Newtown shooting: Focusing on young black men in hoodies while ignoring young white men with Glocks
Veteran teacher Bob Fecho, now a reading education professor at the University of Georgia, writes about young men, violence and guns in the wake of the Newtown shooting:
I am a white male. I’ve been in education for nearly 40 years and for 24 of those years I taught in three different secondary schools in Philadelphia. The students in all those schools came from working class and working poor black families.
When I would tell other whites who I’d meet casually—a taxi driver or a sales clerk, for example—where I worked, I’d hear anything from the coded “It must be hard teaching them kids” to the bald “You should get a medal for teaching there.” I suspect they imagined a school running amok, with fights breaking out daily, gangs terrorizing teachers, and mayhem rampant. Such was never the case.
Instead, I would see how the young men I taught were frequently vilified in local media, how black on white crime was plastered across the 11 o’clock news, despite its low occurrence rate relative to other crime. My students would tell me about policemen who would pat them down merely for standing on a street corner, about store clerks who followed them from the moment they entered a store until the moment they left, and about whites who, when seeing them approaching, would cross the street.
In America, we seem to live in fear of black males.
On Dec. 14, a white male killed 27 victims — most of them children — in a school in Connecticut. In July of this year, a white male murdered 12 people and injured 58 more in a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. Before that, U. S. Representative Gabby Giffords and 18 other people were shot by a white male. Six of them died, including a child and a federal judge.
Mother Jones magazine, in a report on mass shootings in the United States, indicated that since 1982 there have been at least 62 such shootings. The magazine went on to report that 43 of the killers were white males. Of the remaining 19 shooters, fewer than 10 were African American.
Rather than avoiding black males in hoodies, it would seem to be wiser to keep white males from carrying Glocks.
Yet we don’t.
In fact, we continue to make it easy for white males, and anyone else with the ready cash to buy weapons that facilitate such mass and random violence.
And it’s the randomness that is especially troubling. When I taught high school in Philadelphia, there would be fights from time to time. You put 2,000 adolescents in a relatively small space and there will be fights. But the violence was always focused. Someone disrespected someone’s mama or made moves on someone’s girlfriend. The offended sought the offender and the incident rarely spread beyond that.
But mass shooters—who are overwhelmingly white males—might start with an intended victim but then it becomes killing for killing’s sake. Anyone is a target. Anyone is free game. You turn a corner at the wrong time or open the wrong door and you’re a victim.
And curiously, we white males might be the greatest danger to ourselves. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide rates for white males 24-64 are far higher than any other combination of gender and race, except for Native American males. And the rates for older white males, those beyond 64 years of age, skyrocket.
The suicide method of choice tends to be guns. A Harvard Public School of Health Study showed that suicide rates trended higher in states with high rates of gun ownership and lower in states with lower rates of gun ownership.
We as a nation see the statistics. We wring our hands over the wasted lives. We send money to the families of victims. Yet a U.S. Congress that before the last election was in the neighborhood of 85 percent white and 83 percent male continues to drag its feet on any kind of substantive and pervasive gun control legislation. And we, the voters, let them.
Worse, we allow different standards to exist. If 43 of 62 mass shootings had been perpetrated by black males or Latinos, particularly if whites had been the targeted victims, I can only imagine the punitive legislation, the mandated sentences, the investigative commissions, and the building of even more and larger prisons that would have occurred. We would see these murders as some form of collective uprising that needed to be quelled.
But because white males commit the wide majority of these horrendous crimes, we choose to view them as isolated incidents —sad and tragic— but isolated, nonetheless. We refuse to acknowledge that we as a society create the easy access to weapons of widespread violence and the alienation that often leads to the use of such weapons. We continue to shirk our responsibility in terms of how we facilitate the purchasing of weapons of mass violence and how we ignore the needs of those so alienated that they resort to the use of such weapons.
As one white male to all the others, we need to look in the mirror; we have to begin seeing the realities around us. Whether we are carrying semiautomatic weapons, access keys for electronic voting machines, or legislative briefs in the halls of the U.S. Capitol Building, we provide the American people with far more to fear than any minority in this country.
