BLACK AND POOR; Paper on examining the connection of violence with minorities

I started this paper with the thesis of how gun violence affects minorities. After researching the topic and beginning my sentence outline and rough draft, I found this topic very difficult and challenging so, I then changed the thesis to how opportunities are needed to improve minorities and use gun violence as one of the arguments. When this happened, I struggled to pull it all together to provide clear and relevant solutions to the problem. The last paragraph seems to be more of a string of banter rather than a true solution driven conclusion. I feel the statistics of violence are very compelling and frame the paper I just don't know if I am providing the same for the solutions to the economic disparity minorities are faced with.

Black and Poor
This paper will examine the connection of violence and minorities, with a focus on the relationship between disparity and lack of opportunities and crime. In addition, look to target possible solutions and ways to move forward. Lastly, explore how opportunity could or could not affect violence, crime and families in minority communities.

The minority community lacks the presents or voice to drive change in the issues that are meaningful to drive change within their communality. With this voice muted, they lack the connection to impact as a collected voice. If you explore gun control as an example of this, you will find there are many lobbyists that work on behalf of corporations to protect the freedoms Americans enjoy within gun control laws. There is no voice for those truly impacted.

When one speaks of gun control you will find a strong reaction for both support and against. It is not surprising that those who support strong gun laws are those that are more impacted by gun violence. Those that are against it not only don't feel the danger, but also feel that their guns are what are going to protect them from those who commit the violent crimes. Gun violence is a serious problem among the black communities and neighborhoods bringing an overwhelmingly support of gun control. (Frum)

In the United States murders are committed with a handgun not a hunting rifle and the victim is more than likely a black male between the ages of 18-24. The CDC states that "homicide disproportionately affects persons aged 10-24 years in the United States and consistently ranks in the top three leading causes of death in this age group, resulting in approximately 4,800 deaths and an estimated $9 billion in lost productivity and medical costs.

According to an article published by CNN blacks are six times as likely as whites to be the victim of a homicide and seven times as likely to commit a homicide. (Frum) Males represented 77% of homicide victims and nearly 90% of offenders. The victimization rate for males is three times higher than the rate for females and the offending rate for males was almost nine times higher than the rate for females. (Cooper, Smith) When we see these statistics it's not surprising that black American's want and support gun control. They just do not have the representation and support to influence the change.

In today's world resources and opportunities are becoming more difficult to come by, This is becoming more and more evident within black community. Having lived in the urban black community, I was the fortunate one only because of the color of my skin. Many of the households looked just as mine. Single mother, working two sometimes three jobs to make ends meet, nobody home to keep a watchful eye and no dad in the picture. Drugs and violence were on every street corner and ready to make us part of "family". I had the opportunity to attend private school and gain employment. The black students from my community that attend the private school were all limited to athletic scholarships. Moreover, when and if they lost those scholarships they were soon replaced with another athlete.

Many within my community did not go off to college, and even more never get the chance to leave the neighborhood. Many people have the notion that being poor is a choice or being poor is because of lack of skills or laziness. The nation fails to see that being poor and unemployed is due to segregation, discrimination, a lack of economic opportunities and inefficient public schools. For many who live in poor minority communities the only opportunity available to them is to join the drug dealing "family" and hope that they can pull the trigger or run from the police faster than the next guy. It is clear that the forecast for them is proven by statistics. 1.5 million of our countries prisoners are people of color.

The only thing we have achieved is filling up prisons and jails and becoming the world's No. 1 nation in incarceration. Today, with 5 percent of the world's population and 25 percent of its prisoners, the United States has more than 2.3 million citizens behind bars, two-thirds of them people of color, one quarter of them inside for drug-related offenses. (Kasravi)

Food is necessary for human survival. This is another challenge that minorities are faced with. The most recent statistics show that 16.7 million children live in food insecure households. It is estimated that the average American home has less than two weeks of food in the home and for minority families it is far less. (Hammer) Opportunities for a better education, employment or skill are not readably available in urban neighborhoods. Industrialization and urbanization has placed stress on the "united" concept of race.

It could be argued that prior to industrialization and urbanization that race served as a means to form an economic team. This united race served as a way to support each other and traditional values and keep society functioning. Urbanization has created a complex and diverse population. It is difficult for race to be the functioning concept it once was. A simple visit to the city you will see that urban life is impersonal, self-interest and not a lot of interactions. People avoid unnecessary interactions with others and are concerned with their self and their own doings. When a group of people are suffering together and fighting for the same limited resources, violence and desperation rule over collective unity.

Communities need opportunities; economic hardships bring out harsh living conditions. Lending a hand needs to be viewed as an effort to pull someone forward, rather just filling another hand or moving temporary resources. Whenever you have an area dominated by a common factor of being poor, it brings out the associated problems with poverty. Those that are poor are more at risk of joblessness, drugs, crime and lack of functioning schools. These neighborhoods get labeled as "bad neighborhoods" and become rejected socially and economically. Society will do all they can to avoid this area or addressing the needs of the community. (Wilson)

The book More than Just Race: Being Black and Poor In the Inner City written by William Willson, brings light to institutional and systemic impediments and cultural deficiencies that keep poor blacks from escaping poverty and the ghetto. According to Wilson,

"The systemic impediments include both the legacy of racism and dramatic economic changes that have fallen with disproportionate severity on poor blacks. State-enforced racial discrimination created the ghetto: in the early 20th century local governments separated the races into segregated neighborhoods by force of law, and later, whites used private agreements and violent intimidation to keep blacks out of white neighborhoods. Worst, and most surprising of all, the federal government played a major role in encouraging the racism of private actors and state governments. Until the 1960s, federal housing agencies engaged in racial red­lining, refusing to guarantee mortgages in inner-city neighborhoods; private lenders quickly followed suit."

