Alicia Davis
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Long before the tragedies of Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis, gun violence has been plaguing the black community in the United States for decades. Events like those aforementioned often garner a lot of public outrage and media attention in an effort to start a conversation and incite action against the perpetrators.
The motives of the media are sometimes called into question due to the longstanding history of shaky race relations in this country. Are they against gun violence or trying to incite further racial tensions? That is one of the questions you often hear asked by sceptics.
Almost without failure, these incidents always evoke cries for the media to bring attention to not just interracial gun violence but to crimes that minorities commit against each other.
Taking a look at the statistics, there is no denying that black-on-black crime, in particular, is a serious issue in America. Blacks are six times as likely to be the victim of a homicide and seven times as likely to commit a homicide, as our white peers. The national ratio of incarceration of blacks to white was 6:1 in 2010, ranging from 2:1 to 13:1 across the states.
Many see this data and interpret it to mean that gun violence is a black issue, particularly a young black male issue, and subsequently excuse themselves from the greater conversation. Some even go as far to say that if we discount the gun violence in the black community, then there would be no significant gun violence issue in America. To dismiss the issue in this manner is not only irresponsible to the greater American community, but it sends the message that either black lives are not of value or issues of another demographics' community are not applicable to the greater United States population.
In light of high crime rates, many Americans, both black and white, feel vulnerable to a chronic fear of unknown attackers and seek to equip themselves with a gun for protection. This fear drives the insistence on the legal right to bear arms. Incidentally, twice more white Americans own guns than black Americans. In the case of white Americans, many view a particular group of the population to be responsible for gun violence and thus do not want to forfeit their rights solely because another group is perceived to misuse their privilege.
While many would like to accuse the black community of not being concerned with black-on-black crime, the black community is actually the most supportive group of gun control legislation. 72% of blacks support banning possession of assault weapons, compared to only 54% of whites. Blacks are more supportive of laws promoting safe gun use and restrictions to access and purchase firearms.
The pundits will chastise minorities for making a huge deal out of interracial crimes, but fail to mention that there are already many ongoing efforts within these very same minority communities. In addition to our unyielding support of stricter gun laws, there are many initiatives within high crime black communities that aim to mitigate the violence that infects the neighborhood.
Churches, schools, non-profits and other formal coalitions are often the unsung heroes fighting in the trenches to diffuse violent crimes. Often comprised of well-known and well-respected community members, these groups work to educate and influence peers to resolve issues in alternative non-violent ways and may also go so far as to directly interrupt a conflict before it is about to take place.
However, these efforts go highly unnoticed by many due to the lack of media attention. Representatives of black communities often decry the media's tendency to cover the incidents like the Newtown Elementary School & Aurora Theatre Massacre in great detail, but gloss over the mass genocide occurring daily in cities like Chicago. The belief is that these events are so frequent that it's not really worthy of the weekly news cycle.
Yet, I think that the frequency of violent crimes in poor communities is exactly why it should be deemed alarming enough for more visible news coverage. Those who do not live and work in these communities are blissfully ignorant of the magnitude that such an environment of violence has on its inhabitants and therefore aren't aware that more hands and minds are needed to tackle this degenerative epidemic.
As a daughter of the black community in America, and the sister of a young black man, gun control is an issue that I hold near to my heart. It is difficult for us to walk with the knowledge that young black children have to be taught to be more careful and more fearful than their peers. We're forced to grow up fast in order to survive and shield ourselves from the contagion of violence affecting this country.
Recognizing that there is a functional purpose in allowing the right to bear arms, we must also regulate the distribution of those arms and take the necessary precautions to ensure that fatal tragedies do not affect whole families. Gun control and the violence of gun crime is not a black on black issue; it is an American issue that disproportionately affects one group, but can be resolved by the collaboration of everyone towards finding a meaningful solution to help save lives.
Editor-in-Chief's Note: Alicia Davis is a New York based Editorial Contributor with MNI Alive.