We can continue in this self-destructive vein or we can re-envision a more compassionate and safer world. I suggest we take the initiative and do the latter. If not, as the last election suggested, all who aren’t white males will not so gently shove us out of the way.
Banning weapons of mass violence and seeking greater support for the families of children and young adults struggling with depression and alienation would be a good place to start.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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213 comments Add your comment
Mountain Man
December 21st, 2012
10:56 am
Every day I get out of bed I look at news. a killing at a club, a home invation, A child shot by a stray bullet. This is in all Atlanta. Then we have a candle light vigle after that they forget about it.The poor child is dead.But no electric chair.Oh we forgive them. But no chair because you don,t like the chair.
Moderated?Really??
December 21st, 2012
10:59 am
Let’s look at it for what it REALLY is. Let’s first acknowledge that the Black/Hispanic/Latino community has a crime problem. There is too much perpetuated and directly attributable to primarily social factors, that being poor economic conditions and opportunity. Yes, it ties directly into education. This senseless violence is rooted in control of an underground economic agenda – to attempt to gain economic parity in a system to which there is severe disparity. That means drug dealing, thefts, robberies, etc and control of the territory and people to aqcuire MONEY.
Now let’s look at the White Community and specifically the White MALE. First of all, this country was TAKEN with the barrel of the gun pointed at the Native Peoples who occupied this land. Failure to acknowledege that makes for a non-starter to the conversation. That point is of the utmost importance, because it forms the basis for what has taken place on an earth where 70% of the people are of color, YET the majority of the world’s wealth and resources are controlled by White peoples. The GUN and other advanced weaponry is the ONLY thing tht makes such a thing possible, not superior genetic or intellectual superiority.
The White has ALWAYS understood this, and this is why he has throughout history been MARRIED to the gun. It is his end-all-be-all. In a “nation” that sees the demographic balance shifting as it is in the US, this perceived notion that there is some threat genetic annihilation (really) fuels this obsession to new levels. It indisputable that the White male has enjoyed immense privilege throughout history, especially in the U.S. With that he has come to feel as if his way should dictate for all. If his lead is not followed or he feels threatened he brings forth whatever force necessary to bring thingsin line to his choosing, including taking the gun up against his perceived “foe”.
This is a psychological thing, as we see time and time again the same familiar story – White guy gets shunned. White guy gets pissed. White guy feels the need to show the WORLD how powerful HE is! Too many White men have difficuly dealing with things those of us who do not enjoy the privilege have to deal with all the time, like being doubted, questioned, marginalized or even ridiculed. Also, they impart these same frustrations on to their sons and vent amongst friends to where it becomes groupthink, no different than they accuse non-Whites of doing (like the accusations of teaching THEIR kids that “the man” is always trying to keep you down). I hear it on the job, in the restaurants, on the blogs and other places.
So this is something that needs to be dealt with and dealt with openly, honestly, and will require some abandonment of that privileged perspective, which unfortunately is cast onto others as “entitled”. They don’t realize it is oftentimes THEY are the epitome of “entitled”.
One World
December 21st, 2012
11:36 am
Regardless of race…bottom line is we are all in the same boat.
The crime rates for blacks versus whites are a lot higher, but folks do you really think it’s based on the color of skin or the why a black or white brain is wired.
Let’s look at the economics (lack of education, lack of family structure, lack of community support).
If were to track two parolees (one black – and on white) and track the progress of both..you will find that the white ex-con will still have more opportunities to succeed than the black ex-con)
Is this racism….or is it based on the fact that there’s more opportunities (family support, networking) for the white ex-con to succeed than the black…it’s part of our society – is it going to change..I don’t know – but for now it is what it is…
Ace
December 21st, 2012
11:38 am
Gangsta Rap is celebrated by the media…(listen to a few of the songs and what the messages are)
GB
December 21st, 2012
11:38 am
Aquagirl
Your anecdotes are quite interesting. I also know women who have been stalked and attacked by men they know. I know others that have been attacked/robbed at gunpoint/carjacked by men unknown to them. Are your anecdotes more relevant to the conversation than mine?
