On Demand
Killing Streets
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
James Alan Fox, professor of Criminal Justice and Professor of Law, Policy and Society at Northeastern University, and Theo Moore, an organizer with Families United for Racial and Economic Equality (FUREE), discuss the new study that found a dramatic surge in homicides involving young black men with guns.
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Don't the data on declining crime rates have to be elaborated upon?
The Village Voice carried a story a year or two ago on how Bloomberg and Kelly had redefined some crimes, changing them from felonies to misdemeanors and thus artificially lowering crime rates.
As I was waiting for the line for the elevator at the Atlantic Street subway the other way, I inadvertently got to the front of the line (I use a cane to walk.) A young black man said loudly-she doesn't know we have a black president! Then he blocked me- to let all of the other passenger get in the car and refused to let me get on the elevator. There were about 8-9 other-black-passengers-I'm white. Nobody said a thing.
A book review in the New England Journal of Medicine said that the high rate of imprisonment of black men has had a damaging effect on the black community, by removing black men from the community, at the very time when they would be working and marrying.
What does Dr. Fox think of that?
Are there any demographic changes that would explain the increase?
crime is a function of poverty not who the mayor is. as the economy fails crime will go up.
Anecdotally, after I was the victim of a violent crime involving a weapon at the hands of young teenagers a few years ago, some people were saying that there are a lot of violent kids coming of age who were born during the crack edpidemic. The conditions of being born into the crack epidemic, according to this view, might explain an increase in violence as these kids mature. However, I know of no evidence to support these claims. Is there any?
I am assuming then that other racial groups in other demographics are maintain their killing at the same rates they have been previously?
to say "mothers of young black men" must be heartbroken is such a naive and book smart commment. mothers of young black men and a lack of any authority in these kids' lives ARE the reason for this crime level and behavior.
i grew up poor but i had my mother & father watching me and they made sure i didn't act like a criminal.
Have you ever walked around the streets of NYC? I am an older black male and I see these young black guys and avoid them. They are angry and disrespectful of themselves and anyone else. Why?
1. Lack of parenting.
2. Low self esteem, feeling of worthlessness. I see young parents on the subway calling their kids stupid and worse all the time.
3. No connection to the broader community. The world these guys live in is pop culture gansta rap fantasy.
4. No education. No value placed on education which comes again from poor parenting.
Is there somewhere I can see all these statistics and tables online?
I'd be interested to know how the percentage of young men compares in the black community as opposed to other communities.
The comments by your guest Theo Moore is correct. There is a LOT of violence going on amongst teenagers that is not being reported.
The NYPD and schools force kids to go out of the perimiter of schools because if they address the problem then this becomes a statistic that hurts the particular school or precint.
As a result there is a significant increase of violence amongst junior high and High school students with serious beatings.
Parents and students refuse to report it because they see that schools and 'security' officers do not want to deal with it and it's taboo to be a snitch.
We now have large number of kids missing school because of severe beatings received on the hands of gangs and just pure fear on the part of these kids to be beaten on the way from and to school
#9 - Bernard, some people are lucky because they have parents there and because some kids are stronger than others. Many parents just CANNOT be physically there for there kids when they come home from school and kids right now are getting constant pressure from all sides - specially with the internet and phones - There is a constant indoctrination 24x7 even when parents are sleeping
#6 - I believe the main reason for this violence is the culture in which they have grown up - Violent video games and misogeny across our culture - TV, movies, video games and music. - I'm at times alarmed at the views of my teenage nephews regarding women - The Taliban are enlightened in comparison
There is no one answer to the problem. There has to be responsible parenting taking place. You have to stay on top of young children like a second skin and guide them down the right path until they become responsible adults BUT FIRST, you have to BE a responsible adult. We need parenting classes for expectant young mothers/fathers under 20.
#2 Joanna's experience is an isolated incident and not releveant to the conversation BL censor, I am not happy that you deleted my response to that end.
Brian, ask the hard questions: Why cannot the Black family and community help itself.
1] Hugh from Crown Heights - you are ABSOLUTELY right! There has been a very elaborate amount of time and resources spent to massage the statistics and to discourage the reporting of violence - specially violence that originates in schools - My nephews tell me that teachers and security guards force kids to move away from the school's perimeter so they don't have to deal with or report any violence. This just makes it worse.
The bloomberg administration is the Enron of local government. The same thing is happening with the graduation and reading level statistics at the Education Department. Failing kids are removed from HS or moved to other 'new' schools. so that they don't appear in the statistics and help to increase the graduation rates
leo- it'd be nice if that were the case but that is absolutely not true. it's real simple- kids are having kids are having kids and so on and so on. it's a cycle of irresponsibility and lack of any guidance and leadership that is the cause of all of this.
the projects in brooklyn and everywhere else are filled with single teen mothers with multiple kids and multiple fathers. these kids don't have a chance; it's not their fault. you are the product of your environment and the "adults" around you, has nothing to do with the internet/tv/music. those things are influences, of course, but a well adjusted kid, rich or poor, will be able to see the big picture.
What the experts are not looking at is the fact that crime is still considered cool by many young people. It is cool to be tough and nothing is tougher then street cred.This is another factor not mentioned on your show that is important to realize.Another factor for the older crowd is that desperation for easy money will always lead to crime be it pickpockets or full on bank robbery. Lets not forget that violent crimes do not always end in death. There is also rape, brutal beatings, and other assault charges to be considered. If you are young or old you can surely see the problem is not just with black or hispanic or white people. It is universal.
...that is not a hard question and it huge generalization. How about hispanics and other monority groups?
So...where is Al Sharpton when we need him??? Why isn't he up in arms & marching in the streets about this epidemic of self-inflicted violence amongst young blacks? Shouldn't the fact that hundreds of young black men & women are dying or being seriously maimed by other young people in their own communities be as much a catalyst for outrage & action as the occassional fact of police overuse of force? When during the last round of uproar about a possible police screw-up some people were moved to suggest that many young men in minority communities had more to fear from the police than from the criminals, many others were flabbergasted. These recent statistics on black-on-black violence only underscore the ludicrousness of such notions & suggest the distorted priorities amongst many in the 'activist' community.
And if NYC has been spared this recent upsurge in self-inflicted violence amongst young people in it's minority commmunities, why were recent cuts in some school varsity spending or other youth programs relevant to anything? How does citing a cause for a problem that doesn't exist clarify? If different cities have different experiences with regard to this upsurge in violence shouldn't one examine the differences in those cities to better understand those different outcomes? Isn't this at least in part, an issue of good or bad law enforcement practices?
I disagree. The actions reported by Joanne reveal abject disregard for another person. Apparently, that disregard was based on race, and while one person seemed to instigate, it was furthered by several. His loud voice could be interpreted to accompany anger.
Disregard and anger leads to violence. I think the comment is relevant to the conversation.
oops! Apologies for the subject-verb disagreement at the end of my post above...
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