During White House Press Secretary Jay Carney’s press briefing on July 15, there occured this memorable exchange:
Q Well, tomorrow, Eric Holder, Kathleen Sebelius and Shaun Donovan will be in Florida addressing the NAACP, and one of the issues is on gun violence.
And according to the NAACP, black males ages 15 to 19 were eight times as likely as white males of the same age, and two and a half times as likely as their Hispanic peers, to be killed in gun-related homicides in 2009. And Kathleen Sebelius, Eric Holder and Shaun Donovan will be addressing those issues.
What does the White House have to say, particularly as you can’t push forward gun legislation?
Jay Carney
MR. CARNEY: Well, the President has made clear his feelings about the failure of the Senate to act on common-sense [gun control] legislation that would have improved upon our background check system–legislation that has enormous support across the country, in blue states and purple states and red states, and that the Senate should have approved.
The fact of the matter is–and the President has spoken about this–he will continue to work with members of his administration to advance the cause of reducing gun violence, using the powers that the administration has, but will also continue to try to impress upon Congress the need to have Congress act on this important problem and to reflect the will of the American people when it comes to common-sense steps….
* * * * *
Okay, let’s focus on the core of the question itself: “According to the NAACP, black males ages 15 to 19 were eight times as likely as white males of the same age, and two and a half times as likely as their Hispanic peers, to be killed in gun-related homicides in 2009.”
The question came up two days after self-appointed “neighborhood watchman” George Zimmerman was acquitted on July 13 of murdering 17-year-old Travon Martin.
Zimmerman’s ethnicity is half-German (on his father’s side) and half-Peruvian (on his mother’s). Martin was black.
From the tone of the question, you’d think that that blacks were being slaughtered daily by whites.
In fact, the racial group most responsible for the murders of blacks is–other blacks.
In 1971, Robert Daley, a reporter for the New York Times, became a deputy police commissioner for the New York Police Department (NYPD).
In that capacity, he saw the NYPD from the highest levels to the lowest–from the ornate, awe-inspiring office of Police Commissioner Patrick Murphy to the gritty, sometimes blood-soaked streets of New York.
He spent one year on the job before resigning–later admitting that when he agreed to take the job, he got more than he bargained for.
It proved to be a tumultuous year in the NY’D’s history: Among those challenges Daley and his fellow NYPD members faced were the murders of several police officers, committed by members of the militant Black Liberation Army.
Two of those murdered officers were Waverly Jones and Joseph Piagentini. Jones was black, Piagentini white; both were partners. Both were shot in the back without a chance to defend themselves.
Writing about these murders in a bestselling 1973 book–Target Blue: An Inside’s View of the N.Y.P.D.–Daley noted:
“Jones and Piagentini were the sixth and seventh policemen murdered so far that year [1971]. There would be three more….
“The identities of approximately 18 men involved in these murders became known to the police. All were black.
“The city’s politicians refrained from pointing this out, and so did Commissioner Murphy.
“But the fact remained that approximately 65% of the city’s arrested murderers, muggers, armed robbers, proved to be black men; about 15% were of Hispanic origin; and about 20% were white.
“The overall racial breakdown of the city went approximately this way: whites, 63%; blacks, 20%; Hispanics 17%.”
Stated another way: Blacks, who made up 20% of the city’s population, were responsible for 65% of the city’s major crimes.
Or, as Daley himself put it: “So the dangerous precincts, any cop would tell you, were the black precincts.”
That was 40 years ago.
Now, consider the following statistics released by the NYPD for “Crime and Enforcement Activity in New York City” in 2012. Its introduction states:
“This report presents statistics on race/ethnicity compiled from the New York City Police Department’s records management system.”
Then follows this chart:
Misdemeanor Criminal Mischief
Victim, Suspect, Arrestee Race/Ethnicity
American Indians: Victims: 0.7% Suspects: 0.3% Arrestees: 0.3%
Asian/Pacific Islanders: Victims: 8.4% Suspects: 3.2% Arrestees: 3.9%
Blacks: Victims: 36.5% Suspects: 49.6% Arrestees: 36.5%
Whites: Victims: 28.9% Suspects: 17.0% Arrestees: 22.9%
Hispanics: Victims: 25.4% Suspects: 29.8% Arrestees: 36.4%
Total Victims: 40,985
Total Suspects: 11,356
Total Arrests: 7,825
Consider the following statistics released by the NYPD for “Crime and Enforcement Activity in New York City” in 2012.