“Fortunately for you women are less likely to violently attack men with a gun, even if those men are know-it-alls in areas where they know absolutely nothing…”
This is not fortunate for me, as I have never harmed or threatened a woman in any way. You are making me out as some kind of woman-hating thug. My mother, my sister, my late wife, my female cousins, my nieces, my female co-workers, my female neighbor who came to MY house instead of hers when she was being followed by a strange man, the woman I saved from a purse-snatcher and other women would all disagree with your assessment.
I believe more women should arm themselves to protect themselves against predatory men. The woman I know who has been carjacked will shoot the next time it happens.
William Casey
December 21st, 2012
11:39 am
We pay a high price for what passes for “freedom” in America. Reminds me of the old Janis Joplin lyric: “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.” Race is a red herring when it comes to violence in America. There are stats available to prove any point, to whit: On a percentage basis, God is the all-time murder champ having taken out everybody except Noah’s family. There’s enough blame to go around when it comes to violence in America. I believe that this is the most schizophrenic set of responses I’ve ever seen posted here. Just thought I’d add to the chaos.
The Carnivore
December 21st, 2012
11:40 am
Maureen’s job is not to write or even reference others – it is to draw eyeballs to the ajc.com website to increase ad revenue. Therefore, the incentive of every news website is to post liberal garbage that draws the ire of sensible people, who then flock to the website to disagree. And it works. Look how many comments she gets, and she only actually wrote one sentence, at 2AM.
The days of writers being rewarded for good writing is over. The goal is now to get attention by any means possible, and that is why you see nonsense like this posted more frequently by major media outlets.
Jae
December 21st, 2012
11:42 am
As opposed to people of color or, say, any minority, white men as a subgroup are in such a privileged position in our society that they are the one group that our political system avoids demographically profiling in any way. It’s sad and pathetic for anyone to commit such crime no matter the race, ethnicity or creed. Crime is crime and perpetrators should be dealt with equally across the board but, who am I kidding?! Injustice, inequality and racism are still alive today…
Blacks commit crime = Hood upbringing/environment
Foreigners commit crime = Terrorist
Whites commit crime = We need to look into gun control, mental health, violent videogames and other factors that would serve as a lame excuse.
Give me a break!
Jim Chaput
December 21st, 2012
11:44 am
How did we reach the point of such alienation? How did these mass murderers come to worship death for its’ own sake? And why are young people, who typically are full of dreams for their future, cutting their own lives, and the lives of so many others short? This is a relatively new sub-culture and the murders are not driven by the available weaponry. We have had self-loading weapons with large capacity magazines since shortly after WWI, but their use in mass murders didn’t start until the last twenty five years. Moreover, these murderers seem to use the same three types of weapons – the AK-47, the AR-15 and the Glock – to the exclusion of many equally powerful and available types. Are they taking their cues from computer games and the mass media or is something else driving it? If we eliminate these three types of weapons, will they simply switch to something else? And in all of these cases, AFTER THE FACT, many people admit that they knew the murderer was “going over the edge” or at least “looked dangerous,” yet, nobody called in the cops. Why not?
One person claimed in a posting that all of the recent mass murderers were, or had previously been, taking prescription psycho-active drugs. Does anyone know of an authoritative citation for this?
Susan
December 21st, 2012
11:47 am
Wow! Shoot the messenger. . .at least that’s what the responses to this article sound like. No one ignores the fact that the black community is rife with black on black crime nor that the white community also suffers from crime committed with guns. The issue is that violence in our culture is rampant and guns tend to be the weapon of choice. No one wants to take guns from sportsmen who enjoy hunting, but allowing people to buy hand guns and semi-automatic and automatic weapons that are NOT used in gentlemen sports is ludicrous. Further, the idea that concealed weapons that can be carried in public places will provide protection is equally ludicrous. . .a shootout in a public school or restaurant or theater or park between the bad guy and the “good” citizen increases the odds of victims. The answer is not to make a racial issue of violence. . .it is to recognize that we have a problem and fix it. Limit the types of weapons available and make stringent guidelines for ownership work. . .legislate the gun industry as Congress has done with the tobacco industry; another place to start may be with gun shows where anyone can buy a weapon without the required background check, or so I’m told. The entertainment industry needs to get a grip as well. . .movies, TV, and games glorify violence.
