In the midst of last night's riots in Ferguson, one protester held up a sign that read: BLACK LIVES MATTER. They absolutely do, as do all lives. But the implication of the sign and the protesters is that racism is the cause of black deaths; that it is white peole in general, and white cops in particular who have the blood of black people on their hands. On closer inspection, this assumption is found to be deeply flawed.
According to FBI statistics, 97% of all black homicide victims are killed by other blacks. In Chicago in 2013, 79.7% of black homicides victims were killed by other blacks. Only 2% of black deaths were at the hands of a white offender. Clearly the black community must look inward if the killing of African Americans is to stop.
It is easy to blame others and to strike out at perceived enemies. The very act releases anger and fear and resentment. It is far more difficult and demanding to look within, to find fault and flaw with one's own culture, and to try and find solutions to the ills that threaten to destroy that culture.
Some years ago, a comic strip named POGO coined a phrase that succinctly sums up the problem with Ferguson and every major city: "We have found the enemy, and the enemy is us."
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