Blaming Black Youths for Gun Crime "a mistake"

Blaming black youths for gun crime 'a mistake'

By Philip Johnston, Home Affairs Editor
Last Updated: 2:20am GMT 14/03/2007

Blaming young black men for rising gun crime would be a ''profound mistake'', a Home Office minister said yesterday.

Lady Scotland clashed with the Commons home affairs committee over its inquiry into the treatment of Afro-Caribbean youths by the criminal justice system.

The MPs have heard evidence from police and community leaders of a crime ''crisis'' among young black people.
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Recent shootings in London, in which black teenagers have been killed, led to further concern.

But Lady Scotland said while she accepted there was a problem with gun crime, there was no evidence that it was specifically a black issue.

She added: ''To do a quantum leap, which I think is dangerous, to say this is solely or predominantly a black issue in relation to guns, would be a profound mistake.''

Lady Scotland said there was a danger that the MPs' inquiry into the disproportionate number of arrests of black people could be ''misunderstood and used in a way this committee would not like''.

She made clear throughout the two-hour session that she did not accept that the issue should be seen in racial, rather than criminal, terms.

John Denham, the committee chairman, said while it was accepted that people did not offend because of the colour of their skin, there was evidence of a particular problem of violent crime within the black community.

There were also different ''profiles'' of crime depending on the community.

Young white men tended to be more involved in hooliganism and burglary, while young black men were likely to be linked to drugs and robberies.

However, Lady Scotland said: ''We accept there is an increasing problem on the use of guns and we are trying to address it. We have not had any evidence that this issue is solely or disproportionately an issue for black young men.''

In the article Blaming Black Youth for Gun Crime “a mistake,” by Phillip Johnston is about people blaming blacks for increasing the gun crime. Lady Scotland says, “while she accepted there was a problem with fun crime, there was no evidence that it was specifically a black issue.” This is saying you cannot automatically blame the blacks for the increase with out some kind of evidence. “John Denham, the committee chairman, said while it was accepted that people did not offend because of the color of their skin, there was evidence of a particular problem of violent crime within the black community.” He is saying that they are not blaming it on them just because of their skin, but there has been evidence to prove that there are much more violent crimes with blacks. “Also recent shootings in London that killed black teenagers have brought up more concern.” I chose this article because the people are choosing to blame blacks for crimes because they are stereotyped to be the violent race and the ones who do all the crime.

In chapter 8, “Getting Off the Hook: Denial and Resistance” there are many ways to get yourself out of trouble. You can lie and say it was not you or say you don’t mean it so it is ok. This chapter talks about many different ways of “Getting off the Hook.” They are techniques many people use everyday. The one I am concentrating on is blaming the victim. The chapter says, “If blacks were smarter or worked harder or got an education, they’d be ok,” and expect most other whites to go along, because racist stereotypes have such authority in this culture.” This is saying that since stereotypes exist, why not use them. Also people do not want to stray away from the crowd who is not being blamed so they go along with it. Like in the article people are blaming blacks for raising the gun crime. Anybody could be bringing up the gun crime not just the blacks. Lady Scotland had the guts to say it is “a mistake” to believe that the blacks are raising the crime rate.

I thought that this article was very interesting. It showed someone would stray away from the upper class to protect the lower class. More stands like this need to happen to eliminate racism.