Bobby
December 21st, 2012
12:03 pm
It is a shame that this person in allowed to teach at a major university. If he wrote this as an essay for me in a class he would receive an F. He leaves out any supporting data on black and white crime statistics. This essay is rambling and unsupported by relevant data. He deliberately leaves out information to make his very weak argument. The AJC is culpable in bringing this type of weak analysis to the public. This man’s back ground is in reading education not criminal justice. What makes him an expert on crime? Do you have to scrap the bottom of the barrel to fill content in your paper?
Aquagirl
December 21st, 2012
12:06 pm
Are your anecdotes more relevant to the conversation than mine?
Yes.
This isn’t anecdote wars, where whoever can provide the most stories of women assaulted/killed wins. Women are in more danger from men they know than men who lurk in parking lots. Period. But nice try at a squirm. Do you want to follow up with a tap dance?
I only offered anecdotes as a rebuttal for your snide blatting that women should “just make better choices in boyfriends and husbands.” Oh, how very simple. Gosh, I’m so glad we have men like you to offer solutions because our brains couldn’t come up with one.
You see yourself as so wonderful to women, don’t talk about us like we’re children or idiots who should avoid death by psychic readings of potential mates.
And I wish I had a dollar for every man like you who has legions of anonymous women supporting his view he’s a wonderful blessing to all womankind. That’s some convincing evidence there.
Try your line about how beaten/murdered women should–duh—avoid those bad guys on some of these women. If they nod, they’re probably counting the seconds in their head before this rambling @$$ stops pontificating and goes elsewhere. There’s little profit in telling guys like you you’re not Mr. Solution because you’ll never believe it.
Steve W
December 21st, 2012
12:09 pm
Excellent article. The operative word here is male. There is a consistent theme to virtually all gun violence, and it’s not racial…it’s gender, and somewhat less so, age based. If we could reduce the incidence of gun violence among young American males to what it is among young American females? Problem solved. So, what is it about young American males that they need guns to solve their problems? Find an answer to that question and you go a long way to solving our gun problem. Until we do,no reason for anyone outside law enforcement or the military to have assault weapons.
AreYouSerious????
December 21st, 2012
12:17 pm
I applaud Maureen for putting this article on the blog!!!! Everyone regardless of RACE needs to take heed to Gun Violence, and demand that the Legislation surrounding Gun Control is changed.
But, it constantly amazes me how people in Georgia hate any type of dialogue, facts, statistics, etc to be displayed that actually shows that the Caucasian Race is as flawed, troubled and imperfect as any of the others.
Seriously, you all just need to take the article for what it is……insight from a Teacher who teaches in the inner city, and stop trying to make every situation a “US” and “THEM” scenario….because at the end of the day, we’re all AMERICANS and Gun Violence is affecting all of us directly or indirectly!
Don't Tread
December 21st, 2012
12:21 pm
“I believe more women should arm themselves to protect themselves against predatory men.”
I think they are. The students taking handgun training class at the range yesterday were about 50% women. Back when I took the training, I think there were 2 women out of a class of 25. The times are changing.
Agonizing Truths
December 21st, 2012
12:22 pm
Once again, there are these few who must continue politicize THESE events and all opinions that come afterwards. If I say one thing, I must be a liberal. If I say another thing, I must be a conservative. Opinions can be offered without them having anything to do with the way a person votes. That’s irrelevant right now. People are trying to come up with viable solutions to NOT only mass shootings, but gun associated violence as a whole. If any new federal laws are passed and it helps stem ALL gun related violence, then so be it. AND I own SEVERAL firearms ! BIG and little !!! LEGALLY ! It DOESN’T matter if black guys,white guys or Mexican guys are murdering, it ALL needs to END !! More TRAINED police officers would definitely help !! Who’s to say a teacher or principal that’s packing heat won’t one day go nuts and SHOOT up THEIR own school ! It has happened ! Help find a solution and stop whining like babies about who’s liberal & who’s not !!
