I think most people account for external factors (e.g., poverty). However, we can’t get bogged down by fallacy of a single causation. Comparatively, other indigent communities are not killing 35% of their youth. In turn, there has to be factors that are not wholly encompassed by poverty that are exacerbating the killing in our communities. Admittedly, I will say that these other factors (whatever they may or may not be) are hard to quantify in an empirical data set vis-a-vis something as numerically non-amorphous as murder. I’m just going to bullet point some observations of our current predicament.
* We’ve completely lost the ability to police our own communities. I really noticed it when Trayvon Martin was murdered. It occurred to me after that young lady he was on the phone with took the stand and was almost incapable of forming a complete sentence. There was a lot of backlash surrounding her online, but she had a legion of supporters too. Currently, there is always a throng of supporters for whatever social, educational, moral, or psychological inadequacies a person may have in our community. Years ago when she was a child and struggling with speech — a neighbor, clergy, a teacher, someone — would have pulled her aside and said, “Hey, we need to work on you being able to articulate yourself. You’re going to have to be able to navigate the world on your own accord,” but those things are old-hat now. The reality is, the world was always going to be a much crueler place for a young black girl with children already that can’t/couldn’t effectively speak than whatever someone was saying about her on Instagram. However, we can’t address those micro realities anymore.
* Some of the same things that are proverbial poison pills socially are the biggest entertainment blocs in our community. The same stuff that’s poisoning us, we often find entertaining. People don’t like to hear it; but rap has a huge influence. For example, look how everyone says “smoking on a _____ pack,” now. Where’d that come from? That’s just an example how rap is easily able to disseminate ideas to the masses, and if you’re ingesting, “spin the block music” all day as a impressionable youth…. Yeah.
* nikka. Again, another mass delusion; but shyt has been incredibly detrimental for the community. It’s the constant reiteration and commodifIcation of “other status.” I mean, you’re not even really a fully actualized — nor realized person. You’re something else. You’re a league below that. You’re a “nikka.” Of course — I gotta get your ass out of the paint…. nikka.
* We often live such constrained; yet impasse ridden lives that we’ve normalized a lot of behaviors that aren’t normal and are in fact deviant behaviors. Moreover, a lot of us find such behaviors funny or cute. fukking a woman in the middle of a restaurant is not normal. Shootouts on the expressway is not some normal run of the mill social activity in a functional society. A black man getting up and slapping another black man in the middle of an awards show is not a normative behavior. All varying levels of deviance, but all with a lot of people on here that we’re cheering these acts on and most of the dudes on this site are 30-40+ years old.
* This goes back to your point about external factors. Even with external stimuli accounted for there has to be somethings we can proactively do for ourselves to improve of plight. If not, we’ve not only have already lost the battle but the war. We just don’t realize it, yet. It would be a fait accompli. Martin Delaney was talking about the same stuff we’re talking about today in 1852 when he wrote: The Condition, Elevation, Emigration, and Destiny of Colored People in the US. The same stuff in 1852! That’s incredibly sobering. What befuddles me about the black community is we actually have the highest self-esteem in most age ranges respective to other races. This is data I’ve seen/pulled myself from the GSS before. Thus, when people say our problem is “self-hate,” I believe it to be too simplistic in scope. I’m still thinking of a name for this phenomenon.
Reading this you’d think I was some conservative foggy. I’m actually a relatively young progressive. However, I can’t turn a blind eye to the things I’ve seen anecdotally or have gleaned empirically in my studies. I’m always going to be optimistic; but yeah. We’re in a bad state.
www.cdc.gov
Realest answer.
