Less than two months ago, Shane Johnson, a former blogger turned social activist, made his presence known when he traveled to Washington to question public outcry against the mistreatment of black male offenders in highly publicized crimes such as those of the Jena 6. Johnson insists that continued support for black perpetrators who commit crimes against white victims belie the instances of violence when blacks themselves are the victims and their fellow blacks the perps.
Although his stance might be highly unpopular, Johnson has a point. As the rates of black on black crime increase across the nation, the media has elected to spotlight, even victimize, young black men who, themselves, choose to commit these crimes. Civil rights leaders have held black perpetrators up as proof of an unequal justice system while crimes in which black women are raped by black men and young black men are shot and killed in gang violence with other black gang members.
Johnson believes that there needs to be equal time for all crimes in order for the nation to completely understand the crimes committed by blacks, and that minimizing the publicity about black on black crime because it doesn’t further the needs of anyone.
The numbers also agree with Johnson. As of the 2005 census, blacks accounted for only thirteen percent of the population of the United States, but accounted for nearly half of the nation’s murder victims – and 93% of those murder victims were killed by other blacks. Other violent crimes, such as rape and assault, were also reported to affect blacks at a level disproportionate with their population numbers.
The fact that black on black violence in America presents a problem for the black community and the nation as a whole can’t be ignored. Blacks have a greater chance of being the victim of a black perpetrator than a white one. The numbers warrant a deeper look into the problem.
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