Tech Actuary
December 21st, 2012
12:23 pm
I am not here to make a racial statement here at all, only a statistical one. The author of the article reached the conclusion that since 43 of 62 shootings were by white males (we will assume 100% were by males) and less than 10 were African American that there should be less fear of African Americans. Given the ratio of the our population I would reach the conclusion that in regards to “Spree” killings you can fear about every race equally. Of course you would expect more white spree killers in a population that has a white majority. I contend that statistics should be a required mathematics course.
indigo
December 21st, 2012
12:24 pm
Aquagirl – 10:54
Oh, I have an opinion, all right.
But, I doubt you’ll want to hear it.
When our country started going crazy over “civil rights”, no one paid much attention to stressing “civil responsibilities”.
This has been going on for over FIFTY FIVE YEARS now.
So, it’s no surprise that when you sow this kind of wind, you reap a huge black crime whirlwind.
catlady
December 21st, 2012
12:24 pm
I guess the question to me is, why do we have so many young men who have such a problem living in our society? Compared ti in the past, why is this happening?
Ideas: The TV brings the latest to all of us. Perhaps these young men, seeing what others have, believe that it is owed to them, and they want it NOW! The idea of staying in school, getting out and then working for what they want is not quick enough. And so they feel “disrepected” and angry, and decide to take what they want and harm anyone who gets in their way!
And the young white men with glocks: Seems like so many of them feel estranged from their families, estranged from their community, and wanting to punish someone, to feel powerful.
Both groups seem to be operating bereft of things they think they need, which should be provided by their families, by them being parented.
Maureen Downey
December 21st, 2012
12:26 pm
@Carnivore, It is so interesting that folks who disagree with a writer dismiss his opinions as “liberal garbage” rather than thinking for a moment about what he wrote. (Thank you, Cindy, for making that point so well earlier.)
The author was a teacher who spent decades in schools that many of the folks here routinely criticize as war zones.
He dares to offer his own first-hand view that differs with their living room vantage point.
As to what I publish and why: I just checked. I have published nearly 3,000 posts over the last few years. Feel free to skip this one and read one of the other 2,999. Very few deal with race because I dread wading through these sorts of responses.
Dr. Fecho wrote a thoughtful piece borne of real life experience that speaks directly to race. And race remains a topic that cannot be discussed in rationale terms, at least not here. Based on these comments, I wonder if we can ever have this conversation without the vitriol and hate.
However, it is a topic that matters and that impacts education.
To those of you offering cogent and reflective responses, thanks.
Also, all comments to this blog will be moderated. Stick to the topic and your comment will appear. Otherwise, don’t waste my time or yours writing a comment that will not appear.
And have a nice holiday,
Maureen
Ronin
December 21st, 2012
12:29 pm
@ Just a teacher 10:27: your comment: “Again, I ask the question for which I never get a satisfactory answer. What does race or gender have to do with any of this?” Nothing.
However, government and the media seem Hades bent on pitting one group against another. Government has become the great equalizer and in order to make everything fair you have to keep a statistic on well, basically everything that involves human interaction. Offer more incentives to a particular voting base to champion a fictitious cause. Distract the general public with class, gender and ethnic warfare so that they don’t see the real truth. Which is: on the state and federal level, our so called leaders are reduced to squabbling children who are unable to accomplish anything or balance spending vs. expenditures because their allegiance is to the party, not the good of the country . If it wasn’t so serious, it would be laughable.
We don’t have a revenue problem, the federal simply can’t stop spending OUR money.
The first step is to change the tax code from the current program which is just another tool to grant political favor and power. Granted, it’s just an opinion. However, the current debacle in Washington will do only be fixed to the point that it can continue. It’s almost time to abandon ship or abandon hope. There are other interesting areas of the world to live that aren’t subject to a governmental and media circus of horrors.
Grasshopper
December 21st, 2012
12:37 pm
Wrong Maureen.
This was not a thoughtful piece about race and violence. To equate a couple of nutjob shooters who happen to be white, totally fudging on your statistics in the process, with the daily ongoing violence in the black community is the opposite of thoughtful.