While taking a diversity class we were asked, "Does race matter?" I found that from race does matter and the color of your skin can have very different outcomes for people in society. Listen to Our Voices is a story that highlights just how mortgage companies participate in discrimination. Being black and trying to purchase a home can be challenging and another example of how race has a great impact on opportunities. Patricia J. Williams is a respected law professor who was given initial approval on a home loan until the bank knew of her being Black. Once the bank was aware of her being black she was not able to secure a home loan. (Schaffer70-71) Now had Patricia been white, this experience would have been much different.

Functionalist and conflict theorist in sociology show how race, poverty, guns and lack opportunity go hand in hand. According to the book Essentials of Sociology, "functionalism is viewing society as a living organism. Just as a person or animal has organs that function together, so does society. And like an organism, if society is to function smoothly, its parts must work together in harmony." Functionalism can be viewed as society having different components all with different functions. Functionalists have the understanding that all components must work together to bring a "normal" state and when they do not work together society is in an "abnormal" state. (16) From a functionalism theory we can see that we a portion of society that is not being taken care of and the different groups are not working together it brings about dysfunction and chaos. This dysfunction and chaos is what is happening in our poor black intercity communities. These communities are operating in an abnormal state of being bringing out violence, desperation and crime.

Conflict theory provides another perspective on social life. Unlike the functionalist who sees society as parts working together to make a whole, conflict theorists stress that society is make up of groups that are competing against each other for resources or power. (18) When we use this theory for race we can see how industrialization and urbanization has a huge role in creating conflict between the different races in society. Karl Marx believed the key to human history is class conflict. In each society, some small group controls the means of population and exploits those who are not in control. (18)

If we were to apply this theory to race we would find that the wealth across the world is not equally distributed. There are more than 6.5 billion people in the world today and largest race belonging to Asians and Africans. (O'Neil) However, when we look at the wealth of the world we see that Asian's and African's do not hold the majority of the wealth. Let's use the United States and social class to show how race can be an advantage or disadvantage. Social class is a group of people who rank close to one and another in property, power, and prestige.

These three elements separate people into different lifestyles, give them different chances in life, and provide them with distinct ways of looking at the self and world. It can be argued that these social classes are what keep the poor, poor and the rich, rich. We can see from both functionalist and conflict theory race matters. They may have two very different perspectives, but both supports that race have an influence on life, wealth, power, status and opportunities.

The question now is what can be done? How can we change something that has been perpetual and not much hope for change? Breaking this cycle of poverty is not easy, and is proven over and over again. Many black American's believe that there is no hope or a way out of these circumstances. When it comes to being black, most see no tangible gains in housing, education, jobs or economic security. (Schaefer 190) The civil rights movement gave higher hopes and expectations but for most they saw little to no change and life remained the same. Not only were their lives not changed, but the feelings that social structure held no prospect for them was heightened. (Shaefer191) Throughout history blacks have been criticized when they rebel and try to bring change and awareness and praised and supported when they went along the system. At times of bringing awareness it is met with increased suppression and additional challenges. (Shafer 193)

It is going to take change to create greater opportunities and end the disparity between minorities in America. The issue of disparity must be resolved by allowing a voice from the minority community. They will need a solution to close the gap in wealth. Between 2007 and 2010 the average net wealth of American American families decreased by 27.1 percent while White family wealth only declined by 6.7 percent. (Kasravi) Better job creation and opportunities to become independent must be available for this community for it to advance. When the community has opportunities it will uplift itself from the control of drugs and the economy, violence and employment associated with it. Economic stability will come through independence. Too many members of the black community are facing incarceration versus the contributions they have to offer the growth of their community. Drugs should be treated as a public health issue rather than a criminal justice issue. (Kasravi) It is clear by the statistics of blacks incarcerated that they are the true losers in the war on drugs. I view them as risk takers, living their life of economic survival by selling drugs. If you translate this to the risk takers in major corporations the behaviors and attitudes are there to set them up for success. They just don't have the opportunity that others have. However if we provide those oppertunitties we will see them flourish. Programs that provide opportunities for blacks to advance with a commitment to recycle the successes the encounter would help support regeneration. These would act as a path to upward mobility to the community. Those that are successful need to help create a voice for those that cannot. The black community needs black leadership. Those that will have the most influence and assist in providing goals by way of example for the community must lead the road of empowerment. Lastly putting greater emphasis on gun control. In 2008 and 2009, the leading cause of death for young African American males was gun related homicides. (Kasravi) Guns are a problem for the black community. Gun control only gets visibility when extreme cases of tragedy occur. Senator Gabriel Gifford's was shot in a parking lot at a political gathers and this started the movement to drive change. While the daily trickle of deaths in the black community seems to gain not visibility even though statistically they are seeing the greatest loss of life. This has to end, a fair and balanced approach to controlling guns must be taken if the black community s to rise above their current conditions.

This paper will examine the connection between violence and minorities with a focus on the relationship between disparity, lack of opportunities and crime.


In addition, this paper aims at finding possible solutions and ways to achieve a positive move forward.


.... what do you mean by presents? It sounds confusing to me :(


I feel you need to improve clarity of the ideas you've written in this passage.