Murder rates increasing amongst black males
A Northeastern University study suggests murders are on the rise among young black males nationwide.
The study shows the number of black male teens killed in gun related crimes has risen 40 percent since 2000.
Twenty-four year old Ronald Conyers Jr., in 2007 police found him shot dead in an alley close to home; his murder is still unsolved.
His mother, Samantha Buchanon, said, “It doesn’t just kill the person, but it kills the family as well.”
She expressed concern about what’s happening to young black men.
On Christmas Day, twenty-five year old Montez Jones of Wilmington was gunned down on Castle Street.
Although both incidents involve black men in their twenties, Buchanon believes the problem is starting early. She explained, “We need to start getting together to start helping our young children so when they become teens and adults, they won’t result to crime and crime and hurting others.”
The recent study by Northeastern suggests murders are growing among young black males between 14 to 17 years old.
New Hanover County district attorney Ben David said, “For those of us that have been working in the criminal justice system it’s not surprising. It’s something we’ve witnessed for years now.”
Criminologists at the university who did the study say in 2007, 426 black teenagers were killed nationwide, a 40 percent jump from 2000.
A spokesperson for Wilmington police says six black male teenagers were killed this year, a growing trend from years past.
David said, “I don’t think that this problem can be solved in the courthouse, or the schoolhouse, but at the child’s house.”
Ben David also stated that this is not just a black issue, but a community one. “It’s only when the entire community realizes that this is a human issue that we can begin to solve this problem.”
A problem Samantha Buchanon is still coping with nearly two years later, and doesn’t want any mother to experience.
The study also says crimes committed by black male teenagers rose 38 percent since 2000. The study puts some blame on the Bush administration for cutting grants to local police and youth crime prevention programs
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