A Reminder of the Scale of Black American Deaths by Other Blacks

Prof. Walter E. Williams just wrote a column reminding us of the scale of the problem Black Americans have with respect to being murdered by other blacks.  Let us examine the bare and essential facts:

• Blacks lynched by whites between 1882 and 1968 = 3,446
• Blacks killed in the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the wars since 1980 = 18,515
• Blacks killed in the U.S. by other blacks from 1976 to 2011 = 262,621

94% of the blacks murdered in the U.S. from 1976 to 2011 were murdered by other blacks.  Blacks are 13% of the population, but they are more than half of all murder victims.  They are also the victims of most of the violent personal crimes as well.  Blacks are murdered at a rate 6 times that of whites overall and 94% of the time by other blacks.

Those relatively few instances in which a white kills a black are much, much more often discussed in our society than are these black on black violent crimes.  Of course such white crimes against blacks are deplorable.  But if the life experience of American blacks is to be improved, it is much more important to bring an end to the avalanche of black violent crimes with black victims.  Yet we do not talk about it very much.  The reason is because too many people are afraid that bringing this critical problem up will be viewed as a criticism of black Americans.  These days any criticism is likely to be called evidence of racism.

Unfortunately, when one race or ethnic group consistently exhibits a much greater propensity for violence and establishes a reputation for being dangerous to others, that group will rationally be feared and disdained.  This may be a kind of racism alright, but it is not the kind of racism that is morally condemnable.  One may very much wish to judge each individual Black American on his individual character and one may do so when the opportunity exists to do so, yet, when walking down a city street at night it may be most reasonable to be especially aware of any members of that racial or ethnic group known for its tendency toward violent crimes.

If many members of the group known for its violent crimes are then uncomfortable with being viewed as potential criminals, this is a sad thing.  Yet, the only realistic answer in some circumstances of being free of this fear or doubt is the elimination of the overwhelming fact that their group is violent and known for that fact.  In America today, we mostly try to pretend that we can ignore the facts, except when we are walking down that dark city street in a neighborhood with a good number of Black Americans in it.  Obama's grandmother may have been only reasonable in having the fear Obama attributed to her in such cases.

We all pay a heavy price for this, but the heaviest price is paid by those Black Americans who do not wish to be among the violent criminals.  They become the premier victims of the violence, but also of the doubts of others.  Since the white American pointing this out is likely to be called a racist, most especially by blacks, it is hard for them to do much to really address this issue.  The issue has to be primarily addressed by black Americans themselves, especially in their own neighborhoods.

In many neighborhoods, black Americans have done little to address this violent crime problem.  They have also commonly failed to address the problem that their schools are providing a very poor education to their children.  Attempts to blame whites for the violence or the poor schools is really ridiculous and it is clearly used to duck responsibility to improve one's own life and neighborhood in many black communities.