Alyssa Shaw
English 102
Ross
January 16th, 2014
Guns and Black America, Deep Rooted Issue?
On CNN Opinion, David Funn discusses the gun violence in relation to race and skin color. He makes a conclusion that the bulk of the gun violence in America is due to poor blacks slaughtering other poor blacks. Funn makes references to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a predominantly African American community, explaining that 83 people were killed by firearms and nearly 87% were black and 87% were also male. He then informs that 96% of the perpetrators were African American males.
"If you ignore America's poor, you can make all kinds of problems disappear from view. Not counting the poor and minorities, the country does not have an obesity epidemic. Not counting the poor and minorities, the United States has perfectly adequate schools. Not counting the poor and minorities, America would have a higher average income" (Dreher)
This idea alone states that America wouldn't have a gun problem or in fact any other issue if there were no "minorities" or poor.
Black America has many deep rooted issues that cause a gun epidemic in its own community, furthermore causing America to have a gun control issue. Many complain about the gun violence among the black community but do not analyze what could be the issue and whether there is a deep rooted issue.
Though slavery has ended many years ago, still people fail to realize that equality and violence toward the African American community has only widely ended about 60 years ago and there are still cases of discrimination today. When considering 60 years of equality and peace compared to hundreds of years of violence and inequality it puts one into perspective of the state that the African American community is in today.
Poor America is made up of majority African Americans. In 2010 27.4 percent of blacks were living impoverished, in comparison to a lowly 9.9% of non-Hispanic whites. Poverty stricken America is more likely to do drugs, sell drugs, join gangs, and commit acts of violence. Many gun violent acts in the African American community are due to gangs or drugs. According to the CDC 80% of gun related deaths were associated to gang violence. When that statistic is put into perspective it is not surprising that every 5 hours an African American man is killed. In fact, gun violence is the leading cause of deaths of black men ages 18-30.
Broken homes and warped idea of manhood may also be the cause of gun violence in the black community. Over 70 percent of black kids are born outside of marriage and in many places, such as Washington D.C 84% of children go without a father. It is believed that children will seek power and a sense of family of community in guns and gangs. In fact, Joe Killan, the News and Record writer, conducted an interview with forty Greensboro, NC gang members and many claimed that their fellow gang members were family and they took care of each other. Many black kids seek family and long for the feeling of be cared for, so it is easy for gangs to recruit young children, even at the young, innocent age of nine.
In addition to issues within the families of African American homes, many African American men are taught not to take any kind of disrespect. The feeling of being disrespected is a huge issue in the African American community according to the Washington Watch. Many African American males have the mindset that they will be respected and that if they are disrespected there will be repercussions. Washington Watch believes this may stem from inequality and slavery when men were not respected and treated as a human better yet a man. Washington watch compared African American men killing each other to acts of terrorism. Dr. Steve Perry explains how his father murdered someone because they had disrespected him. Perry only a senior in high school thought to himself "you have four children at home". He then states that killing is a part of a psychosis.
"When a person see's that the visceral reaction is the most important and that there is no greater depth; that there is nothing to live for tomorrow, they've checked out. It's the reason why terrorists, that's what we call them in other countries, will strap themselves to bombs. It's a psychosis that's there, they are disconnected and their desire to connect to something more powerful or street cred" (Dr. Steve Perry).
Dr. Charles Williams discusses the way African Americans raise children in relation to gun violence. He brought up an instance where one of his brothers was explaining how tough his 18 month old was. Dr. Williams discussed the message that one sends to children when they have to always be tough.
Gun violence in American is at an all-time low, though every 5 hours a black man is murdered at the end of a gun. That does not add up. The problem in the African American community or even further, America, is not due to the amount of guns dispersed throughout America, but due to the deep rooted issues of minority groups. There are an estimated 3,400,000 gun owners in Switzerland and in 2010 there were only 40 gun homicides. In America there is an estimation 310,000,000 gun owners whether legal or not and an estimated 11,078 gun homicides. Though there are more gun holders in America 11,000 gun homicides is astounding. What portion of this 11000 were African Americans and how many died at the hands of another African American?
Gun violence in Black America may be a direct effect of economic stress and lack of education. Additionally, the lack of a father figure and the warped ideology of what it takes to be a man may be a huge factor. Secondly, Gun violence in the African American community may also be at a rise due to the "you're going to respect me" logic. Many of times African American men result to violence or confrontation when they feel like they have been "got" or disrespected. And last but certainly not least, the effect of following the cycle may be the biggest reason of deaths due to firearms in the black community. Many men go to prison due to murdering another black man, leaving some children with dead fathers and other children with incarcerated fathers, thus creating a vicious, never-ending cycle.
