We May Have to Expand Our Ideas About Black Male Homicide

OpEd by Thomas Holt Russell

The death of Tyre Nichols after a brutal beating by five Memphis cops would have been yet another story in a long line of sad civil escapades of Black men being killed by those who are supposed to provide protection against violence: the local police force. However, this time, white cops did not commit the murder. Instead, the five policemen who beat the life out of an unarmed young Black man were themselves, young Black men.

The fact that the cops were themselves Black seemed to surprise everyone. The news media did not waste a segment on the event without mentioning the race of the cops. The topic of the race of the cops was debated on sports shows, and sportscasters were quick to condemn the cops doubly because of their race.

I believe that the biggest surprise was not that the cops were Black, but that their race was a surprise at all. Just as unarmed Black men are killed by the cops all the time, Black people are also killed by other Black people all the time.

According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control), homicide is the number-one cause of death for Black males between the ages of 1 to 44. In

2016, of the 2,870 Black homicide victims, 2,570 of those murders were committed by other Blacks.

Plenty of statistics show that the crime rate in predominantly Black areas is very high. In 2018, for example, 88 percent of Black homicide victims were killed by other Blacks. Factoring in both the strained relationship between Blacks and police officers and the high rate of criminal violence between Blacks, then it should not come as a shock that a Black police officer would perpetrate violence against someone of his own race.

We can agree that there is a problem. But to call it a Blackon-Black crime is not an accurate description of the problem. Poverty and lack of resources, such as jobs and education, contribute to crime. Racism, drugs and politics throw oil on a fire already raging in low-income neighborhoods. Anyone who grew up in this type of environment, regardless of race, will have a high chance of either being a perpetrator or a victim of a violent crime. More often than not, the offense is committed by and to people living and working in that area.

Europeans have fought each other for thousands of years and are still fighting now. But I have yet to hear of any crime committed by whites on whites as a white-on-white crime. All of the roads that lead to crime have to be seriously addressed. However, the crime in the Black communities is so commonplace that it has been pseudo- accepted. Brief attention and lip service are pointed that way when needed. Still, the common is not sexy enough to garner the attention of stylishly dressed celebrity lawyers and media pundits who always turn up when the cameras roll. If I were to judge by the prominent police brutality cases, I would think there were only three Black lawyers in the United States.

We should not classify any incident as Black-on-Black crime. We should simply call it a crime problem that needs to be addressed, which will take eliminating the causes. The entire socioeconomic well-being of the decaying neighborhoods, where Black people live and experience crime, depends on inserting valuable, social sustaining services. Jobs, health facilities and well-funded schools would remedy the violence. All of this is clear, but even with the impossibly high statistics of Black homicide, 1,000 Black deaths caused by Black people do not get half the attention of one Black death caused by a white cop.

It seems the collective consciousness of America tucks the stats under a rug. Last October, 34 people, including several children, were shot over one weekend in Chicago. Five people were killed, including an 11-year-old boy. No one marched, and no famous lawyers turned up. It was reported for a couple of days and received little notice or outrage nationally. This lack of attention is distressing. We are still getting over COVID-19. There is a recession, social unrest and a massive surge in gun violence that is tearing cities and communities apart.

After the shooting death of Walter Wallace, Jr. in Philadelphia, Joe Biden tweeted, “for all those suffering the emotional weight of learning about another Black life in America lost. Walter’s life mattered.” That is a lot of attention for one person. Politicians and community leaders quickly agreed and jumped on the bandwagon of yet another high-profile case. All they needed was four words: “Cop kills Black man.”

We would set things on the right course if we tackled the problem of poverty. Solving poverty will not stop crime, but it can put a big dent in violent crime. The poverty rate among Blacks is 20 percent, Hispanics 17 percent, and Whites 8 percent. Imagine throwing $113 billion into free training and education, job creation, and accessible healthcare for the most crime-infested, drugaddled communities across the United States. One hundred thirteen billion is the amount that Congress approved for the war in Ukraine in 2020. With the escalation of violence in the cities, we have a large portion of the American population under just as much stress and emotional turmoil as the people in Ukraine. It only makes sense to spend that money on health and education instead of prisons and weapons.

The politicians, entertainers and news media must turn away from the stories and taglines that garner them the most followers and instead help shed light on the mundane and commonplace events, such as when a Black kill another Black. The killing of any Black man by a cop does demand attention, but only 3 percent of Black homicide victims are killed by cops. Cops commit 10 percent of White and Latino homicides. It would be great to see more protests and marches, news interviews, lead stories, politicians and celebrities attending funerals, all for one commonplace Black homicide.

If we don’t treat poverty and the violence it creates with the same seriousness and commitment as we treat war, we are headed for many more decades of deaths, incarcerations, segregation and policing..