Farina, I have two Black daughters. Do you think I want to see massive differences in the rate violent acts are committed by Black or Brown or White people when the majority of their victims are Black? That means my daughter is in much greater danger than her siblings, a fact I certainly must educate her about.
The FBI compiles stats for violent crimes reported by victims and the families or friends of victims. Blacks, mostly male, who account for about 6.5% of the US population are responsible for half of all homicides and almost half of all violent crime and most of their victims are also Black. The rate for whites is about fifteen times lower. While there is some correlation between poverty rates and violent crime, the disparity is too large to blame it all on poverty. In fact, in much of the twentieth century with far higher levels of inequity, overt racism, and all White juries, the rates were considerably lower. I don’t know why, and my assertion that cultural differences may account for some of it is not out of line nor racist.
For example one cultural factor which does come into play is the anti-snitch norm in inner cities, which results in many perpetrators not being identified, and therefore free to continue to victimize others. One report last week said that three weeks after 74 people were shot in Chicago in one weekend, not a single suspect had been identified. While that issue contributes to the lopsided numbers, it cannot account for a 1,500% difference.
If you disagree the issue may be cultural, what do you think accounts for the difference?