Murder and Non-Negligent Manslaughter Victims:
- Black (60.1%)
- Hispanic (26.7%)
- White victims (8.7%)
- Asian/Pacific Islanders (4.2%)
Murder and Non-Negligent Manslaughter Arrestees:
- Black (51.4%)
- Hispanic (36.7%)
- White (9.2%)
- Asian/Pacific Islander (2.6%)
Rape Victims:
- Black (37.9%)
- Hispanic (36.9%)
- White victims (19.2%)
- Asian/Pacific Islanders (5.4%)
Rape Arrestees:
- Black (48.6%)
- Hispanic (42.8%)
- White (5.0%)
- Asian/Pacific Islander (3.1%)
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GUNS AND BLACKS: PART TWO (END)
In Bureaucracy, History, Law, Law Enforcement, Politics, Social commentary on July 17, 2013 at 12:30 amOn July 15, a reporter at a White House press briefing asked Presidential Press Secretary Jay Carney the following question:
Q Well, tomorrow, Eric Holder, Kathleen Sebelius and Shaun Donovan will be in Florida addressing the NAACP, and one of the issues is on gun violence.
And according to the NAACP, black males ages 15 to 19 were eight times as likely as white males of the same age, and two and a half times as likely as their Hispanic peers, to be killed in gun-related homicides in 2009. And Kathleen Sebelius, Eric Holder and Shaun Donovan will be addressing those issues.
What does the White House have to say, particularly as you can’t push forward gun legislation?
* * * * *
The clear implication within this question was that blacks were being routinely slaughtered by murderous whites. But the actual statistics of crime say something very different.
Consider the following statistics released by the NYPD for “Crime and Enforcement Activity in New York City” in 2012.
Other Felony Sex Crimes Victims:
Known Other Felony Sex Crime Arrestees:
Robbery Victims:
Robbery Arrestees:
Felonious Assault Victims:
Felonious Assault Arrestees:
Grand Larceny Victims:
Grand Larceny Arrestees:
Shooting Victims:
Shooting Arrestees:
Drug Felony Arrest Population:
The Drug Misdemeanor Arrest Population
The Felony Stolen Property Arrest Population:
The Misdemeanor Stolen Property Arrest Population:
Violent Crime Suspects:
Reported Crime Complaint Juvenile Victims:
Juvenile Crime Complaint Arrestees:
Appendix B of the report offers a breakdown of New York City’s racial makeup:
Total Numbers Percentage of the City’s Population
During the first six months of 2012, 96% of shooting victims were blacks or Hispanics–and in 97% of all cases, the shooters were other blacks or Hispanics.
Blacks and Hispanics comprise 89% of murder victims–and 86% of murder suspects. Of felony assault victims, 81% are non-whites, as are 88% of the suspects.
Thus, while Blacks make up 22.8% of New York City’s population, they comprise
Blacks and their liberal allies have long claimed that the startling numbers of blacks arrested, convicted and incarcerated only prove that racist white cops, prosecutors and judges have rigged the system against them.
But this ignores a fundamental–and ugly–truth: The vast majority of victims of black criminals are other blacks.
But pretending that crime doesn’t flourish in black neighborhoods hasn’t stopped black criminals from preying on black victims.
Fortunately, several prominent black figures have dared to speak bluntly to the crisis of lawlessness within their own community.
One of these is Jesse Jackson. Speaking at a meeting of Operation PUSH (People United to Save Humanity) in Chicago on November 27, 1993, Jackson famously said:
Jesse Jackson
“There is nothing more painful to me at this stage in my life than to walk down the street and hear footsteps and start thinking about robbery.
“Then look around and see somebody white and feel relieved. After all we have been through. Just to think we can’t walk down our own streets–how humiliating.”
During a 1998 interview on the PBS investigative series, Frontline, Jackson attacked the “criminal chic” style of dress that has become popular among young black men:
“Well, what does that style [wearing baggy britches or $200 Nike stringless tennis shoes] come from? It comes from jail.
“That’s recycled jail culture, where they cannot wear belts because they may hang themselves or hurt themselves or hurt someone. Or they can’t have strings in their tennis shoes.
“So when you find youth having jail culture recycled into them, it is almost as if you’re eating your own vomit. It’s a kind of recycled sickness.”
Another prominent black who has dared to confront the realities of black criminality is comedian Bill Cosby.
Bill Cosby
Addressing the 20th National Action Network conference in April, 2011, Cosby didn’t mince words before his largely black audience:
“Tell me where Jesus would allow drug dealing on the corner? Tell me where Jesus would allow people to shoot guns for no reason, missing and then hitting a child who is paralyzed for life?
“And we don’t do anything but have a funeral. But let a cop shoot [a black man], and you set his car on fire and burn up the police stations.”
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