On September 28, an event, that seems to be almost common place in America, happened; a school shooting. Unfortunately, one boy at the school was killed and the perpetrator, a 14-year-old boy, murdered his father before going to the school. The shooting occurred at Townville Elementary School in Charleston, South Carolina, where the boy shot a 6-year-old, two boys, and a female teacher. This event will most likely bring up some redundant discussion of gun control, however there is something no major news network will ever discuss; white on white crime. Now they’ve probably mentioned black on black crime, which is always brought up when a black person is shot and killed by police, but the term “white on white crime” is never even used. But it’s never seen as a problem, it’s hidden under the guise of mental illness and romanticized in crime shows and documentaries.
The argument of “black on black crime” is used commonly to delegitimize arguments and discussions regarding police brutality against blacks. “Well instead of worrying about police, you should worry about killing each other!” This is a common argument used by all lives matter supporters, racists on social media and various others who choose not to see the problem of systemic police execution of blacks. And this has potential be a valid argument if it weren’t for three reasons. One is that black people do care. A lot actually. In fact there was a movement in 1987 called the “Stop the Violence Movement” which specifically targeted violence in black communities. Movements like this disprove the narrative that crime within primarily black communities is ignored by black people. However, it’s not like this argument made sense anyway because black on black crime isn’t real. Statistically speaking, communities with one particular population will see violence among that population. Basically if a community is filled with black people, then the only violence you would see is violence against that population. So if a community is filled primarily with black people, then black people are going to be the ones affected by that crime, which is something that is never mentioned when this argument is brought up.
All of these factors, are examples of what make the claim “black people should stop killing each other” not make sense. If you want to play the rules of the people who use this argument, then one could easily retort with “Well the FBI shows that 84% of violent crimes committed against whites, where done by other whites.” That same chart also shows that white people commit more crimes, than any other race, and that gang related murders are committed the most by white people. Other studies and statistics show that white people are responsible for more mass shootings than any other race combined and that white people were responsible for more terror attacks, since 9/11, than jihadists were. So what’s the purpose of the “black on black crime” argument? The purpose is to dehumanize and ignore; that’s all it is. They don’t have to care that police are doing it, because black people, in their eyes, are doing the same thing. However, by that logic, police should never be held accountable for killing literally anyone, because that demographic is statistically bound to kill themselves more.
No matter how many times people, who use the “black on black crime” argument, claim that they’re not racist, their combative attitude, and ignorance of other crime statistics, proves otherwise. Black people, as with any other race, should not be held accountable for their own oppression. This narrative of blacks being seen as self-destructive, in the face of other people killing them, is one that needs to be eliminated.
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