from NewsOne.com
The Chicago Shootings: Why Black Men Kill Each Other
by Mark Anthony Neal
For every Sean Bell murder, there are many more that never generate media coverage nor public scrutiny. In recent weeks, sandwiched between coverage of Obama's "Bitter-gate" and the Sean Bell verdict in New York, there were 36 shootings (with 9 murders) over the course of a single weekend in Chicago. Much of it was gang-related and involved young black men, but let's not pretend that this problem is endemic to Chicago. What our community needs to tackle is, Why?
According to recent Department of Justice figures, black males aged 18-24 have the highest homicide rates in the country. Additionally, this same age group is most likely to kill and their black male peers are their likely targets. These statistics though, give us little inkling of the on-the-ground issues instigating such violence.
Many continue to blame the usual scapegoat, rap music, even as the aforementioned report suggests that homicide rates decreased during the height of the so-called "gangsta" rap era in the 1990s. Still more continue to cite the absence of male adults in the lives of these young men and boys. Neither theory gets at the everyday pressures corroding the black male experience, where hypermasculinity or, "manhood," is often the only tangible source of power and respect available to young black men.
Read the Full Essay
The Chicago Shootings: Why Black Men Kill Each Other
by Mark Anthony Neal
For every Sean Bell murder, there are many more that never generate media coverage nor public scrutiny. In recent weeks, sandwiched between coverage of Obama's "Bitter-gate" and the Sean Bell verdict in New York, there were 36 shootings (with 9 murders) over the course of a single weekend in Chicago. Much of it was gang-related and involved young black men, but let's not pretend that this problem is endemic to Chicago. What our community needs to tackle is, Why?
According to recent Department of Justice figures, black males aged 18-24 have the highest homicide rates in the country. Additionally, this same age group is most likely to kill and their black male peers are their likely targets. These statistics though, give us little inkling of the on-the-ground issues instigating such violence.
Many continue to blame the usual scapegoat, rap music, even as the aforementioned report suggests that homicide rates decreased during the height of the so-called "gangsta" rap era in the 1990s. Still more continue to cite the absence of male adults in the lives of these young men and boys. Neither theory gets at the everyday pressures corroding the black male experience, where hypermasculinity or, "manhood," is often the only tangible source of power and respect available to young black men.
Read the Full Essay
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