"If I had my life to live over a thousand times, the one thing I would not change would be my race. I am proud to be a black man. There are times however, when I wish that certain people and I did not share that trait."-Leighton Levy

A few years ago, shortly after hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, the Jamaican Star published an online editorial titled, “The Dark Side of Black People." The author, Leighton Levy, who was apparently embarrassed and appalled by the behavior of a decent number of blacks as captured by the media, wrote, "The pictures I have been seeing are of people - black people - stealing shoes, diapers, and television sets. Not food and definitely not water. Not unless the armfuls of clothing, shoes, and appliances I see people wading through the streets count as food and water.” He concluded, “I am beginning to believe that black people, no matter where in the world they are, are cursed with a genetic predisposition to steal, murder, and create mayhem.” Was he simply blowing off steam? Or is there a correlation between the nature of a crime and genetics?

Subsequently, while browsing one of my favorite online forums, a thread labeled, “Blacks and Violence” also caught my attention. The poster - another professed black man - who stated that he was tired of seeing all the violence among blacks… asks, “ Why do some blacks like violence so much? His rationale, “Blacks don’t seem to have much value for human life.” As many of us who reside in the U.S are aware of, whenever there’s a racially flavored topic of discussion, tempers flare. Insinuations run rampant. Viewpoints vary. I stood on the sideline to observe what some members of that board had to say…

A Case of Genetics Gone Awry?

First, “The last figures I saw from FBI statistics was that black men are approximately 6% of the population but commit 44% of the violent crime in our nation,” writes one poster. “In black Africa where some countries hadn’t seen a white person in 50 years it is even worse. They murder each other by the hundreds of thousands, even children and babies who could not possibly have offended anyone.” WOW! I wondered how come I was not aware of such statistics. He added, “Clearly the major problem with the black race is violence and it’s probably at least partly genetic.” Really? I wanted to toss in “I suppose there was nothing absolutely violent about the actions of Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hilter who had millions of their people exterminated for as simple a reason as opposing political views!” But I didn’t. I wanted to add, Yep, It’s okay for president Bush to sanction the invasion of another country; sacrifice thousands of lives in the process, under the pretext of fostering democracy when the real motive was purely fiscal!” Again, I didn’t. I should definitely have blurted, “Mass murder by white men is not as bad as violent crimes by blacks!” After all, isn’t it common knowledge that Hitler and Stalin were really black men with white skin? And while we’re at it, let’s not forget late, Saddam Hussein!

Of all the commentary, none had me floored more than, “If the U.S. had no black crime, it would be the most peaceful nation in the world.” Was this poster, perhaps hiding an ace somewhere up his sleeve?  

Race not a Factor!

 Unlike a coin which only has two sides, opinions have way too many angles. And fortunately or unfortunately, everyone has one. Standing on the other side of the fence, there were some members who believed that blacks are not the only people who are prone to crime and violence. “It is also Hispanics, Whites, and all the other nationalities that live here,” said one female poster.  “Majority of these perpetrators of violent crimes come from abusive household and are simply following lead of what they had seen.” In addition, she blames the new generation of parents “who just let their children go wild” for not disciplining them like previous generations of parents. Another member added, “You know poverty is very high and when you have to fight for food as a small child, you grow up to be very hateful of life and greedy. Then you discover that you can cheat, steal or kill for what you want.”

Further, Solomon Eidolon a 53-year- old southerner who claimed, “I could probably qualify in the minds of most, as a racist,” firmly echoed that violence is not a racial issue. “One might argue that blacks have the market cornered on bad attitudes … and I would be hard pressed to disagree.” Solomon was convinced that “the root of the problem is attitude, not skin color.” In his opinion, the reason that blacks seem, for the most part, to have bad attitudes is simple. “Liberal society has relieved them of their self-respect. Before the guilt ridden liberals decided that they should throw stolen tax money at the "blacks" as a reward for being non productive, blacks had self-respect. As many of them (and poor whites, Hispanics, etc.) became dependent on government handouts they began to loose self-respect. After a few generations on the take, the handouts confirmed for them that they were worthless. It is hard to maintain any degree of self-respect once one decides that he/she is worthless to society. And, of course, once one's self-respect is gone; it is impossible to have respect for another, and especially the ones you view as having caused your worthlessness. Only one more step along this logic trail results in a loss of respect for life, itself. If one were to consider this phenomenon objectively, surely one would notice that it pervades all races that are on the government take.”

We could fault genetics for all the violent crimes that are committed by Blacks. We could point our fingers at African Americans for the high rate of crimes in America. Heck, we could even blame lack of parental discipline, poverty, or a liberal society. The bottom line is… majority of law-abiding citizens are sick and tired of it- particularly those senseless "black on black" crimes.

