by Kenneth Myers

Created on: May 24, 2007

Here's a terrifying statistic, young African-American males are five times more likely to die from firearms than their white counterparts. The even more terrifying aspect of this is they will die at the hands of another African-American. And while murder in America is committed in almost equal proportions between the races,an individual black male is eight times more likely to commit a homicide than a white male.

Many things have been blamed on this disparity. Racism and economic background usually come to mind and I for one don't consider these to be the underlying factors. As a middle-aged black male I lived during the 'civil rights' era, and actively participated in it as well. There was more cohesiveness in the black race back then, albeit for a short period.The call for 'black pride' was bringing young black males together with a degree of respect and admiration not seen since. Unfortunately it was seen as a major threat by entities like The FBI and other 'law enforcement organizations' still wishing to preserve the racially divided early American so-called values. In a campaign to destroy the black pride movement, the FBI implemented COINTELPRO, a program designed to silence groups like The Black Panthers, the Nationalists, and people like Martin Luther King Jr. and Stokely Carmichael.The recruitment of 'snitches' within these groups effectively created an atmosphere of distrust which eventually led to serious internal conflicts such as assaults and even murder. Around that time the introduction of 'crack cocaine'and other notorious drugs into the inner-city black communities dealt a devastating blow to the pride movement. Criminal Gangs grew in size and a 'Scarface' like mentality surfaced. Some of the children of the civil rights-era blacks became caught up in the emerging gang/drug culture that still exists today. At the same time, the breakdown of the traditional black families led to single parent households typically headed by female adults.
These factors and other societal ills may have contributed to the strange, misguided, and often violent behaviour exhibited by some African-American males. Ultimately the 'blame' falls directly on the persons committing the crime who for some reason was unable to rise above it all and take control of their own lives. There have been many cultures (the Vietnamese, for example) who seem to not look back on all the injustices they faced and propel themselves forward both academically and economically despite the

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