Monday, January 5, 2009

Is it genocide

A Northeastern University study has found that between 2002-2007, the number of black male juveniles murdered increased by 31% and the number of black perpetrators increased by 43%.

The numbers in Houston are even more alarming. Between 2001-2007, the number of young African-Americans (age 14-24) suspected of murder increased by 139%. The number of young black males murdered in the city increased from 42 to 129.

I'm not going to sit here and pretend to know why this is and what needs to be done to bring the numbers down, but I know that something ain't right.

Whether it's a culture that glorifies violence and materialism or whether it's a society that has marginalized the poor; whether it's a lack of role models and father figures or whether it's an education system that has abandoned the inner city; whatever it is, it needs to be fixed.

It may be that the statistical methodology in the report is faulty and that the numbers aren't as alarming, but that doesn't change the fact that one young life lost at the hands of violence is one life too many.

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