It’s Not ‘Gun Violence’, It’s a Black Culture Problem!

In the mid-1960s, when LBJ pushed the Civil Rights Act through Congress in the wake of JFK’s death, the U.S. had an opportunity to finally make amends for slavery, Jim Crow and the lingering vestiges of racial discrimination against black Americans.  We could have implemented temporary programs to help black Americans overcome the subpar education many had been consigned to due to racial discrimination, and provide remedial classes in English, math and sciences, job training, mentoring programs, etc., enabling them to compete on an equal footing with everyone else.

But we didn’t do that.

Instead, politicians and bureaucrats institutionalized programs that condemned many black Americans to a continuing dependency on government, the very opposite of the liberty promised by the Declaration of Independence.  To be blunt, part of that blame lies with the black Americans who have relied on those programs, generation after generation, without making an adequate effort to get off them and fend for themselves.  But the unspoken message from these programs, still in effect today, is that black Americans can’t compete, that they’re incapable of performing at the same level as other Americans.  You won’t find a purer “racism” than that in a Klan meeting.  In return, the Democrat politicians who continue to promise more of the same know they can count on the black vote, 95% of which goes to Democrat candidates.

However, white politicians and bleeding heart do-gooders went way beyond those “benefits” programs.  In the 70s and 80s, sociologists and criminologists proclaimed that a prime cause of black crime was a continuing racial discrimination coupled with on-going poverty.  In effect, they said that “blacks can’t help it” if they commit crimes, because they can’t get jobs to otherwise pay for what they need.  Thus was introduced the idea of endless “second chances,” ostensibly fair because of ongoing racial oppression and injustice.  So young blacks caught committing crimes found that the criminal justice system was just a revolving door through which they could travel many times before any real punishment was forthcoming, and from that they learned a dangerous lesson: to not fear the police or the criminal justice system.

Even though most black Americans didn’t fall for this trap, many did buy into the “it’s not our fault, it’s racism” excuse, blaming that instead of their own lack of study or failure to develop skills needed in the workplace.  Therefore, affirmative action hiring practices and hiring quotas were welcomed as a fix, despite the clear unfairness and “reverse discrimination” they involve.  Almost half a century after Dr. King’s dream that his children would be judged by the content of their character instead of their skin color, it is the federal government that maintains the race consciousness that is at the heart of the racial divisiveness in today’s society.

The same mistake has been made with Hispanic illegal immigrants, ignoring the fact that their first contact with this nation was the violation of our laws.  The “anchor baby” policy has brought millions of non-English speaking Hispanics from Mexico, Central and South America into the U.S., making a major impact on our culture and society.  They, too, get “free” benefits, welfare, school lunches, etc., all the while living here illegally, without learning English or otherwise assimilating into our culture, which engenders nothing but contempt for our society’s standards or laws.  (And now we’re making the same mistake with Middle Eastern immigrants.)

In short, our federal government has promulgated the idea that freedom for black people (and now illegal Hispanic and other immigrants) means that they must not be held to the same standards of behavior, morality, family life, etc., as other races.  In reality, that dependency is just another form of slavery, a reliance on another type of overseer.  That segment of black America that believes it’s getting over on the system is no more free than the American Indians on reservations; they’re simply surviving, without hope of all the things they see advertised, the nice homes, cars and clothes.  And that creates bitter resentment, even if they themselves are partly to blame for accepting their dependency.

Aside from the unfairness of taxing people who work in order to pay for people who don’t work, there’s an even greater and growing problem that has arisen from the government’s disastrous racial policies.  If, as the government and social scientists have insisted for decades, black people (and now illegal Hispanic and Muslim immigrants) shouldn’t be held accountable for their actions, then what is the limiting factor on bad behavior (i.e., amoral and immoral activities like drugs and prostitution or theft, or more serious things like assault and even murder)?

Religion?  The government has facilitated the decline of Biblical influence in this nation since 1960.  Family values?  Over 70% of black children are born to “single mothers,” a concept gifted by those social scientists bent on excusing black anti-social behavior.  No fathers to discipline the children, or to model healthy behavior that enables one to get a job, provide for and nurture a family, etc.

Into that emptiness steps the rap ‘gangsta’ lifestyle, where peer opinion overrides any moral or social teaching by grandparents, mothers, etc.  And the language of that lifestyle is audacity, bravado and especially violence, administered at the mere hint of disrespect or offense.  Likewise, the Hispanic gang culture is just as widespread in that community, built on a foundation of disdaining the laws of their adopted nation.

While the Left and the media continually carp about “gun violence,” what’s really happening in the U.S. is the inevitable result of the government’s continuing idiocy on race.  We don’t have a gun violence problem in this country; what we have is a government-created social problem, where a significant portion of the black community in this nation rejects our traditional standards of morality and our laws, and are largely allowed to get away with it.   The “gun violence” that has been the constant theme of the media and the Left the past few years is actually the result of those “it’s not my fault” and “I don’t have to follow your laws” racial policies.  The Hispanic gang culture follows the same pattern, but to a much smaller degree.

