Nearly half the violent crimes in the United States are committed by black men, and black men make up only 6 percent of the population. How could we blame police officers for having any bias toward or profiling this small segment of our population that commits such a disproportionate amount of the violent crimes?
I am sure that most police officers whether they are black, white, asian or another race could confirm that these statistics are not just numbers – this is what they face on a daily basis as they attempt to do their job in protecting our communities as well as protecting themselves so that they can make it home safely to their families each night.
It is not about a skin color, it is about a culture
It is about a culture where 67% percent of its children are born to single mothers.
“Just because you can have a baby, it doesn’t mean you should,” Lemon said. “Especially without planning for one or getting married first. More than 72 percent of children in the African-American community are born out of wedlock. That means absent fathers. And the studies show that lack of a male role model is an express train right to prison and the cycle continues.”
This “fatherless” black culture has directly resulted in these staggering crime rates:
Even though blacks only account for roughly 13 percent of the population they account for these percentages of crimes in United States(and it is the black men committing most of these crimes):
50 percent of all murders and manslaughters
52 percent of all robberies
33 percent of all aggravated assaults
32 percent of all forcible rapes
So what this tells us is that we have a culture that represents a small percentage of our population, but disproportionately represents a very high percentage of our crime.
“Criminologists we contacted also told us that those absolute figures — when used correctly — tell only half the story. When talking about risks to society, it is equally important to provide the population-based rate. When we do that, the threat of violent crimes posed by blacks looks larger than that of whites.”
http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2015/apr/02/sally-kohn/sally-kohn-white-men-69-percent-arrested-violent/
Economics are not an excuse for high black crime rates
The usual response from when many American black culture leaders(including Black Lives Matter leaders) are confronted with these statistics is that “this is all about economics”. If black people just made more money all of these problems would go away – or so we are told.
These crime rates by race and income below prove that the “economics” argument is a faulty answer to problem of disproportionately high rates of crimes among blacks:
https://www.newyorkfed.org/medialibrary/media/research/epr/99v05n3/9909levi.pdf
Slavery and past injustices are not an excuse either for high black crime rates
One of the biggest problems in the black community is a large percentage of blacks see themselves as victims of injustice such as slavery or racist polices that followed slavery.
Were blacks victimized by whites in America in the past? Absolutely. I have written about the evils the system of slavery that was practiced in the United States:
“On the other hand, the slavery in practice in America was completely different than the slavery that was allowed by the Bible. Chains were a very a common occurrence with slavery in America. It was based on the false ideology that one race was less human than others and they could be enslaved if for no other reason than their race…
Besides American slavery being based on race – it massively failed the two tests of Biblical Slavery that I mentioned above. Africans were kidnapped from their homes. They were treated worse than animals and loaded on to ships without proper food, clothing and shelter. Many Africans died while on Ships coming to America. Many African women were raped by their owners, instead being given the full status of wives. They were often physically abused and even sometimes murdered. But because they were not considered fully human, no punishments were given.”
Why Christians shouldn’t be ashamed of Slavery in the Bible
My point in that post was that while Christians do not have to be ashamed of the slavery that God allowed Israel as a theocracy to practice we should be ashamed of the slavery that America practiced in its earlier days. My larger point though as it relates to this post is that of course we should fully acknowledge as Christians and as Americans the grave injustices committed against blacks in nation’s past.
We should also acknowledge that even after blacks were freed from slavery in America they were often treated unfairly by both government officials and private businesses. This unfair treatment lead to the Civil Rights movement lead by men such as Martin Luther King.
But it is a mistake for any black person today to blame their family, economic or criminal issues past wrongs of the American culture toward blacks. In the decades that followed the civil rights movement the American culture has basically bent over backwards to help blacks in America.
The Liberals War on Poverty actually helped cause the fatherless problem in the black culture
In his article entitled “7 Ways the War on Poverty Destroyed Black Fatherhood” author Nick Chiles writes:
“Welfare programs created disincentives for couples to get married because benefits are reduced as a family’s income rises. A mother will receive far more from welfare if she is single than if she has an employed husband in the home. For many low-income couples, marriage means a reduction in government assistance and an overall decline in the couple’s joint income — a reduction of benefits by an average of 10 percent to 20 percent of their total income. Because so many of the other programs low-income women rely on — such as food stamps, public housing, Medicaid and public day care — also carry a means test, single mothers are cut off from a wide range of government services if they decide to marry and subsequently raise their income. Over time, for many Black women in low-income neighborhoods, they see the father of their child(ren) as a less reliable breadwinner and partner than the federal government.”
But can we blame the fatherless family’s epidemic completely on welfare programs that dis-incentivized marriage? The answer is no. Ultimately black men and women made their own decision based on economic reasons to leave one of God’s greatest institutions in the dust bin. Black women decided they did not need black men anymore to have a family and black men decided they did not need marriage.
So what does this all have to do with the Dallas shootings?
The root causes of heinous murder of five Dallas police officers and the wounding of seven others has been falsely attributed anger in the black community over the police shootings of black men in Louisiana and Minnesota.
The problem is NOT unjust shootings of blacks by police officers. The problem is rampant out of control crime and a blatant lack of respect in the black community for themselves and for law enforcement officials.
My father always taught me from a very young age to respect my authorities. I was taught to respect my parents, my pastor, my teachers and also police officers. I was told if a police officer pulled me over to do everything he said and answer him with “yes sir and no sir”.
