Like you I am concerned with the ever-increasing crime in this country. I have noticed that whenever anything less than flattering is said of the criminals especially those from the African American community, it is declared racist. So, if someone gives the actual statistics of the number of blacks committing crimes versus other races it is racist. Truth does not seem to enter the equation.
The fact of the matter is that truth is truth. I looked at some crime statistics to confirm what I already knew from decades of prison ministry. Including homicide victims 53.7% were black or African American (and yet that race only make up 13% of the population), 41.6% were white, 3% were of other races, and 1.7% were of unknown races. The per-capita offending rate for African Americans was roughly eight times higher than that of whites, and their victim rate was similar. That last sentence caught my eye. The victim rate is similar. The black community is being hurt the most by crime.
Violent crime in the United States is most likely to be committed in urban areas and much of it is drug related. Even in many of the safest states in the country, there are cities with violent crime rates that exceed the national average by a wide margin. Similarly, it is no coincidence that many of the states with the highest rates of violence are also home to some of America’s most dangerous cities. In some cases, a single city can account for over one-quarter of all violent crime in an entire state.
Louisiana had the highest murder rate in the country from 2000 to 2018 with most occurring in New Orleans, until it was surpassed by Jackson Mississippi. Before becoming the state with the highest murder rate in 2019, Mississippi held the number two spot for 16 years between 2000 and 2018. Most crime in the state occurs in Jackson, Mississippi, one of the few urban areas in the state. When I moved to Mississippi I was somberly warned to stay away from Jackson if at all possible. Crime in the rest of the state is very low and where I live is miniscule.
There are valid reasons for most of it in my opinion, and the disproportionate over-representation of some racial minorities in the criminal justice system can in part be explained by socioeconomic factors such as poverty, exposure to poor neighborhoods, poor access to public and early education often being non-existent.
I have lived on dangerous streets in big cities, and to a degree it resembles a war zone. I have seen the homeless muttering to themselves and shouting unintelligible sentences laced with profanity. I’ve seen them drinking wine and shooting up drugs right on the street. I’ve walked among dangerous psychopaths who would kill someone for the price of a hit of heroin. Imagine a little kid walking to school through a maze of such street people.
When I owned Horizon Software International we had 18,000 installations in school districts and I have been to schools in urban areas that necessarily had metal detectors in them to keep guns out. Violent fights were an everyday occurrence in these snake pits. Our installers saw a gun battle in the city of Detroit and had to duck being cars to avoid being shot.
I have seen prisons filled with young adults, predominately black and have seen the look of despair and absence of hope in their eyes in those hell holes. They need to turn to God.
When I was CEO of various companies, I had a saying that we cannot begin to solve a problem until we first identify it. The problem is in this WOKE environment truth is denied and everything else is blamed. Consider that 74.3 percent of all white children below the age of 18 live with both parents, only 38.7 percent of African-American minors can say the same.
Without fathers at home
63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes (US Dept. Of Health/Census) – 5 times the average.
90% of all homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes – 32 times the average.
85% of all children who show behavior disorders come from fatherless homes – 20 times the average. (Center for Disease Control)
80% of rapists with anger problems come from fatherless homes –14 times the average. (Justice & Behavior, Vol 14, p. 403-26)
71% of all high school dropouts come from fatherless homes – 9 times the average. (National Principals Association Report) Fatherless children are twice as likely to drop out of school.
75% of all adolescent patients in chemical abuse centers come from fatherless homes – 10 times the average.
Father Factor in Drug and Alcohol Abuse – Researchers at Columbia University found that children living in two-parent household with a poor relationship with their father are 68% more likely to smoke, drink, or use drugs compared to all teens in two-parent households. Teens in single mother households are at a 30% higher risk than those in two-parent households.
70% of youths in state-operated institutions come from fatherless homes – 9 times the average. (U.S. Dept. of Justice, Sept. 1988)
85% of all youths in prison come from fatherless homes – 20 times the average. (Fulton Co. Georgia, Texas Dept. of Correction)
Children with Fathers who are involved are 40% less likely to repeat a grade in school.
Children with Fathers who are involved are 70% less likely to drop out of school.
Children with Fathers who are involved are more likely to get A’s in school.
Children with Fathers who are involved are more likely to enjoy school and engage in extracurricular activities.
The Bible points out that God is truth.God, (truth), is not racist or any of the other WOKE labels. If I were a member of the African American community, I would want to know the truth. Before improvements can be made, victimology must be replaced by truth. Then perhaps a realistic plan could be devised to turn around the problems beseeching our nation.
I have been on prison yards during prison ministry and have met three generations of inmates (Grandfather, father, and son/grandson) all serving time in the same facility. It is generational and will continue to be passed on down the line until the community solves the problem of single parents, (mothers and grandmothers) trying to raise kids alone.
The solution is not to label people racist, but to identify the true problems and then take action to solve them. Those politicians who wish to remain in power and those activists who line their pockets with money aren’t solving anything aside from their lust for power and money. Revival of the communities and turning to God is the only option for all of us.
John 8:32
“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”