The Rev.
Al Sharpton works with the
NYPD as much as he critiques them. While he has challenged the police and their tactics when dealing with citizens, he also partners with them on important issues, such as controlling gun violence and community policing.
This week, Sharpton held a joint press conference with the NYPD to announce that they are offering incentives to get guns off the streets. Anyone turning in a gun can do so with no questions asked and get a reward for their efforts. The program has proven itself to be effective in the past, and the offer is likely going to have quite a few takers.
Part of the reason that it's so important to get guns off the street is because gun violence has had a tremendous impact on African Americans. According to the
FBI, guns are used in 63 percent of all robberies and 64 percent of all assaults. The leading cause of death for African-American males is homicide, and the majority of these murders are committed with guns. We didn't put the guns in our community, but we've got to do all we can to get them out.
While I love the idea of offering rewards to get guns off the streets, I wonder deep down why such an act is even necessary:
I wonder why our nation leaves the door open for gun manufacturers to profit off the death and destruction of the black community in the same way that weapons traders get rich off of war in Third World countries.
In some ways, we must ask in a vocal way whether there is a corporate incentive for African-American genocide, which is built on the fact that making and selling guns provides a huge financial windfall for companies unethical enough to create these weapons.
Gun makers must be confronted by all of us. Those who sell these products must be forced to pay when their guns end up in places where they should not. We should treat them the same way we treated tobacco companies who've killed millions with their toxic products. Something has got to change at the highest levels for any of this to work, and it must preclude us from having to give them a reward for doing the right thing.
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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. 
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Comments: (10)
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By: Shawnee on 11/22/2010 2:06PM
Wait... It's the gun manufacturers' fault? Someone that is capable of killing or robbing another is just as capable (in their heart) with or without a gun. How about taking responsibility for raising our children, teaching them acceptable behavior, consequences and basic morals! It seems like all I hear is some higher up or establishment to whine about when it starts with the home.
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By: Little Dickie Dydoe on 11/22/2010 2:43PM
Dr Boyce,this story that you have written has to be one of the stupidest that I have ever seen. It's amazing how you always find a way to blame somebody else for the problems of Blacks. Professional Racemongers like you and Sharpton never mention personal responsibility. Blaming gun manufacturers is asinine.
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By: Brady on 11/22/2010 3:51PM
"Blaming gun manufacturers is asinine."
Of course it is, however if you understand the race hustle, then what he writes is perfectly logical.
You cant blame the uncivilized, unproductive, antisocial or flat out ignorant behavior that “SOME” of us display.
I can’t really blame today’s race hustler, it’s better than getting a real damn job, the pay and perks and government funding is very attractive. But in order to be successful you must convince folks they are always the victim. You need a market, and they have one.
Keep'em dumb and dependent, not smart and independent.
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By: Marztinez on 11/22/2010 5:41PM
Another stupid story...I mean, are we to believe that gun toting hoodlums are going to say, "Okay,I'm going to stop being a menace to society." "For now on,I'm going to be an upstanding citizen,therefore I must go down to the precinct, even though I'm on parole violation and turn my glock in today". I mean Sharpton is talking as if criminals are just looking for a way to turn in the GAT...LOL. Black Folk,Have not we heard this story before????? Al, Al,.Dear Al,I think you will have better luck if you pitched a tent in the middle of the hood and preached a little bit.
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By: You Know Who on 11/22/2010 6:45PM
PHD or Doctor are just words,English ,I read this stuff for amusement. I retired 20 years ago,and my health is good,I aplogize I did not smoke weed.Some of the stories sound like they are written by people with substance abuse problems and should look for mental health help.Blacks a color, not a race,slang for persons uneducated and poor,filthy,ego-tripping,parolees,unskilled,all the negatives in the English language.Injoy your Thanksgiving dinner,I will.Who would take Mr. Sharpton serious,the white-man uses him like Obama as a toy, puppet.New York is a joke, before 9/11.
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By: paul on 11/23/2010 11:35AM
Now I've heard everything. How about a citizenry that is well armed and well trained in the proper use of their weapons? You can live in a fantasy world and pretend that the bad guys will turn in their guns for a couple hundred bucks, or you can take a stand and protect yourself. If there were enough people who armed themselves LEGALLY and responsibly, the bad guys wouldn't have such easy pickings.
Don't blame the gun mfg's when they are playing by the rules. Blame the ones who BREAK the rules. You know who that is, too.
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By: summerfield01 on 11/23/2010 11:26AM
sharpton is a racist and even blacks know that much. Until we blacks can stop being racist ourselves against whites then I don't feel we should be pointing out their racism. We must first cast the stone out of our own eye before we can see clearly to cast the stone out of their eye. We have evolved to be more racist than whites and thats a fact. We hold grudges for something we never experienced. I don't see jewish people committing crimes and standing in welfare lines blaming the germans. We could possibly face our own demise if we continue down this road of hatred. I'm tired of blaming others for my own shortcomings....are you?
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By: Marztinez on 11/23/2010 3:15PM
Summer,
I don't quite follow. The article is about curtailing gun violence, and somehow you landed on black racism. Nevertheless, let's go there. I follow where you are trying to go, but your argument is fattally flawed. Blacks are no more racist than they were 50 to 100 years ago. Ever talked to your elders about white folk??? Are you saying that Martin Luther, Malcom, Booker T., Sojourner Truth and all of those that has gone before us and has labored to pave the way for your equal rights and freedoms should have bridled their tongues about the injustices that black folks were and still are experiencing at the hands of whites????? Is that what you are saying??? Additionally,who are you to label all black folk as being racist? Have you spoke to everyone to get their opinion??? further, What the hell do you know about the Jews and what they do and don't complain about??? How many times have we heard about the Hollocaust. Movies have been made about it. We have even been made to read and learn about it in school, more so than your own African history of slavery. Why,because they (white/Jews) say we must remember, that we may never let it happen again. When has that ever been said about slavery,the dark era of your family,s history. Moreover,what do you mean by,Blacks are angry about a past that they didn't experience. Are you so shallow to believe whites love you now?? That all thing are equal???Reality check Mcfly: You are a member of the most hated race of people on the face of the earth. You are not hated because of the color of your skin. You are hated because you are of AFRICAN decent. Therefore,no matter how intelligent, articulate,pretty, and rich that you are or that you may become...the very fact that AFRICAN blood courses your veins makes you inferior to whites. Nevertheless, millions of African American people continue to move foreward in life as upstanding productive citizens, unabated by the flawed label of inferiority. So think about that, before you start lambasting your own race about racism. Black folk has their short comings, but it's not because of black racism. If you would have said the demise of the family, we could have found some common ground. PEACE.
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By: Michael on 11/25/2010 9:30PM
Marztinez
Great comment and it's common knowledge that Summerfield is a non-black masquerading as a black person and attempting to muddy the waters.
You set him straight thought.
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By: levelsone on 11/24/2010 11:00AM
Al Sharton is basically a good person but also a self-serving individual. More gun control is needed in NYC and all around the nation because too many people die needlessly from gunshot wounds each year. It still is too easy to get a gun in NYC.
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