I actually was arrested as a young man when I was 17 years old. I had many speeding tickets and had an address change and did not receive a notice to retake drivers training. Because I did not respond to the notice my license was suspended without my knowledge. I was pulled over for speeding and then the officer asked me to get of car and he asked to me to put my hands behind my back and he placed me under arrest. I submitted respectfully to the officer as my father taught me to do even though I did not understand at the time what was happening.
Today many blacks have horrible and disrespectful attitudes towards police when they are pulled over. Even if they think the reason is unfair – two wrongs never make a right. You let the police officer do what he thinks he needs to do and if you disagree you can have your day in court. That is how our system works.
Because blacks often resist arrest bad things happen. That is just the truth of the matter. Many black men might not have lost their lives or been injured by police if they would have respectfully submitted to the police officer’s authority.
Perhaps these two black men in Louisiana and Minnesota were killed unjustly. But right now we don’t know the whole story. Could the one man have been resisting arrest? Could the other have been moving his hands around when the officer told him to keep his hands where he could see them? We will find out soon enough.
The ugly truth that the black community and black culture must come to grips with is that even if those two shootings were not justified – Police officers have every right to have a bias toward blacks based on the crime statistics I showed previously as well as the statistics offered in this article from the Wall Street Journal:
“Police officers—of all races—are also disproportionately endangered by black assailants. Over the past decade, according to FBI data, 40% of cop killers have been black. Officers are killed by blacks at a rate 2.5 times higher than the rate at which blacks are killed by police.
Some may find evidence of police bias in the fact that blacks make up 26% of the police-shooting victims, compared with their 13% representation in the national population. But as residents of poor black neighborhoods know too well, violent crimes are disproportionately committed by blacks. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, blacks were charged with 62% of all robberies, 57% of murders and 45% of assaults in the 75 largest U.S. counties in 2009, though they made up roughly 15% of the population there.
Such a concentration of criminal violence in minority communities means that officers will be disproportionately confronting armed and often resisting suspects in those communities, raising officers’ own risk of using lethal force.”
http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-myths-of-black-lives-matter-1468087453
How can we blame police officers who may have some bias toward blacks when they constantly hear over the police radio “suspect is black male….”
How can we blame police officers for having even unconscious bias toward blacks in suspicious situations when 40% of cop killers are black even though they only make up 13% of the population?
How can we scream “racist” toward police officers who day in and day out see the utter disrespect that blacks show toward themselves and toward law enforcement officers?
What is the solution to this crisis that we face with the black community and conflicts with police officers?
There are two long term solutions to help reduce crime in the black community.
Long Term Solution 1# – Encourage the rebuilding of the black family unit
“Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.”
I Corinthians 7:2 (KJV)
We need to support ministries and initiatives that encourage abstinence and marriage in the black community. My church supports black ministers that act almost as missionaries to inner cities to do just this. By encouraging strong families with father’s present to love, teach and discipline their children we will help to bring about a new generation of black men that will have greater respect for themselves and for their authorities (parents, teachers, and police officers).
Long Term Solution 2# – Discourage dependence on government
“For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.”
II Thessalonians 3:10 (KJV)
We need to discourage dependence on government and instead encourage self-reliance and this applies not only to the black community but to all races in America. People need to learn the value of working hard for their own money and not expect government handouts. Blacks, whites and all races need to learn to be content even if they are poorer.
But while the longer term solutions are being implemented we must face the realities of today with broken families and high crime rates in the black community.
Below are two short term solutions that should be implemented now.
Short Term Solution 1# – Get blacks back into church
“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.“
Hebrews 10:25 (KJV)
Even if blacks come from broken homes there are solutions we can try to help in the short term. I don’t have the stats handy but I am sure they out there. I have read before that blacks that are raised in church and faithfully attend church even with single mothers have a much lower chance of getting into crime and other types of trouble. As Christians we need to encourage our black neighbors to get back to church. The Church I attend while being primarily white does have blacks as well and we encourage all races to attend our church. This is the way all churches should be.
Ultimately we want to see blacks, as we do all people, come to Christ. A black man who has accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior in his heart and wants to serve God is going to be far less likely to get into crime than a black man without Christ. He is going to want to get married and raise his family in a way that honors God.
Short Term Solution #2 – Support law enforcement officers and get tough on crime
“2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
4 For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.”
Romans 13:2-4 (KJV)
I don’t care if you are white, black, Hispanic or Asian. If a police officer tells you to do something – you do it. If he asks you a question – you answer it. If he tell you to keep your hands where he can see them – you do it. If he arrests you – you allow him to do that. If you feel you were mistreated – save it for the judge. If “stop and frisk” measures reduce crime in any city – than we need to support these measures. And the most important thing is – we need to ALWAYS given our police officers the benefit of the doubt in any use of force situation. They risk their lives day in and day out for our safety as a culture and we owe them that respect and appreciation for what they do.
Conclusion
The black community does not have an economic problem – it has a family problem and it has a respect problem as a result of breakdown of the family.
I pray that God will be with the families of the five police officers that were killed and the seven others that were wounded by this mad man.
I also pray that our nation and especially the black community will wake up to the fact that the problem is not with police officers – but it is with the black community itself. The black community needs to look inward and do some serious self-reflecting.
As whites and other races, we cannot go in and fix the black community. All we can do is support black leaders who want to do the things I mentioned above whether it is financially supporting their ministries or just offering them moral support and of course keeping them in our prayers.