We Need to Expand Our Ideas About Black Homicide
Murder and brutality by police are a problem in Black communities. However, that is not the only threat to Black men.
The death of Tyre Nicols after a brutal beating by five Memphis cops would have been yet another story in a long line of sad civil escapades of Black men being killed by those who are supposed to protect against violence; the local police force. This time, it was not white cops that have committed the murder. Instead, the five policemen who beat the life out of an unarmed young Black man were themselves, young Black men.
The fact that the cops were themselves Black seemed to surprise everyone. The news media did not waste a segment on the event without mentioning the race of the cops. The topic of the race of the cops was debated on sports shows, and sportscasters were quick to condemn the cops doubly because of their race.
It could be true that the biggest surprise of the cop’s race was not that they were Black, but that it was a surprise in the first place. Unarmed Black men are killed by the cops all the time, and these incidents get a lot of airtime. Unfortunately, that is not a surprise. Black people are killed by other Black people (unfortunately) all the time. The Tyre Nicols case is a bigger story because these cops happen to be Black.
According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control), homicide is the number 1 cause of death for Black males between the ages of 1 to 44. In 2016, of the 2870 Black homicide victims, 2570 of those murders were committed by other Blacks. Plenty of statistics support that the crime rate in predominantly Black areas is very high. In 2018, for example, 88 percent of Black homicide victims were killed by other Blacks. When the factor that the relationship between Blacks and police officers is strained, and the violence between blacks is frequent based on crime statistics, then it should not come as a shock that Black police officers, who grew up in the same type of area he now polices, would not feel as convulsed as the media, about a cop’s violent act against his own people.
We can agree that there is a problem. But to call it a Black-on-Black crime is not an accurate description of the problem. Poverty and lack of resources, such as jobs and education, contribute to crime. Racism, drugs, and politics throw oil on a fire already raging in low-income neighborhoods. Anyone who grew up in this environment, regardless of race, will have a high percentage chance of being a perpetrator or a victim of a violent crime. More often than not, the crime is committed by and to people living and working in that area.
Europeans have fought each other for thousands of years and are still fighting now. But I have yet to hear of any crime committed by whites on whites as a white-on-white crime. All of the roads that lead to crime have to be seriously addressed. However, corruption in Black communities is so commonplace that it has been pseudo-accepted. Brief attention and lip service are pointed that way when needed. Still, the common is not sexy enough to garner the attention of stylishly dressed celebrity lawyers and media pundits who always turn up when the cameras are rolling. If I were to judge by the prominent police brutality cases, I would think there were only three Black lawyers in the United States.
We should not classify it as black-on-black crime and call it a crime because to solve the crime, you will have to eliminate the causes of crime. The entire social -economic well-being of Black neighborhoods depends on inserting valuable social sustaining services in decaying communities. Jobs, health facilities, and well-funded schools. All of this is clear, but even with the impossibly high statistics on black homicide, 1000 black deaths caused by black people do not get half the attention of one black death caused by a white cop.
It seems the collective consciousness of America tucks the stats under a rug. Last October, 34 people, including several children, were shot over one weekend in Chicago. Five people were killed, including an 11-year-old boy. No one marched, and no famous lawyers turned up. It was reported for several days and received little notice or outrage nationally. This lack of attention is distressing. We are still getting over COVID-19. A recession is eating our money, social unrest is rising, and a massive surge in gun violence is tearing cities and communities apart.
After the shooting death of Walter Wallace, Jr in Philadelphia, Joe Biden Tweeted, “for all those suffering the emotional weight of learning about another Black life in America lost. Walter’s life mattered.” That is a lot of attention for one person. Politicians and community leaders quickly agreed and jumped on the bandwagon of yet another high-profile case. They only need five words; “Cop kills a Black man.”
We would set things on the right course if we tackled the problem of poverty. Solving poverty will not stop crime but can put a big dent in violent crime. The poverty rate among Blacks is 20%, Hispanics 17%, and Whites 8%. Imagine throwing 113 billion dollars into free training and education, job creation, and accessible healthcare for the most crime-infested, drug-addled communities across the United States. One hundred thirteen billion is the amount that congress approved for the war in Ukraine in 2020. With the violence escalation in the cities, we have a large portion of the American population under just as much stress and emotional turmoil as the people in Ukraine. It only makes sense that we spend that money on health and education instead of spending it on prisons and weapons.
If the politicians, entertainers, and news media turned away from the stories and taglines that garner them the most followers and instead help to shed light on the mundane and commonplace events, such as when a Black kills another Black. The killing of any Black man by a cop does demand the attention it is getting. But only three percent of Black homicides are killed by cops. Cops commit ten percent of White and Latino homicides. It would be great to see more protests and marches, news interviews, lead stories, politicians and celebrities attending funerals, all for one commonplace Black homicide. If we don’t treat poverty and the violence it creates with the same seriousness and commitment as we treat war, we are headed for decades of deaths, incarcerations, segregation, and policing.
