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African-American males in Detroit between the ages of 15 and 24 are dying at a rate that is roughly seven times higher than the rest of the Detroit population. If they were dying at the same rate as everyone else, there would be one death every three weeks. Instead, there are two black men dying every single week.
This has set off alarm bells within the Detroit Police Department, which has taken heavy criticism for its policing of the black community. Their most recent embarrassment was the shooting of 7-year old Aiyana Jones during a police raid. But the Chief of Police, Ralph Godbee Jr., is concerned about black men killing one another.
A 2009 report by the FBI chronicles the growing national trend of black male homicide. According to the report, a black male was about six times more likely than a white man to be a victim of homicide. Although black males account for only 7 percent of the Detroit population, they constitute 25 percent of the homicides.
Recently, I wrote about how prominent black scholars, such as Dr. Julianne Malveaux, are speaking up on behalf of the suffering of Detroit residents. The point here is that the suffering will not end until we allocate resources to stop the devastation. As of this moment, genocide of black men is contributing to the erosion of the black family. When a black boy is left uneducated by a decaying inner city school system, he is then unemployed and ultimately either the victim of murder or incarceration. Nearly half of all the black men in my family have either been to jail or come close to death.
Both our society and the black family have engaged in a creative partnership for the destruction and death of black boys, and it's time for that partnership to end. Attorney General Eric Holder and President Barack Obama, both of whom happen to be black males, have the power to stop this.
Sure, it won't be easy, and it's difficult to care about black males without getting resistance from politicians who've been trained to hate them, but I am hopeful that black elected officials in Washington will gain the moral courage to take a stand on this important issue.
The black boys who choose to kill one another do not start off in the world as demons. The world demonizes us, and we respond accordingly. It makes us angry, bitter, marginalized and violent. When growing up in a world that doesn't accept you, you find yourself doing things you wouldn't normally do and caught up in situations you'd never envisioned for yourself. Believe me, I've been in this theater of life, with a front row seat.
Fix the schools, create youth programs, invest in mentorship. That is how the black male is going to survive.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action Resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here. 
Comments: (326)
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By: Nikki on 9/07/2010 2:28PM
Michael- I apologies if it appeared that I was blaming all black males for the murder rate. I was not talking about all black males, I was talking about the ones in Detroit who actually kill.
Also I never said abandon black males. I am married to a black man and understand the importance of gender roles and of having the man be the head.
If my little brother does something wrong I correct him and tell him that he needs to stop doing the wrong things and start doing the right things. I don't pretend like he didn't do it and turn around and say it's all Bill's fault for my brothers problems. That's what we need to do as a black community. When we see bad things happening we should condemn them and offer solutions and actually implement the solutions. We need to start taking responsibility for our destiny. The majority of commenters on this site comment placing blame on whites but neglect to identify solutions to the problem. We need new approaches, not the same old rhetoric of blaming white.
We should be exchanging ideas on how to fix this problem not berate someone for pointing out the obvious and suggesting common sense solutions to the problem.
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By: Michael on 9/12/2010 1:19PM
Nikki - no apologies need and I'm very happy to see black women post comments that show they get it - and you do. I just want to remind all that humans have to be taught from 0 to appx 17 and home is the primary place.
Those guys didn't just "puff" onto the scene. What they're suffering, as a group in 2010, is absolutely OUTRAGEOUS. No fathers, all with a criminal record, illiterate - it's nuts. And the rappers and the media puppets do nothing and the general black community (female-led remember) can only point fingers and say "I ain't dealing with this...an run with their scared apathy". It's genocide now.
I will battle and I'll battle effectively. Alway have.
And believe me black woman, you're just me inside out and me, you. I know you and I know why I must say what I say on this site.
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By: elle40 on 9/30/2010 10:12AM
This story is a very familiar story that is echoed throughout church pulpits, community high schools, recreational facilities, "so-called" civil rights organizations, etc., and the message continues to fall on deaf ears. This issue is a black community issue (Yes, I am black). How can someone help a group of people who refuse to help themselves? When Bill Cosby heightened awareness concerning this issue, blacks shut him down. When President Obama and Attorney Eric Holder addressed this issue, blacks shut them down and tuned them out. What the heck you think people are suppose to do? These young men aren't stupid. They need their a_ _ es whooped and they need discipline. These multiple baby mamas and absent fathers have contributed to this awful climate that appears to be celebrated in the black community; and now everyone wants to cry for help. How ridiculous? It's time for parents to take charge of their communities and use the resources they have available to them. You will not tell me that the Civil Rights Movement, which was armed with nothing more than tenacity, passion, and a vision to help dismantle the effects of Jim Crow, but in the 21st century with all sorts of technology, social networking, opportunities, etc., blacks can't agree on strategies and methodology to change the trajectory of the path of black males heading to self-destruction & genocide. I won't believe it. This is utter foolishness.