If you dread wading through responses to an ill-conceived post that insults those of us who do take race relations seriously, then perhaps you have learned a valuable lesson today.
Returning DCSS Parent
December 21st, 2012
12:43 pm
@Stop the racism here
I agree with you. As you can tell, many of these racist comments come from people who clearly get their info about minorities from Fox News. The issue is that our children are dying and we are debating about whether white young men or black young men are to blame more often. The bottom line line is our society has become numb to the violence. The children and teachers massacred in Newtown Conn., were innocent victims of an angry and mentally disturbed young man who killed his mother first before murdering the other 26 people. The answer is not armed guards at schools but address the issues that make these young people so angry that they believe their only recourse is to take their anger and frustration out on innocent victims. We do need gun control and a better system to perform background checks. Military style guns are not used to hunt animals but to make sure the largest amount of people are killed. All of our young people need help. Stop the racists rants and become part of the solution, not the problem.
The Austrian Brotherhood
December 21st, 2012
12:57 pm
White Guilt Much? Yes, white males are serial killers and black males are mugger killers. Who doesn’t know this? Even Progressives know this, they’re just too two-faced and insincere to say it. And that’s just one more reason to hate Progressives and what they stand for – CONTROL!
Agonizing Truths
December 21st, 2012
12:59 pm
It’s easy to judge OTHERS from afar ! This gun control “problem” WE have as a nation is not an eaxy fix obviously ! Atheists, I really don’t care to hear from y’all on this because you can’t relate ! First and foremost,we have a “GOD-less” society and nation ! Not enough people practice or believe in A religion ! There’s no way a person can fly planes into buildings and not be EVIL !! There’s NO way a person can shoot KIDS or “unarmed teenagers blasting rap music” and not be EVIL ! There’s no way a person can shoot another ADULT human being,other than for self-defense, and not be EVIL !! EVIL doesn’t have a COLOR or POLITICAL AFFILIATION or SOCIAL/ECONOMIC STATUS/STANDING(or lack thereof) or a REASON !! EVIL IS EVIL ! There’s ONE way to combat EVIL ! Figure it out !! We can talk ALL DAY about “black thugs” and gangbangers with guns,”white nerdy pyschopaths” with guns,Mexican drug cartel members with guns, “Jihadists” with guns and RACIST skinheads and klansmen with guns ! Lets make it hard as possible for less than upstanding and stellar citizens to acquire GUNS and AMMO !! And PRAY !!
Aquagirl
December 21st, 2012
1:02 pm
Oh, I have an opinion, all right. But, I doubt you’ll want to hear it.
When our country started going crazy over “civil rights”, no one paid much attention to stressing “civil responsibilities”.
Geez. That’ll teach us to let African-Americans participate on the basis they’re actually real people. Because it’s not like African-Americans have any concept of civic responsibility without white people’s instruction. I guess that’s a trade-off for the extra muscle in their legs so they can dunk basketballs.
Since this is an education blog perhaps you could offer an outline of this valuable course: “Hey, Black People, Here’s A Civic Responsibility Course Designed For Your Smaller Brains.”
I do cede your point that I didn’t want to hear a response like that, but since you seem unashamed of your open racism I’m not the loser in this exchange. My nausea will pass.
Meanwhile you’re stuck with your thoughts…that people willing to be attacked by police dogs, beaten, and otherwise abused so they could vote or attend non-segregated schools…needed a lesson in civic responsibility. A lesson from the people who turned the dogs loose and beat them.
Wow.
Just a white guy "keepin it real"
December 21st, 2012
1:02 pm
The freshman from Greyson HS who was shot to death in Gwinnette was tied up before being shot in the head. All over a pair of shoes. Last i checked, its not whites who kill each other for shoes year after year. These stories happen EVERYDAY! Ps… just last night alone there were 3 separate shootings in Atlanta, and i can pretty much guarntee that none of the shooters were whites or asians!
Bo Duke
December 21st, 2012
1:04 pm
Lee
You are 100% correct.
