A wave of violence has killed innocent lives in America, and that is police brutality. In recent years, unarmed black men and women have been slained by armed law enforcement. Videos and evidence showing the events that have taken place still aren’t enough to convict police officers for the crimes they have committed. On the topic of police brutality, some people like to stir in black on black crime, justifying it with recent events of police brutality.
Black on black crime is another epidemic the African-American community faces. It is not superior or inferior to police brutality, but it isn’t the cause of it neither. History has a huge part in the manifestation of both.
Since the time before and after blacks were brought to America, there has been a huge divide in the way they were treated opposed to other groups. Black people have been looked at as barbaric, deadly, and evil due to that negative stigma, others act on that “fear” when interacting with black people. This is clearly problematic. If you think otherwise, look at Eric Garner, Alton Sterling, and Terence Crutcher, who have all complied with officers and in return have lost their lives from it. Officers in these events have also expressed that they feared for their lives when dealing with the individuals listed above. American history has a haunting effect on America today.
With black on black crime, the black offender gets punished for the crime they’ve committed. On the contrary, when a law enforcement officer commits a crime, he or she is acquitted, paid leave, or the case gets neglected. And that, right there is why black on black crime does not justify or give reason to police brutality. It is an unfair disadvantage that blacks and other non-Anglo races face.
“If they care so much about black lives and how important they are, why do they kill each other?” People who live in inner city neighborhoods are very disenfranchised, and the poverty rate is alarming. When you’re surrounded by those areas where the government stratifies them as being less important, frustrations can then lead to crime. These neighborhoods are not the main concern as far as government assisting goes. Negative living conditions can anger people within that community and cause them to attack each other.
With that said, you react to what you’re surrounded by. The rate of black on black crime is about the same as crime in white communities committed by white people and the same for other races. Why is it that blacks are held accountable when they kill one another?
Black lives are important, whether they die by the hands of a police officer or by the hands of his brother. So next time someone uses the black on black crime excuse for police brutality, educate them on why they aren’t the same and shouldn’t be used in the comparison of one another.
HCXO