Seems like everyday I read about some teen killed around here. (Pittsburgh: crime, neighborhoods)

[gg]

I just can't believe how many teens are killed in our region. Is this normal for a small city? What is the cause of so many? I find it hard to believe it is all drugs? That many? It just seems like everyday. Don't people know how great life can be at that age? Why are so many teens ending their lives daily? It also seems like no one really cares? Does it happen so often in the same places, it is now excepted and all is great? All is okay, just another teen dead lets go to the movies? It is so depressing to read that daily. Is there an answer, or is it just something we all have to get used to and just no care about?

Overnight Shooting Claims Another East Allegheny High School Student « CBS Pittsburgh

Just sad stuff really.

[Love2Golf09]

It's not all drugs. Some of it is simply arguments that go too far. You're right, nobody cares. It's isolated to the ghettos of Duquesne, McKeesport, Penn Hills, Wilkinsburg, Lincoln-Larimer, Homewood, the Hill, etc. and nobody bats an eye when some black teen gets gunned down by some other black teen. Now, if someone gets shot up in Hampton or Murrysville...that's big news. Better call in the state police, FBI, CIA, and National Guard to secure the place until the murderer is caught. But someone killing someone on the north side, eh, big deal. It's hard to imagine most folks caring about this when the black folks that live in these areas rarely seem to care. If they live there and dont say anything, then don't expect some folks from Peters Twp to care. Just the way things are. Let the people in these communities fix their own problems. They don't want people butting their noses in their business, so just leave them alone to deal with their issues their own way. They are smart folks. They know what they're doing.

[mangmang]

H_curtis, I share your concern, I hate to see people ignoring tragedy.

Well, I think we tend to turn a blind eye to tragedy when aspects of it are overwhelming, or if we feel implicated somehow.

One reason there's less coverage of crime when it happens in Hazelwood instead of Mt. Lebo might be that the suffering of poor people isn't sexy or marketable. It's more mundane when a 16-year-old kid gets shot in a poor neighborhood. Acknowledging it might cause us to feel uncomfortable, and people will jump through hoops to avoid that.

Some people might even blame the victim or the community for being black, for example. Writing them off helps one feel superior.

[Goinback2011]

Nothing ever changes in the black communities as far as violence goes. It was this way when my parents were kids, when I was a kid and now.

Clearly, nothing can be done about it.

[GarlicBreath]

It's a tragedy - regardless of race or where they live. When we lived in Hazelwood there were countless murders that would never make the news.

[Stijl Council]

The Pittsburgh MSA has about 2.4 million people.

It's hard to tell from the crosstabs I could find how many are teenagers (12-19), but about 20% are under 18 and about 15% are 18-24. So maybe 15% are teens. That's 360,000 people.

Per the CDC, the death rate in this age group is 49.5 per 100,000, which would make an estimated 178.2 per year. Some of those would be illness, but in that age group the leading causes of death would be car accidents, suicides, homicides, and other non-vehicular accidents -- any of which could make the news depending on the circumstances. So if you really are hearing every single day, it's high, and if it's more like two or three times a week, it's about what you'd expect.

[szug-bot]

Originally Posted by Love2Golf09

It's not all drugs. Some of it is simply arguments that go too far. You're right, nobody cares. It's isolated to the ghettos of Duquesne, McKeesport, Penn Hills, Wilkinsburg, Lincoln-Larimer, Homewood, the Hill, etc. and nobody bats an eye when some black teen gets gunned down by some other black teen. Now, if someone gets shot up in Hampton or Murrysville...that's big news. ....

not that much can be done, but there are those of us who do care!

i hear these stories and i see a domino effect in my head - a black kid killed - more violence to scare away potential residents or investors - a reinforcement of negative images of black urbanites - one more mother scarred for life - usually the loss of a potential breadwinner in a family - more kids growing up there without civility or a notion of preparing a future through hard work and education - reckless sexual activity - illegitimate children of a single mom, circle back to the start....

Originally Posted by Goinback2011

Nothing ever changes in the black communities as far as violence goes. It was this way when my parents were kids, when I was a kid and now. Clearly, nothing can be done about it.

i think there are things that can be done, but it will never be discussed publicly. it would be too painful for some. ask Bill Cosby.

[Steelers10]

I find it even more interesting that so much attention is paid to black male homicide and what a public safety and welfare crisis it is. Now certainly it is a crisis but if people are worried about how violent death impacts communities, black male deaths via homicide pale in comparison to the rate and shear number of white males that die via suicide.

Last year somebody created a thread on this forum about Pittsburgh being the 11th most suicidal city in America. Nowhere in the article does it mention race. Nowhere in the forum did anyone mention race. But it is clear from the list of suicidal cities that these aren't particularly "black" cities. If it was a list of the most homicidal cities in America people would be all over the fact that most of the cities on the list would be a majority black.

But it seems as if there is some expectation that somebody like a Bill Cosby needs to make a speech to "fix" the dysfunction of black neighborhoods because of the high homicide rates. Wouldn't the fact that white communities have disproportionately high suicide rates make them even more dysfunctional? Where are the "white" celebrities making speeches about the inadequacy of white parental supervision and how their kids style of dress has a direct correlation to mental health issues? Where is the media coverage about suicide? There are a lot more suicides than homicides in this country. While suicide has been decriminalized, it is hardly "victimless". So if a teen is killed in Pittsburgh everyday, it is likely that three teens are taking their own lives. You would think more attention would be paid to it.

[SorryIMovedBack]

Originally Posted by Goinback2011

Nothing ever changes in the black communities as far as violence goes. It was this way when my parents were kids, when I was a kid and now.

Clearly, nothing can be done about it.

Quit paying the welfare mamas to have more babies might help, though. Regardless of race.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by Goinback2011

Nothing ever changes in the black communities as far as violence goes. It was this way when my parents were kids, when I was a kid and now.

It might have been this way for a long time, but it wasn't always the case. A few U.S. cities have longstanding murder statistics, and in the 19th century, violence was equal opportunity. For example, in 1850 in New York City, blacks were only three times more likely to kill than whites. By the 1950s, they were 13 times more likely. In the early 20th century, white culture got far less violent, and black culture got far more violent, and what was a minor gap ballooned.

Part of what happened seems clear. White culture became more "civilized" because people gave up centuries-old practices like blood feuds, duels, and vengeance and decided to trust the courts to be the arbiters of justice rather than taking matters into their own hands.

The same thing didn't happen for blacks however. The violence in black street culture actually increased. Much of it can be understood to be "rough justice" - people kill because they feel they were slighted or wronged by another party, not because they themselves were some predator. Trust in the law never developed, because even once the cops and the courts were not actively enforcing racist segregationist policies they were seen as outside agencies which didn't hold the interests of the people at heart. So when a slight happens - even one which the courts could actually deal with, like a friend getting shot - they are more liable to want to answer blood with blood than call the law in.

That is not to say there isn't a chance for change. The rest of American society, minus a brief freak out around the 1960s, has steadily gotten less violent since its founding. The same is true virtually everywhere on earth. Hell, even black homicide rates fell dramatically in the 1990s (although they leveled off more recently at a still far-too-high rate). Still, I think some rapprochement between law enforcement and the black community will be needed in order to get significant further advancement.