Part 2 - From Epidemic to Extinction: Unnecessary Deaths of Black Men in America

     Six years ago I posted a blog titled "From Epidemic to Extinction", which entailed the widespread impact of HIV/AIDS within the African-American community.
     Sad to say, but it seems as though we are definitely on the verge of extinction as a race of people, especially in lieu of all the racial profiling incidents that's been going on across America, thus leading to to several unnecessary deaths of young African-American males.
     With that being said, I've been compelled to expound upon my previous blog post listed above. So, without further ado, let me go ahead and elaborate...

     HIV death rates for Black men from 1990 to 2010 per 100,000 resident population was 414.6.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/2013/031.pdf (Table 31, pg. 1)

     According to cdc.gov, due to delays in reporting of deaths, data is only available through the end of 2010, which is why I am unable to provide statistical information on HIV death rates for Black men between 2011 and 2014 per 100,000 resident population.  However, looking at the numbers thus far, thousands of deaths have occurred, which is still devastating to the community.

     Now, let's compare those numbers to the number of Black men who've been killed by police officers between 1990 and 2014.  According to www.stolenlives.org, over 2,000 were killed during that time.
     It's astounding, or heartbreaking rather, how many of our brothers are lost to such tragic incidents that could've been prevented!

     Overall, let's look at the number of deaths as a whole. Wouldn't you say that it's devastating?  Don't these numbers seem to be increasing at a rapid rate?  With these numbers fastly inclining, one has to really wonder...could the African-American community be on the verge of extinction, since there seems to be a huge epidemic of killings?

     Here's a list of several Black men who've been killed by law enforcement within this past decade (2004-2014):

Timothy Stansbury
Killed on 01/24/2004
Brooklyn, NY
(BET.com image)

Sean Bell
Killed on 11/25/2006
Queens, NY
(nypost.com image)

                                                                                                                        

Oscar Grant
Killed on 01/01/2009
Oakland, CA
(CNN.com image)

Aaron Campbell
Killed on 01/29/2010
Portland, OR
(oregonlive.com image)

Alonzo Ashley
Killed on 07/18/2011
Denver, CO
(denverpost.com image)

Jonathan Ferrell
Killed on 09/14/2013
Charlotte, NC
(huffingtonpost.com image)

Eric Garner
Killed on 07/17/2014
Staten Island, NY
(nydailynews.com image)

Michael Brown
Killed 08/09/2014
Ferguson, MO
(nydailynews.com image)

     The individuals listed above is only a fraction of Black men killed throughout America by Law Enforcement Officials!  That's not even counting all the killings that have not been documented or reported by the media.

     Here's something that's even more troubling...

During Melissa Harris-Perry's commentary on 08/16/14, she stated the following:

"From 2006 to 2012 a white police officer killed a black person at least twice a week in this country."

     Here's the link to view part of her commentary:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/16/melissa-harris-perry-black-men-killed-by-police_n_5684588.html


   



     Who ever thought we'd be dealing with race relations to this magnitude in 2014? I guess the saying is true: "History tends to repeat itself".

     So many have marched, protested, fought, and died for justice, freedom, and equality for all civilians.  Seeing cases like the above mentioned victims makes you wonder if we're now seeing a Modern Day Civil Rights Movement. It reminds us of the unnecessary and inhumane deaths of victims like 14 year-old Emmett Till (b. 1941 d. 1955), Medgar Evers (b. 1925 d. 1963), James Earl Chaney (b. 1943 d. 1964), and Trayvon Martin (b. 1995 d. 2012) among several others.  

     The reason I titled this piece From Epidemic to Extinction is because the epidemic of Black men killed by law enforcement happens so frequently that it truly can affect the population of African-Americans within America.  Think about it this way:

The man is the seed planter and the woman is the seed carrier. Women cannot conceive alone. If there becomes a shortage of African-American men to contribute to the population, then ultimately the population of African-Americans will decrease and the population of Bi-racial individuals will increase, which can eventually lead to the non-existence of the African-American race.

     Now, some of you may be thinking "those are some harsh, race bating words". I beg to differ. Please understand my stance...there is NOT a racist bone in my body. I strongly believe that God created ALL men in his image, which makes it hard for me to be a racist. I just believe in fairness, justice, and equality for ALL people. I have a motto:  Right is Right...and Wrong is Wrong!  If you don't stand firm on your beliefs, then you'll fall for anything.

