NIU Race and Ethnicity Fall 2013 Blog: Who is to Blame?

Who is to Blame?

Race and crime go hand in hand. There are sociological reasons as to why race is committed against minorities and why crime is committed by certain races. I speculate crimes are committed against certain races because the fear of the majority race. I feel the majority believes they are inferior to minority, and thus must do everything in their power to make the minority feel inferior. For example, during the slave trade, white men would kill the strongest black in the tribe to show they had power. This power demonstrates that whites may have an inferiority complex towards other people of color. Histories have been changed or destroyed in order to make the white man look “better” in the eyes of the masses. In reality, the world was created and prospered because of African ancestors. For all of the above reasons, this leads me to believe that hates crimes committed against blacks are because whites fear the power the black man holds. Some whites have a strong hate for blacks for no plausible reason, yet they still feel the need to physically and emotionally harm blacks in order to make themselves feel more superior. This is evident in the situation that led to the death of a teenager in Philadelphia. The case is similar to a now infamous case that also led to the death of a young black male, Trayvon Martin. In Marqus Hill’s case, he suspected a black teenager of breaking into his car, with no evidence, just accusations. When it appeared that the teen was reaching for a gun, Hill shot the teen 13 times. Black men are viewed as lesser beings, and so their lives are disposable. Black men have been beaten and killed for every reason possible in this country. Crimes are committed against black people and other minorities because of a deep hatred for anything that is not white. If white people aren’t making fun of another culture, they are trying to destroy it- in a general sense of speaking.

Crimes are committed by people in poorer economic situations. A lot of African Americans are from poorer areas; making it seem as though they commit most of the crimes. The sociological reasoning behind this is simple: it is a deadly cycle that will be hard to break. For instance, a child is born to a single mother who has to work two jobs to afford housing in the projects. Because the child lives in the projects, the schools in the area have lower funding because they cannot draw from housing income. A child with a poor education and little attention from a parent will not be able to thrive. This will cause a child to either drop out of school or turn to illegal activities to make ends meet. This causes a cycle because then the child will grow up and treat their child the same, and that child will further the destruction of the community. Black people sell drugs to get the life that they desperately want or need, but selling drugs can lead to death or jail.

Links

1. http://www.hlntv.com/article/2013/06/03/similar-trayvon-martin-zimmerman-cases-stand-your-ground

2. http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/2094178?uid=3739656&uid=2&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21102793925213