By African-Americans killing one another, it proves to other races that black people do not know how to act, and that we are truly ignorant in this world. African-Americans need to realize that all we have is each other and by killing each other we show that brotherly love does not exist among our own. Studies show that 1 and 146 African-American males are at the risk of a violent death, whereas the ratio for Caucasian men is 1 and 189. This study shows that African-American men are more likely to become the victim of a violent death than a Caucasian man. This study is saddening because African-American people should be making a difference in the world by proving we are better than what people make African-Americans out to be. In another study by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (covering reported violent crime that occurred between 1993-98) when the offender had been identified, 76% of the time the violence was intra-racial. [2]. † Enrico Ferri, a student of Lombroso, considered Black people to be of an â€Å"inferior race† and more prone to crime than others. In 2008 a total of 40 homicides were committed in Little Rock, 54% were committed by blacks against blacks. Nationally, homicide is the leading cause of death for young black men ages 10-24, and the second leading cause of death for black women ages 15-24. The effect of this violence in the African-American community is tremendous; Violence is very much part of what it means to be Black in America. These studies are very high when it comes to showing how violent African-Americans are, and what they are capable of. African-American people should look at these studies and want to make a difference, if not for them, then for the future of the African-American race that have to suffer the consequences for the actions of others. The cause for all of this black on black violence is the gang violence that has been rapidly increasing as the years have passed. All of these people that are a part of a gang, go around killing people because of a street that they do not even own. So many African-Americans become a part of a gang because they probably do not have love and support at home. Since they do not get it there, they run to the streets to be with people that they think care about them and will give them support. Many young boys that are from gangs feel, since they grew up around gangs, then they might as well become a part of one. The boys that are in these gangs think their purpose for being in a gang is to protect the street they live on. But what they do not realize is that their lives are put in danger when they try to protect something not even theirs. Whether in the Black community, or any community, we know that there are some factors that correlate with a lower rate of violence. Two of the leading ones are: economic stability and strong social networks. Communities in which people have their basic needs met correlate with a lower incidence of violence. Both of these will be difficult to achieve until racism is addressed (see reason number one) and African-Americans achieve equal opportunity. This statement is true because, if African-Americans had the same opportunities as Caucasians and had way more to look forward to, then maybe African-Americans would not commit these violent crimes. Another way to help reduce black on black crime is to talk about it more in the media or in public forum. This would help directly and indirectly those affected by black on black crime. The Center for Healing Hearts and Spirits created a Media Awareness Campaign that educated 200,000 community residents on black on black crime. They also hosted a crime summit that had over 1,200 people to part take in it. If there were more information and awareness available about this rising act of violence between African Americans, maybe there would not be as many homicides involving blacks. African-Americans need to realize that life is more important than taking someone else’s life. Now a day, people take life for granted and act like it is something to play with. When people do not care about their own life, how can they care about the person whose life that they are taking? This is a problem with people today; they do not care about nothing in life so they take it out on the next person. Years past, African-Americans would get spit on, beaten, and put in jail just because they were black. They were not killing people; they were punished because of their skin color. If more African-Americans appreciated the life that they were given and respected others, maybe more could learn how to get along and come together as a people.