     With that being said, please do NOT misinterpret what I'm about to reference next. It is merely a quote, but I do believe that there is some truth to this:

"It's evidently...they want us all gone eventually." 

- Nas, Rapper

     That's a verse from Nas' song titled "If I Ruled the World". We all know to whom he was referencing when he said "they". He was talking about White people.  I'd like to think he was only referencing the racist White people, as I do not believe that ALL White people are racist.  

     Another song that keeps playing in my head whenever I see some White people's posts throughout social media saying when is enough, enough...or they're tired of the race card being pulled. It's a rap song by Naughty By Nature titled "Everything's Gonna Be Alright". Here's the verse I'm referencing:

"If you ain't never been to the ghetto, don't ever come to the ghetto...cause you wouldn't understand the ghetto!"

- Treach, Rapper (Naughty By Nature)

     That phrase is so fitting to me because it really does simply boil down to UNDERSTANDING. Some choose to make an effort to understand others, while some choose not to make any attempts to understand a person's culture or way of life at all.

     

     *****

     Now let's move forward to the most recent case that's been all over the media, the shooting death of 18 year-old Michael Brown of Ferguson, Missouri.
     There are several questions I have as well as aspects of this case that just don't add up.

• How long did it take the Emergency Response Team to arrive on the scene?
• Did the Emergency Response Team attempt to resuscitate Michael Brown?
• How long did it take the coroner to arrive on the scene?
• Did other officers take pictures and notes of the scene?
• Did the Ferguson Police Department thoroughly process the scene of the shooting?
• Were all of the shell casings from the gun gathered?
• Did anyone lift fingerprints?
• Did ballistics try to recreate the incident in order to match the trajectory of the bullets?
• Were there any skin cells or clothing fibers on or inside of Officer Darren Wilson's patrol vehicle? If so, who did they belong to?
• Why was Officer Darren Wilson allowed to leave the scene shortly after the shooting? 
• Why wasn't he arrested?
• Why didn't Officer Darren Wilson write up an incident report within 24-48 hours of the shooting?
• Why hasn't he provided a Complete incident report at all?
• Why hasn't the Ferguson Police Department reached out to witnesses to take official statements of the incident?
• Why was Officer Darren Wilson allowed to go before the Grand Jury without an official, complete incident report?
• Why was the Ferguson Police Chief so reluctant to sharing the number of times Michael Brown was shot (prior to autopsy release) or how many rounds the officer had in his gun?

     Body language says a lot about a person. I noticed the nervousness of Ferguson Police Chief, Thomas Jackson. During several press conferences, he would constantly stumble over his words, wipe his brow, scratch his face or neck, not to mention the look of fear in his eyes at times. All of which appears to signify that he's either lying, deliberately trying to hide something, or he genuinely is scared and nervous. 



              (dailykos.com image)

     The citizens of Ferguson, MO have also voiced their concerns of local Prosecutor, Robert McCulloch. Given his history of siding with Law Enforcement and harsh prosecution, they feel as though McCulloch should be removed from the case and have a Special Prosecutor come in. The citizens would prefer a prosecutor who wouldn't be biased, as is the case with McCulloch considering that his father was killed in the line of duty by an African-American man.      Missouri Governor Jay Nixon has refused to replace Robert McCulloch and McCulloch refuses to step down as Prosecutor in this case. Both are basically waiting for the other to make the final decision.

    It's sad to say, but the citizens of Ferguson are the ones to blame for Robert McCulloch being elected in the first place. Unfortunately, many did not vote during mid-term elections, which makes me wonder why. Is it because the community simply chose not to vote, or does it have anything to do with felony convictions? Maybe there was a low voting turn out because many of them had prior felony convictions.
     I've always thought the disenfranchisement of convicted felons was unfair. If a person has served out their sentence, then why shouldn't they be allowed to vote? They've done the crime as well as their time, so why not?

     As long as individuals are NOT willing to deal with race relations in America by keeping an open mind and communicating more effectively, we will continue to have more cases like Michael Brown, with a steady decline in the African-American population leading to possible extinction.

                                                (Jena, La. 2007)