English 102
Ross
January 16th, 2014
Guns and Black America, Deep Rooted Issue?
On CNN Opinion, David Funn discusses the gun violence in relation to race and skin color. He makes a conclusion that the bulk of the gun violence in America is due to poor blacks slaughtering other poor blacks. Funn makes references to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a predominantly African American community, explaining that 83 people were killed by firearms and nearly 87% were black and 87% were also male. He then informs that 96% of the perpetrators were African American males.
"If you ignore America's poor, you can make all kinds of problems disappear from view. Not counting the poor and minorities, the country does not have an obesity epidemic. Not counting the poor and minorities, the United States has perfectly adequate schools. Not counting the poor and minorities, America would have a higher average income" (Dreher)
This idea alone states that America wouldn't have a gun problem or in fact any other issue if there were no "minorities" or poor.
Black America has many deep rooted issues that cause a gun epidemic in its own community, furthermore causing America to have a gun control issue. Many complain about the gun violence among the black community but do not analyze what could be the issue and whether there is a deep rooted issue.
Though slavery has ended many years ago, still people fail to realize that equality and violence toward the African American community has only widely ended about 60 years ago and there are still cases of discrimination today. When considering 60 years of equality and peace compared to hundreds of years of violence and inequality it puts one into perspective of the state that the African American community is in today.
Poor America is made up of majority African Americans. In 2010 27.4 percent of blacks were living impoverished, in comparison to a lowly 9.9% of non-Hispanic whites. Poverty stricken America is more likely to do drugs, sell drugs, join gangs, and commit acts of violence. Many gun violent acts in the African American community are due to gangs or drugs. According to the CDC 80% of gun related deaths were associated to gang violence. When that statistic is put into perspective it is not surprising that every 5 hours an African American man is killed. In fact, gun violence is the leading cause of deaths of black men ages 18-30.
Broken homes and warped idea of manhood may also be the cause of gun violence in the black community. Over 70 percent of black kids are born outside of marriage and in many places, such as Washington D.C 84% of children go without a father. It is believed that children will seek power and a sense of family of community in guns and gangs. In fact, Joe Killan, the News and Record writer, conducted an interview with forty Greensboro, NC gang members and many claimed that their fellow gang members were family and they took care of each other. Many black kids seek family and long for the feeling of be cared for, so it is easy for gangs to recruit young children, even at the young, innocent age of nine.
In addition to issues within the families of African American homes, many African American men are taught not to take any kind of disrespect. The feeling of being disrespected is a huge issue in the African American community according to the Washington Watch. Many African American males have the mindset that they will be respected and that if they are disrespected there will be repercussions. Washington Watch believes this may stem from inequality and slavery when men were not respected and treated as a human better yet a man. Washington watch compared African American men killing each other to acts of terrorism. Dr. Steve Perry explains how his father murdered someone because they had disrespected him. Perry only a senior in high school thought to himself "you have four children at home". He then states that killing is a part of a psychosis.
"When a person see's that the visceral reaction is the most important and that there is no greater depth; that there is nothing to live for tomorrow, they've checked out. It's the reason why terrorists, that's what we call them in other countries, will strap themselves to bombs. It's a psychosis that's there, they are disconnected and their desire to connect to something more powerful or street cred" (Dr. Steve Perry).
Dr. Charles Williams discusses the way African Americans raise children in relation to gun violence. He brought up an instance where one of his brothers was explaining how tough his 18 month old was. Dr. Williams discussed the message that one sends to children when they have to always be tough.
Gun violence in American is at an all-time low, though every 5 hours a black man is murdered at the end of a gun. That does not add up. The problem in the African American community or even further, America, is not due to the amount of guns dispersed throughout America, but due to the deep rooted issues of minority groups. There are an estimated 3,400,000 gun owners in Switzerland and in 2010 there were only 40 gun homicides. In America there is an estimation 310,000,000 gun owners whether legal or not and an estimated 11,078 gun homicides. Though there are more gun holders in America 11,000 gun homicides is astounding. What portion of this 11000 were African Americans and how many died at the hands of another African American?
Gun violence in Black America may be a direct effect of economic stress and lack of education. Additionally, the lack of a father figure and the warped ideology of what it takes to be a man may be a huge factor. Secondly, Gun violence in the African American community may also be at a rise due to the "you're going to respect me" logic. Many of times African American men result to violence or confrontation when they feel like they have been "got" or disrespected. And last but certainly not least, the effect of following the cycle may be the biggest reason of deaths due to firearms in the black community. Many men go to prison due to murdering another black man, leaving some children with dead fathers and other children with incarcerated fathers, thus creating a vicious, never-ending cycle.