George
December 21st, 2012
1:05 pm
Well keep watching the black male the worst is yet to come CT is only the tip of the iceberg I laugh when I hear Georgians tlak they are funny as hell. You think you are crying now just wait the sleeping in white males and females have not even awaken.Keep watching the black male I say and spreding lies to make your self look good you are going to learn the hard way you all ways do in Georgia that is not everyone Georgia work with young white males everyday I know I know.
Just a white guy "keepin it real"
December 21st, 2012
1:05 pm
All the white kids had mental issues. With blacks its a “culture” thing.
Prof
December 21st, 2012
1:08 pm
@ Lee, December 21st, 2012, 9:39 am, “@Matthew, well then, it should be easy for you to go to the source documents (FBI and DOJ publications) and disprove their information. Go ahead, show us where they are wrong.”
Lee, Lee, Lee. Once again you’re citing the same tired, unreliable source to “prove ” your racist belief that blacks are naturally inferior and more violent than whites. You may be a CPA who’s used to dealing with “facts,” but you badly need to learn something about logic and logical fallacies….how to use those facts reliably.
Your source given above is “Color of Crime,” which has been described in “Hate Crimes” as “a classic of the genre of output by white nationalist academic racists.” This was published by the New Century Foundation, a white supremacist group that supports racial profiling. Their conclusions IGNORE the very important economic factor that the blacks in the studies have a lower socioeconomic status than the whites. Poor people commit more crimes than middle class/wealthy people.
Your source’s facts may be from FBI and DOJ documents, but there’s a selective bias in your source’s use of the statistics. It’s full of hasty generalizations that don’t consider all of the relevant factors.
Not everything you read on the Internet is reliable.
George
December 21st, 2012
1:12 pm
I feel sorry for a lot of people in Georgia that are hurting talking about all kids and leave out race .People Race is the only thing that matters in Georgia .Wake up
innerjuju
December 21st, 2012
1:12 pm
I hate living in a red state. Tends to make me wonder if there will ever again be rational sense.
indigo
December 21st, 2012
1:19 pm
Agonizing Truths
Please furnish us with your hard, testible evidence that your religion is the correct one.
Once we have the scientific evidence that supports your faith , we’ll be true believers like you and start praying.
Pink
December 21st, 2012
1:22 pm
White bad. Black good. By the way, Adam Lanza didn’t buy the weapons so his argument that we should make it harder for white males to buy weapons is moot.
indigo
December 21st, 2012
1:27 pm
AquaGirl – 1:02
Black leaders were the ones who should have stressed “civil responsibility”.
They did not. Almost to the person, “civil rights” was the only thing your ever heard, or still hear, out of them.
You responded in a knee-jerk, professional victim way, just as I knew you would.
BeBop
December 21st, 2012
1:28 pm
Only thing I’ve gotten out of this blog is Aquagirl is a bitter, angry woman who HATES the conservative white male.
Nobody Special
December 21st, 2012
1:29 pm
“Each year, roughly 7,000 blacks are murdered. Ninety-four percent of the time, the murderer is another black person. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, between 1976 and 2011, there were 279,384 black murder victims. Using the 94 percent figure means that 262,621 were murdered by other blacks. Though blacks are 13 percent of the nation’s population, they account for more than 50 percent of homicide victims. Nationally, black homicide victimization rate is six times that of whites, and in some cities, it’s 22 times that of whites.”
Assuming that, since 1975, mass shootings have killed less than 500 people, which is the most serious threat to public safety? A few deranged killers, or the mass murders of enough black people to populate a medium-sized city?
BacchusDawg
December 21st, 2012
1:41 pm
You don’t need to dig deep to find counterarguments against the theory that gun bans will end mass shootings. Just spend some time reading how extensive the gun laws reach in Norway, and ponder how effective they were at preventing a madman from leaving 80 dead at a summer youth camp just last year.
Now we have a professor who clearly understands that it is more than the gun itself which inflicts harm – the person holding it must willfully do so. I’m sure his thesis was praised and deemed to be well within the mores of academic thought, but falls well short of addressing the relevant physiological and societal problems.