Like the mythical Golem of Prague, created by a rabbi to help the Jewish people but which broke free of the rabbi’s control and became a danger even to the Jews, our federal government has created a social “monster,” one that is not subject to the normal laws and standards applicable to everyone else, and that is now showing signs of being out of control.  The unintended consequences of fifty years of Leftist racial policy is becoming apparent today in the violence we see played out in every city in the country, and I have statistics on deaths from violence from the Center for Disease Control to prove it.

Since most of the violence comes from and is aimed at males, let’s look at the Leading Cause of Death statistics for U.S. males from 2000 to 2014.  In 2010, there were about 150 million males in the U.S.; of that total, almost 22 million were black, about that same number were Hispanic (white or non-white), and about 104 million were non-Hispanic whites.

For white males, the leading cause of death during this period mirrors that of the entire nation (i.e., all races, both sexes): motor vehicle accidents (through age 44, where cancer and heart disease take over).  The thing about motor vehicle deaths is that they’re not deliberate.  They may be caused by inattention (e.g., using a cell phone), or irresponsible alcohol/drug use, but very few auto accident deaths are deliberately caused.

That’s not the case with homocides committed by firearms (i.e., “gun violence”), where someone must purposely aim at another human being and pull the trigger.  There’s nothing accidental about that; it is a deliberate act of lawlessness.  Here are the numbers for U.S. males killed by such deliberate acts for the period 2000 to 2014, by age group (Asian and other races are statistically insignificant) –

U.S. Male Deaths by Firearm Homocide, 2000-2014

If the problem was really the proliferation of firearms, it stands to reason that the largest segment of society’s males (whites) should show the largest number killed, but that’s not what the figures show.  For the age group 15 to 24, black males are shot and killed six times more than whites, even though they represent only one-fifth the population size!  While the black male and Hispanic male population are practically the same size, three times more black males than Hispanics were killed by firearms.  For ages 25 to 34, four times as many black males are killed by firearms than whites.

Is it the new Klan?  Or, as the media would have us believe, the police?  (The U.S. DOJ records show that about 425 arrest-related deaths by police shooting occur each year: 42% white; 32% black and 20% Hispanic.)

No, almost all those black males were killed by other black males, at an average of over 5,000 per year!  That’s over 60% of firearm homocide deaths in a group that is only about 6% of the U.S. population (i.e. approximately half the 13% U.S. black population)!

As these staggering numbers show, we’re not experiencing a “gun violence” problem, but a black lawless male problem.  Government has taught poor blacks that they’re exempt from the normal standards of behavior and laws, and they’ve simply taken the government at its word.

As an Instructional Designer and Trainer for over twenty-five years, I’m often called upon to identify training needs when a company’s production output isn’t up to par.  Very often, though, it’s not a training issue at all, but a management issue.  For example, if the job description is adequate and people meeting those requirements are hired, but performance is lacking due to poor attitude (e.g., unwillingness to apply adequate effort, poor attention to detail, poor attendance, etc.), that’s a classic management issue.  Trouble is, many managers aren’t willing to address it because it involves confrontations, meting out discipline and other tough decisions, something most managers will do anything to avoid, even if it means calling the issue something else and paying for training that isn’t really necessary, or effective.

The culture of violence and death among poor blacks in the U.S. is exactly that kind of problem: a management issue that politicians in both parties haven’t the guts to address, because they have created it.  So they call it something else (“gun violence”), trample on the Constitution and throw money at it, anything to avoid having to deal with it honestly.  But the increasing violence in the poor black and illegal Hispanic immigrant communities is their Golem, a monster they’ve created that no longer listens to their commands.  The longer they kick the problem down the road, leaving it to others to solve, the worse the problem gets…and the more poor young black males die.

At some point, poor blacks must take responsibility for their own lives, their own choices and decisions, and face an inconvenient truth: black Americans who studied in school, who didn’t do drugs or continually commit crimes have succeeded in this nation!  The sad fact is that most of the perceived “oppression” that black people claim to suffer is self-inflicted, and it will continue unless/until poor blacks themselves change their communities, change their standards of behavior and change their attitudes about who is really to blame for their plight.

The federal government has made it possible for them to avoid confronting these issues for more than half a century, and today we’re seeing the inevitable outcome of a permanent racial underclass.  It will only get worse, especially given the specter of economic decline our nation is facing from massive national debt.

This article is printed with the permission of the author(s). Opinions expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the article’s author(s), or of the person(s) or organization(s) quoted therein, and do not necessarily represent those of American Clarion or Dakota Voice LLC.

Comment Rules: Please confine comments to salient ones that add to the topic; Profanity is not allowed and will be deleted; Spam, copied statements and other material not comprised of the reader’s own opinion will be deleted.

Similar Posts:

• ‘Acting Black’: The Real Reason Black Men Get Shot by Police
• March on Washington 2013 brings liberal distortion
• Dirty-Rotten Commie Race Hustlers
• HERE WE GO AGAIN – Time for the Truth About Black Racism
• Have a Cracker

Formerly a liberal and an atheist, Paul E. Scates served as a Marine in Vietnam and is a lifelong student of American history, politics and culture. A former contributor to national website TooGoodReports.com, he writes his staunchly independent Conservative and informed Christian commentary for his fellow ordinary, working Americans, the “we, the people” who are ultimately responsible for preserving our Constitutional liberties.

Paul E. Scates

View all articles by Paul E. Scates