<p>I read this and thought it would be a good discussion on CC. Thoughts?
<a href=“Poem In Response To The Rising Homicide Rate Of Black Teens”>http://www.buzzfeed.com/adirabrianap/high-school-students-poem-in-response-to-america-llc1</a></p>
<p>From that well-known propaganda organization, the Huffington Post:</p>
<p>about the alleged “war on black men.” The argument here is that laws like Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” are encouraging white vigilantism, and moving white people to shoot and kill black people at the slightest provocation. But there just isn’t any data to support the contention. Black homicides have been falling since the mid-1990s (as have all homicides). Moreover, according to a 2005 Bureau of Justice Statistics report, more than 90 percent of black murder victims are killed by other black people. And if we look at interracial murder, there are about twice as many black-on-white murders as the other way around, and that ratio has held steady for decades.</p>
<p>I think this is one of the topics that usually ends up being shut down on CC.</p>
<p>How many white guys who get away with picking on, and killing, unarmed black teenagers does it take before there’s a REAL public outcry? </p>
<p>@EMM1 the difference between white-on-black murders and black-on-white murders is that usually with black-on-white murders, the victims are not youth and the perpetrator is usually convicted. There is a pattern of white murderers not being jailed for killing black victims.</p>
<p>I wasn’t trying to start a discussion about the topic, @michigangeorgia. You are right, though. I was expecting comments about the poem.</p>
<p>this is interesting…</p>
<p>The idea is pretty commonplace these days. Nothing new here. The poetry – meh.</p>
<p>True, @wasatchwriter. I think it’s commonplace because these occurrences (teen killed, killer aquitted) are common. I’m not a poet nor am I familiar with the poetry community, but I thought it was a fairly impressive piece for a high school kid.</p>
<p>Eh…I’m with Wasatch. The poetry was ok. </p>
<p>The poem is quite sad. Those of us who parent kids of brown/black skin know the real fear that walking while black is dangerous. </p>
<p>@EMM1- I am puzzled as to why homicide statistics is relevant to the fears expressed in the poem. I certainly don’t take comfort in a downward trend in homicides. </p>
<p>Equal protection under the law is what’s needed. The law ought to protect every child’s life from a gun toting nut who goes around looking for an excuse to “stand his ground.” </p>
<p>^ agreed</p>
<p>I don’t want to be misunderstood. I am convinced that people of color who find themselves in largely white areas encounter racism on a fairly regular basis. In addition, without commenting on the specifics of either the Dunn case or the Zimmerman case, it goes without saying that any person who shoots and kills another without justification should be punished to the full extent of the law.</p>
<p>But at the same time, the idea that there is some sort of epidemic of violence by whites against African-American teenagers is simply not borne by the statistics. I fear that by sensationalizing these cases the media diverts attention from more complex problems of race relations in America. But on reflection, it was probably a mistake to enter this conversation.</p>
<p>Again, @emm1, it’s not about an “epidemic” of crime against blacks, it’s about the pattern of acquittals. Again and again, the perpetrators have received either acquittals or lesser sentences. Read the last 2 lines of the poem and you might get it.</p>
<p>@ jamcafe, I echo your sentiment. I find these cases very distressing and the poem reflects the impact on this and probably many young black men. </p>
<p>@EMM are you saying that since it’s not an “epidemic” it’s also not an issue or concern? why draw such a black and white conclusion. </p>
<p>It is a tragedy when a young person of any race dies violently. To say anything beyond that would simply compound the initial mistake of participating in this discussion at all.</p>
<p>You miss the entirety of the point, @EMM1. That’s truly sad.</p>
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<p>The only patterns is of news media stories wanting to suggest there is some pattern when there is none. Hispanic Zimmerman acted in self defense after he was attacked by Martin. Dunn will spend a long time in prison based on the existing convictions and would have been convicted if he had been charged with second degree not first degree murder. Dunn has not been acquitted. </p>
<p>The real truth is that the most likely person to commit murder in America is a younger African American male from a single parent household. If anyone is actually worried about patterns that would be the pattern to stop. </p>
<p>^wow. first, you’d really have to ignore everything we know about Zimmerman to actually believe what you stated. Talking about patterns, given his ‘pattern’ of aggression it would be quite hard to actually believe his version of what occurred, and as we know Martin was unable to provide his. It was never determined who threw the first punch, yet it was crystal clear who initiated the whole incident though. </p>
<p>The ease with which you and others assumed and maintain Martin’s “guilt” in “attacking” Zimmerman, despite Zimmerman’s pattern, is what fuels these type of incidents. The belief that since he was a young black man he was likely to be the aggressor. This is the belief that fueled Dunn’s rage. There was no gun but he likely assumed there would be. It would go along with the “thug” music right. My blonde haired blue eyed, 17 yr old blasts Kanye West music all the time, yet he like Jordan Davis is a good, law abiding teenager, and high school student. </p>
<p>Your second statement about what pattern we should be stopping seems to imply that the numbers of murders by black vs white offenders are vastly different, but if you look at the FBI homicide data from 2011 you’ll note that they are not. In fact given the statistics,the pattern we should be most concerned about is all men, as they commit close to 90% of all murders. What should we do about that?</p>
<p><a href=“FBI — Expanded Homicide Data”>http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2011/crime-in-the-u.s.-2011/offenses-known-to-law-enforcement/expanded/expanded-homicide-data</a></p>
<p>Of the offenders for whom race was known, 52.4 percent were black, 45.2 percent were white, and 2.4 percent were of other races. The race was unknown for 4,077 offenders. (Based on Expanded Homicide Data Table 3.)
Of the offenders for whom gender was known, 89.3 percent were males. (Based on Expanded Homicide Data Table 3.)</p>
<p>There was a trial and there was evidence and there was a reason GZ was found not guilty. Why are you assuming that anyone was assuming anything? I assume the jurors weighed the evidence. Actually, I don’t have to assume anything because I happen to have watched the entire trial. Public perception is not reality in that case.</p>