@PriestTheyCalledHim
This tired idea makes the wrongful connection between Blackness and criminality
level.medium.com
First, thanks for the link (and the violence map one). I consider the read as time well spent. Though, there are a few confusing points put forth in it:
The implication of the “Black on Black violence” rhetoric places personal responsibility for solving long-standing systemic issues at the feet of communities affected by them. It asks everyday citizens (who have an iota of the resources the state has) to fix issues that should be addressed with policy. It assumes that the solution is having the majority of Black people police their communities instead of putting officers in jail when they commit murder. And it makes the wrongful connection between Blackness and criminality.
The author misses the point of personal, and communal, accountability. The finger pointed at black on black crime isn't to a race as a whole - the majority of blacks aren't committing crimes, on anyone. It is to do with individuals who make the choice to commit such crimes (against anyone, but upon other blacks is likely convenience of proximity more than anything else). It is also to do with communities that no longer teach young men to be fathers for their children; a problem that has also been growing among whites for decades but is more pronounced or visible among young black men.
I get that this then extends to the 'system', with the cycle of poverty and other factors that limit a young black person's opportunities unfairly = they may not have the options for success, the mentors for proper fatherhood or leadership, the other factors that enable others to break from their situation and rise. I won't deny those limitations exist. I would argue they exist for anyone in that cycle, regardless of skin color, ethnic origin, or beliefs; and I'd admit it most largely populated with blacks.
It's easy for me, being a white male, who had a father in his life, and has had a better environment for development and success, to point to the bootstrap attitude. I had someone buy me the boots, teach me how to wear them, and strap them up for me I had other show me how to wear them, to walk, and eventually run in them; and to catch me when I stumbled, to pick me back up to try again. I haven't been in that cycle, to be trapped without hope.
But to ignore the responsibility and the accountability of the individual totally is also incomplete. One can't just claim 'system racism' and the man is holding me down. There are people who survive and achieve success despite coming from that cycle. And what used to be traditional strongholds for support (family, church) can regain the strength they once provided, if the individual wishes to lean on them and the community makes those a priority to put support into. The individual is only as alone as they choose to be, there is always someone willing to lend a hand.
We would be hard-pressed to find a time in modern American history when the masses of Black people haven’t clearly expressed exactly what they need to improve their communities. Yet too often, we’ve been handed more police.
And the author fails to provide those 'clearly expressed' needs. There is a recurring theme in the article to indicate police brutality is 100% always in effect, therefore the black community cannot expect help from them, only more abuse. This is simply not the case. Does it exist? Yes. 100% always in effect? No. Not anywhere. Moreover, aside from a police force that remains friendly and fair, what 'needs' are so clearly obvious, to be addressed by policy (per the author)? If someone outlined actual needs that aren't etheral but are concrete, achievable with definitive outcomes, America as a whole would be behind ensuring those needs are met. And yet, having read the article, I still don't know what those might be.