Every now and then, I reminisce about Kosovo, Bosnia, Iraq and the amount of havoc that’s being instigated by terrorists and other “macho boneheads” known as revolutionary groups all around the world. My heart still bleeds on occasion, for Rwanda and Darfur. Maybe the U.S would be a peaceful country without black crime. Then again, maybe not! I am not a gambling woman, yet I would wager on this…

If women solely inhabited earth, the likes of Smith & Wesson or Brinks Home Security System would become bankrupt business ventures. Handguns, Explosive Devices, Security Cameras and Auto Alarm Systems would probably non-existent. Child Molestation, Ethnic Cleansings, Rape and other Aggravated Assaults against Children and Women would be unheard of. You may call me crazy. You may call me biased. Right or wrong, I am unequivocally convinced that Men(not all), regardless of race, color or creed are the ‘root’ of most, if not all violent crimes! But why?
 

Robot  Villager

# 1 var sbtitle1229=encodeURIComponent(The Square ...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 17.01.2008 11:18

NWANZA  Villager

# 2 “Mass murder by white men is not as bad as violent crimes by blacks!” After all, isn’t it common knowledge that Hitler and Stalin were really black men with white skin? Same physiological propaganda the use to label every evil thing black, to imply they are cast down to mankind from black or African man...such as these examples:-) LABELS Contraband goods = Black Market. Cigarette disease = Black Lung Wall Street mess = Black Monday Aids pandemic = Black African European pandemic = Black plague Statistics are thrown up to make black people fear their own black family, and we always seek false comfort with the white skinned world. Don't let them get into your hearth, even if they manage to get into your head. Reading the Bible should be able to help one counter all the negativity, and be able to see the world in a whole new light...color blind. Posted by NWANZA| 17.01.2008 14:09

Shoko Loko Bangoshe  Villager

# 3 Bennie, Yes - there is a definite link to men and violent crime. It's all that testosterone that fuels our aggressive nature. As you say, if men were removed from this earth tomorrow, there would be a huge drop in the incidence ethnic cleansing, rape and assault. But that aggression is double-edged - it is also what drives us to seek out new adventure, to discover new things, to push the boundaries of knowledge and experience into hitherto unknown areas. It is what introduces spice and excitement into the world as we know it. So I'm pretty sure the world would be safer without men - but it would also be much duller and much more primitive. Posted by Shoko Loko Bangoshe| 17.01.2008 14:19

dele26  Villager

# 4 =NWANZA;4294980996>Same physiological propaganda the use to label every evil thing black, to imply they are cast down to mankind from black or African man...such as these examples:-) LABELS Contraband goods = Black Market. Cigarette disease = Black Lung Wall Street mess = Black Monday Aids pandemic = Black African European pandemic = Black plague Statistics are thrown up to make black people fear their own black family, and we always seek false comfort with the white skinned world. Don't let them get into your hearth, even if they manage to get into your head. Reading the Bible should be able to help one counter all the negativity, and be able to see the world in a whole new light...color blind. Black sheep of the family Black eye Black monkey Black spot Black box Blackburn Black pool Black holes Black tea Black friday Black belt Posted by dele26| 17.01.2008 15:56

akuluouno  Villager

# 5 Black tea, Black belt:D:D:D White lie, whitewash, white elephant:idea::idea::idea: You forgot black mail:sad::sad: Villagers there are other colours in the hummanity rainbow. It is not just white or black:eek::eek: Posted by akuluouno| 17.01.2008 16:23

udokaamah  Villager

# 6 "If women solely inhabited earth, the likes of Smith & Wesson or Brinks Home Security System would become bankrupt business ventures. Handguns, Explosive Devices, Security Cameras and Auto Alarm Systems would probably non-existent. Child Molestation, Ethnic Cleansings, Rape and other Aggravated Assaults against Children and Women would be unheard of. You may call me crazy. You may call me biased. Right or wrong, I am unequivocally convinced that Men(not all), regardless of race, color or creed are the ‘root’ of most, if not all violent crimes! But why?" The last paragraph betrayed an extreme ideological demagoguery of what i thought would have been an excellent multi-pronged discourse. I also think the issue was poorly framed. Neither race nor gender, standing alone, represents the square root of violent crime. I am of the opinion that because the author framed the issue this way, it aided a conclusion that is out of whack with mainstream thinking and fueled the prejudices that contribute to some violent crimes. As far as statistics go, the author may be correct. The Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) (a very authoritative federal data maintained by the FBI), makes the following findings: 1. There is more Black-on-white than Black-on-Black violent crime. 2. Of approximately 1,7000,000 inter-racial crimes of violence involving blacks and whites, 90 percent are committed by blacks against whites. 3. Blacks commit violent crimes at four to eight times the white rate. Hispanics commit crimes at approximately three times the white rate, and Asians at one half to three quarters the white rate. 4. Blacks are much more dangerous than whites as men are more dangerous than women. However statistics alone does very little to explain the unspoken nuances of this subject. The above statistics does not take into account the disparity of responses and reporting by the Police in dealing with people of color. Further, the UCR classifies Hispanics as White in the report. Again, the UCR estimates that 80 percent of the violent crimes are committed by young people in their 20's. Accordingly, the 90 percent estimate of violent crimes among Black people represents about 20 percent of the Black community. Posted by udokaamah| 17.01.2008 18:44