The Trayvon Martin Killing and the Myth of Black-on-Black Crime

The Daily Beast ^ | July 15, 2013 | Jamelle Bouie

[NotYourAverageDhimmi]

Last week, in Chicago, 16-year-old Darryl Green was found dead in the yard of an abandoned home. He was killed, relatives reported, because he refused to join a gang. Unlike most tragedies, however—which remain local news—this one caught the attention of conservative activist Ben Shapiro, an editor for Breitbart News. Using the hashtag “#justicefordarryl,” Shaprio tweeted and publicized the details of Green’s murder. But this wasn’t a call for help and assistance for Green’s family, rather, it was his response to wide outrage over Saturday’s decision in the case of George Zimmerman, where a Florida jury judged him “not guilty” of second-degree murder or manslaughter in the killing of Trayvon Martin.

Shapiro, echoing many other conservatives, is angry over the perceived politicization of the Zimmerman trial, and believes that activists have ”injected” race into the discussion, as if there’s nothing racial already within the criminal-justice system. Indeed, he echoes many conservatives when he complains that media attention had everything to do with Zimmerman’s race. If he were black, the argument goes, no one would care. And so, Shapiro found the sad story of Darryl Green, and promoted it as an example of the “black-on-black” crime that, he believes, goes ignored. Or, as he tweets, “49% of murder victims are black men. 93% of those are killed by other blacks. Media don’t care. Obama doesn’t care. #JusticeForDarryl.”

The idea that “black-on-black” crime is the real story in Martin’s killing isn’t a novel one. In addition to Shapiro, you’ll hear the argument from conservative African-American activists like Crystal White, as well as people outside the media, like Zimmerman defense attorney Mark O’Mara, who said that his client “never would have been charged with a crime” if he were black.

[scripter]

According to the article your number (1106) is wrong. It should be 11,106.

[ozzymandus]

“Myth”??? It’s no myth.

[NotYourAverageDhimmi]

If you check out the comments under the original article, not even the Liberals that read The Daily Beast are buying this steaming pile of an article.

[ek_hornbeck]

The numbers are actually worse than that. Around 1990, the FBI decided to combine “whites” and “Hispanics” into one category. The reason? White and Hispanic crime rates are “approximately” the same, plus, many Hispanics call themselves white. So, in spite of major violent crime activity by Hispanic gangs in California, New York City, and in many other major cities, ALL those crimes are attributed to “white” people!

This is correct, though I don't buy for a second that whites and hispanics commit violent crimes at approximately the same rate. While violent crime committed by Mexicans isn't as high as black violent crime in most areas, it is still far higher than what you see among white anglos. A quick look at the demographics of maximum security prisons shows a lot more black or brown faces relative to their numbers in the general population.

[RatRipper]

America is afraid of black people, and that’s especially true—it seems—when it thinks they might be angry.

Not afraid, just utterly stupefied and exasperated that they have been angry for all of my 56 years, even after my family and I have repeatedly been pushed aside and penalized by minority preference programs, not to mention the countless tax dollars that have been ripped off from my income for the express purpose giving them the opportunities that they incessantly bitch about not having. Now Obama is deliberately wrecking our healthcare system and our country using, in part, them as an excuse.

I have REPEATEDLY done my part. It is LONG PAST HIGH TIME THE BLACK COMMUNITY DOES THEIR PART.

[Secret Agent Man]

Trayvon Martin was a black Assault thug.

[zeestephen]

Thanks for posting.

I wrote a similar white-Hispanic “perpetrator” post at Comment #39.

But, I was not aware that Latinos were singled out for special treatment as crime “victims.”

[ek_hornbeck]

hen you eliminate the elderly, children (ie real children, not teen gang-bangers), and, for the most part, women, the violence-prone black portion of the US population is far less than 12%. What you say is true, so the correct comparison would be crime rates among white males between the ages of 14-60 and black males between the ages of 14-60. With that correction, the per capita crime rate among blacks would still be 5-10x that of whites.

children, not teen gang-bangers

Sadly, teen thugs are considered "children" by the legal system and by many in society. Trayvon Martin was repeatedly referred to as a "child," conjuring up the public image of him as a sweet, innocent little kid instead of a hulking, late adolescent hoodlum.

[mmichaels1970]

But there’s a huge problem with attempt to shift the conversation: There’s no such thing as “black-on-black” crime. Yes, from 1976 to 2005, 94 percent of black victims were killed by black offenders, but that racial exclusivity was also true for white victims of violent crime—86 percent were killed by white offenders. Indeed, for the large majority of crimes, you’ll find that victims and offenders share a racial identity, or have some prior relationship to each other.

Clever use of percentages to manipulate statistics.

But according to American Thinker:

In over 52% of the murders in the US in 2011 in which the race of the murderer was known, the murderer was black. Over half of the victims of murder were also black. But blacks are only 13.6% of the population. Put all that together, and the murder rate in the US for non-blacks was more like 2.6 per 100,000 in 2011.

So if you have a group making up 13.6% of the population and committing over 52% of the murders, 94% of which were against their own race...you do, in fact, have a black-on-black crime problem.

[zeestephen]

I agree.

However, I read through 4 published academic crime studies on Google, and there are statistics that support the general idea that Hispanic and white crime rates are about the same.

The big question, though, is how accurate and how rigorous are those studies?

Intuitively, and based just on Hispanic gang activity by itself, my instincts say “BULL!”

[zeestephen]

Thanks for checking, scripter.

I thought that 1106 number looked WAY off, too.

[mojito]

Yes, black-on-black crime is a myth.

Black crime is also a myth.

The reality is crazy a$$ cracker crime. Got it?

Good.

[Mark17]

He reminds me of a heavier Steve Urkel.

[wku man]

"Does it make ANY sense that there are more black males killed than white males given the population disparity? It's not "proximity" as the author says. It's cultural."

Yep. I love to make the comparison between Boise, ID (my hometown), and Little Rock, AR (where I used to work). Both are comparable size, are state capitals, and have metro areas of roughly half a million.

But according to CityData.com, in 2011, there was one murder in Boise...ONE, and it was a strangulation (since I've been living here, the highest yearly murder rate was 10). In Little Rock, there were 37 murders in 2011. In fact, since I moved here in 2004, the year with the most murders was '07, during which there were 10. In Little Rock, the number was 51. In the 13 years between '99 and '11, there have been an average of 3.6 murders in Boise. In Little Rock, the average is 38.7/year.

Both metro areas are roughly the same size, and both have a so-called "gun culture"...so why the stark difference in murder rates? You said it...it's the "culture".

Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!

[Eagles6]

Break that down further. Black males between 15-29 make up 3-4% of the population.

[GOPJ]

“49% of murder victims are black men. 93% of those are killed by other blacks. Media don’t care. Obama doesn’t care. #JusticeForDarryl.”

BINGO

[SoFloFreeper]

[keats5]

You are correct. My bad. Thank you.

[Wuli]

the author mentions and then glosses over and disregards as not relavent the sheer level of “black” crime - blacks convicted for property &/or violent crime, which is disproportionate to the black population as a % of the total population and THAT fact is what makes “black on black” crime case relevant

so what if 86% of “white victims” are victims of a “white” perp; of the total “white” population, what % do “white victims” make up

then do the math for “black victims” of “black perps” as a % of the “black” population - you’ll find the % are higher because the incidence, the number of incidence are higher - thus, giving the “black on black” case relevance

[Tijeras_Slim]

Thanks for the picture. It explains a lot. Ol’ Jamelle is probably desperate to establish his “cred” with those looks, so we writes this crazy stuff.