This isn’t really news. But some seem to think that blacks only care about black lives murder when it’s at the hands of police. (And certainly police-involved killings seems to be the only ones that get a lot of press). But when blacks do protest and act against violence in the black community, very few seem to notice.
This happenedin Baltimore. The mayor said, “Some people have said the work we’re doing here is blaming black men. I refuse to ignore the crisis.” The sobering facts:
This year, all but three of the city’s 44 homicide victims were black. Last year, 189 of the city’s 211 murder victims were black. And most were young. The largest group of victims — 54 — were age 25 to 29,
"The mechanics of oppressing people is to pervert them to the extent that they become the instruments of their own oppression." – Kumasi, a former gang member, in Stacy Peralta's "Crips and Bloods: Made in America."
Lack of prosocial behavior, limited positive male role models in the offenders' (and likely victims') lives, intergenerational poverty, I could go on, and you know all this, but there also exists an inability for self-help.
It's always amazing to watch white people talk about this. Conservative or liberal doesn't matter, they are all equally clueless. Funny thing is that as a black police officer I get to see both sides get it wrong about TWO things (black people and law enforcement).
The truth is that no, "Black on Black" violence doesn't rile up black people more than outsider on black violence despite the fact that black on black violence is WAY more deadly than damn near anything else. You do see the occasional protest, you see NOTHING like what happened after Rodney King or Michael Brown. This is because it's so much easier to be mad at white people than it is to look at ourselves.
The same goes for white people, we all know murder is intra-racial, but the "Willie Horton ads" had the affect they did because here was the OUTSIDER coming to get us.
Hell, it happens everywhere, all a middle eastern dictator has to do to deflect attention from his own murderous regime is say "Death to America" The fact that America is less deadly to that country's population (even with drone strikes lol) than that dictator is is instantly forgotten by most.
Human beings are still very tribal by nature, which is why black folks are scared of cops who are many times less dangerous to black people than other black folks, and white folks are terrified of illegal immigrants who are for the very most part less likely to commit serious crime than natural born citizens.
First, the idea that black people aren't upset about black on black violence is nonsense, disproved by spending a month at any black church. There are constant, ceaseless "Increase the Peace" classes, demonstrations, and protests.
Second, and more important: When a black civilian kills another black civilian, the full weight of the state will be brought to bear against them. When a white cop kills a black civilian, we're lucky if they get suspended with pay. That's the difference, and that's why the outrage.
That's very true.
But the point I try to raise is that when a cop kills a civilian, it doesn't matter what the race of the victim is. Most shootings are justified, but the bad shootings happen to people of all races.