Years ago, there was a commercial that stated, "that if medals were given for killing black men, a bronze medal would go to the skinheads, a silver medal would go to the KKK, but a gold medal would go to black males." The commercial's was a clarion call to wake up the black community and to challenge black men to halt their violence against each other. I thought it was a great message using a brilliant marketing approach. However, the message was short-lived because Jesse Jackson and other so-called civil rights organizations thought it was offensive to blacks. I was a teenager at the time, but the message caught my attention. Well, he were are and I am 41 years old, and the problem has escalated to a S.O.S. status. It's unfortunate that many black leaders are toxic and detrimental to the preservation of the black community. Blacks can be their own worse enemy. Whether you agree with me or not is irrelevant. The facts/evidence are present in urban communities across this nation (Oakland, South Central, Watts, Compton, Detroit, Chicago, Sacramento, NYC, Memphis, Cincinnati, Birmingham, etc.,), and the author wants to say, "President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder have the power to help the situation. Hell, Blacks got the power to change the situation. If nobody comes to aid in this epidemic, blacks should have enough initiative of their own to make a change. From the HBCUs to Sororities and Fraternities to Black churches, etc., use your logic, leadership, passion, and make a change. We should stop wanting everyone to help and start helping our selves. Put the petty BS to the side and unite and preserve our race. - - Because it's not about the white man at this point (sense some like to say," the White did this and the white man did that." However true it is, we cannot rely on that, let's get it started and champion this cause.
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By: aberdeen allen on 9/05/2010 3:51PM
The problem of young AAs killing each other boils down to who will sell drugs on what street corner, plain and simple. I am no sociologist, but a casual reading of books written by former drug dealers point to the fact that drugs are behind 90% of most of these killings. Either to protect their truf, or to keep employees in line. Young AAs have gotten the impression that drug selling is the quick way out of the hood. The same as the Irish and the Italians saw alcohol as a way out during prohibition. Legalize drugs and I granrantee you that the number of killings will decrease. There are too many young men out there without any moral compass to guide them in the right direction on their own. Putting them in jail has proven not to be the answer either. Anyone with any common sense will not listen to those posters who make blanket negative statements about the AA community. There will always be those who try to lump all of us into one big bad group and the best defense against them is to just ignore them. Just my two cents. Peace
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By: Yvette on 10/20/2010 3:52PM
God has favor for everyone in Detroit!!!!
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By: Deut818 on 9/05/2010 11:13PM
aah God doesn't reward or "favor" those who are disobedient to God's moral laws..let's start with the ten commandments..
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By: Alie on 9/03/2010 9:56PM
How many of us know that sometimes GOP and others watch from the sidelines until it starts spilling over and effecting them before something is done, remember in the 80's with crack, prisons are already full, look at lousianna 1 murder captial of the US along with san francisco and other major cities, mixed up in the whole thing is a thing called corruption, this country is under judgement believe me!
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By: rightorwrong on 9/03/2010 9:54PM
this is the quickest way for communities to die out it's called self inflicted genocide, drugs, gangs, HIV, until it starts crossing over to the main stream only then will something be done.
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By: Michael on 9/07/2010 1:08PM
I agree with your statement and only would add this genocide which is indeed, selfinflicted to a significant degree (I'd say 50%), was implanted (programmed) into the people thru an all-encompassing media brainwashing and govt sanctioned oppressive and unjust treatment - for centuries on end. The stuff is in the genes at this point but can be overcome, even though it's in the genes. All people came to support this anti-black white supremast oppression of tradition (the brainwashing works). All are influenced by the media system of our capitalist system, which has traditionally uplifted whites (& other non-blacks) while simultaneously disparaging black people.
So what is now selfinflicted (as well as still directed thru US media and oppressive unjust treatment) was not selfinflicted at first. Mental warfare and debasement thru media channels was always a central tenet of the US slavery and Jim Crow systems and when you do it for centuries on end, it does serious damage to the targets of the debasement. It was only 1965, when blacks were even guaranteed the right to sit where they wanted on a public bus. Let's have some perspective here.
Life has gotten exponentially tougher and trickier to navigate in this computer age with NAFTA/GATT having eliminated already sparce employment opportunities for blacks coupled with all the illegal aliens (from all over the world) and the further breakdown of intact families within the community. Black people better learn quick how to speak and treat each other with love, patience, care and commitment - times running out.
IMO, you posted a pertinent comment but I'm mortified at too many of the comments from black posters. They can't argue successfully with the Bill Shrier's of the world even though the Bills of the world are 100% incorrect. He's a liar (and I'm not namecalling because he purposely attempts to obfuscate the truth about US history and the black experience). He knows he's lying but doesn't care. As black people, we simply must know the truth about our history and be able to communicate that to everyone. Bills just mouthing the same old lie the media's been feeding everyone since the TransAtlantic Slave Trade days. It's all about shifting blame onto the victim and avoiding responsibility for their actions.
Black people - I can't answer everyone post, help me here. The Bill's of the world don't stand a snowball's chance with me but they're demolishing you guyz with their (lying) arguments. I see you folding like a ricketty lawn chair and even going over to their side. That's the danger of ignorance. When you don't know, you're helpless and easy to manipulate. You gotta tell them they're liars and then put forth a solid argument to show them (and everyone).
PS: I can't get angry at the white man who posted that black women regularly throw themselves at him and are willing to pay for him and treat black men like dirt - because I've witnessed that 100s of times. It wouldn't happen to me because I'm way too much of a man to be ineffective at correcting her when she acts up in my presense. And that includes throwing yourself at non-black men and speaking disrespectfully to other black males in my presense. They don't know what to say but I do.
Alright - let's talk. I'm ready and willing.
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By: jimq on 9/03/2010 10:38PM
the reason the school systems are failing in the black communities is because of the black students and there parents, no one else! When they bus them into white schools the kids mimmic the getto behaviour instead of the other way around it is like a disease. the blacks need to clean up their sh...t!
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