Why I'm outraged over the real race war in America

As America revisits old issues of race and violence amid the allegations of the Trayvon Martin case, a lot of attention is focused on the possibility of a "race war" in the US. Racist groups like the New Black Panthers and Neo Nazis have pledged their arms to battle - if one erupts. Still, America is ignoring the real race war that is ongoing in America's streets.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - And make no mistake, it is a war in every sense. When we think of a race war, we think of whites and blacks clashing in urban riots, but the reality is blacks and whites have little need to fear one another. Instead, they need to fear themselves. In many circumstances, blacks need to fear blacks more than whites. 

Black-on-black violence is an ongoing scourge that has been destroying urban black communities for decades. While violence appears to have peaked in the 90s, and dropped off since, black-on-black violence is increasing once again. 

Meanwhile, some black community leaders, whose agenda is self-serving, ignore the daily murders of black people across the country at the hands of other black people while focusing almost exclusively on the one case where a mixed-race Caucasian/Hispanic man allegedly provoked a confrontation with a black teen and shot him.

As tragic an incident as that was, there is so much more to the problem. It is time to stop obsessing over a hypothetical race war and pay attention to the actual race war that is devouring African American youth.

According to a report on The Blaze, between March 16-19 of 2012, 41 people, nearly all African American, were shot and killed in Chicago. 

41 people!

Where's the outrage? Where's the news coverage, the rallies in the streets, and the community organizers? Forty one human beings, almost all African Americans, were shot down in cold blood by fellow African Americans, yet not one iota of outrage, public attention or address from the President has taken place.

If Obama had a son, would he look like any of the 41 souls murdered in Chicago over the course of four days?

Today, if we lose one of our brave heroes in Afghanistan, it's headline news. We talk about "time to end the war" and express renewed urgency to "bring the troops home." We properly turn to prayer and petition to spare American lives overseas. There's nothing wrong with this. 

The problem is that we do nothing of the sort for the thousands of black youth murdered in our country every year. And the figures are greater than war. Annually, between 8,000 and 9,000 blacks are murdered in America. Of those murders, 93% are perpetrated by other blacks, according to The Blaze report. 

There's nothing wrong with sharing outrage over the tragic killing in the Trayvon Martin case. In that case, a young black teen who was said to be minding his own business was confronted by a highly motivated neighborhood watch captain. Regardless of the details, the incident should have never happened. 

Enjoy Daily Readings? Pay it Forward

But every day, we are losing nearly two dozen African Americans to black-on-black violence. There should be community rallies and political speeches on the subject. We should have media specials and awareness campaigns. There ought to be chain status updates on Facebook and Twitter (as much as I dislike them) and candlelight vigils. 

But there are none.

And that's why I'm outraged. What about you?

. 

---

'Help Give every Student and Teacher FREE resources for a world-class Moral Catholic Education'