Timmy
December 21st, 2012
2:07 pm
I’ve noticed a large number of posters here that seem to want to make the claim there is more of a risk of a mass shooting at a public school than other senseless violence. Look no further that Chicago to prove just how wrong you are.
RiffRaff
December 21st, 2012
2:09 pm
To hell with the NRA! They suggest to arm more people in the aftermath of murderous rampage??
Ban Assualt Rifles, PERIOD!
Get real...
December 21st, 2012
2:16 pm
With the number of rapes, hangings, dragging’s and beatings that have been suffered by minority victims at the hands of whites in this country, many of the very same mind set as most of the responders to this article, is a bit of the rice calling the sheet of paper white. Quotes (true and fiction) regarding black crime statics to absolve divert attention away from the culture of violence fostered and nurtured by the majority white society throughout the history of this nation is comical.
Discuss the issue of perspective and perception of crime, who commits it and how it is viewed and accepted based upon the race of the victim and assailant. Most of these responders are full of hate and are apologist for the systematic culture of violence committed whites in America and abroad.
Get real...
December 21st, 2012
2:19 pm
Compare all the murders whites commit, not just the mass murders when doing your comparisons. Tell the whole and historical truth not just the one that support your bias.
Pride and Joy
December 21st, 2012
2:31 pm
Stop the racism…WHY do you say that we are ignorning the white gun, Adam Lanza? Coverage about him, his life, his family, his motivations, his everything is platered everywhere.
You cannot say we are ignoring these angry white men in mass shootings.
Are you living under a rock somewhere? Did someone give you a lobotomy?
Your comments are just so obvioulsy wrong.
BTB
December 21st, 2012
2:32 pm
Fear of black males? Don’t think so. Aware of my surroundings? You bet. It is a lot more probable that I will be attacked by a black male (more probable that it will be several black males) than any other race, so I am aware of who is arround me. Think what ever you choose – good luck and take care of yourself.
Lurker
December 21st, 2012
2:38 pm
The thing I don’t understand is the conclusion that race is a factor in mass shootings. If the author’s numbers are correct, about 9 out of 62 shooters were African-American. 43 out of 62 were white men, it does not state how many were white females.
9/62 is about 14% which is almost equal to the percentage of African-American population of the US.
42/62 is about 69% which is less than the percentage or white population, but we would need to add any white females to that total.
The racial percentage of people actually committing these acts seems to be extremely close to the ratio of the population. Bases on percentages, it does not seem tilted in any fashion to white people. It does appear that males overwhelmingly outnumber women who perpetrate such crimes.
Lurker
December 21st, 2012
2:42 pm
Oops, I should have typed: “Based on percentages,”
skipper
December 21st, 2012
2:50 pm
@prof (a misuse of the term, for sure.)
See Nobody Special’s post at 1:29, and come back with some facts, not the whimpers of a paranoid reactionist. If you are stupid enough not to know that blacks (and we are not arguing the reasons…it is what it is) are not WAY out front in the murder statistics, as well as carjackings (lots of info on that one, too) and you likewise do not think that culture plays some part, then bless your soul.
jess
December 21st, 2012
2:55 pm
Wondering how long it would be before someone turned the gun violence debate into a racial issue. In the end I doubt that any action taken to stem gun violence will be only applicable to blacks, or whites, or any other race for that matter. So what exactly is the point in making this a racial issue. My guess is that a blog on race gets more posts than one on guns, or mental health.
Mr. Fecho’s article also seems to indicate that the recent shootings in Newtown Conn. have been treated as though they were no big deal. Sad and tragic, but isolated. I have actually never seen an issue covered by the news, short of 9/11, covered so completely.
Finally, I understand Mr Fecho is not a gun lover, but to elevate a semi- automatic rifle to the status of a weapon of mass destruction, as he did in his last sentence, is stretching it a bit.
marm
December 21st, 2012
3:41 pm
The point is that blacks males killing other black males, black women, black children goes on every day across this country and has become accepted by society overall as a “cultural” reality within those communities. Until we care about ALL young people being killed so cavalierly our society will only continue to deteriorate, and arming everyone won’t solve it.