Have We Surrendered to Gun Violence in Urban America? Federal Neglect Stymies Efforts to Stop the Slaughter Among Young Black Men

Date01 January 2022
DOI10.1177/2153368719865306
Published date01 January 2022
AuthorShirley M. Carswell
Subject MatterArticles
Article
Have We Surrendered to Gun
Violence in Urban America?
Federal Neglect Stymies
Efforts to Stop the Slaughter
Among Young Black Men
Shirley M. Carswell
1
Abstract
For the last three decades, young Black men in the United States have been killed in
gun violence at rates more than double any other group, which threatens to wipe out
an entire generation. The reasons for the carnage have not been adequately investi-
gated due to a federal ban on gun research, fueled by the massive lobbying power of
the National Rifle Association. With no leadership from the federal government and
lawmakers’ refusal to pass tougher gun policies, a patchwork of violence prevention
efforts has emerged at the local level. The programs that appear to have had the
greatest success in reducing homicides approach gun violence as a public health issue
and address problems such as unemployment, substance abuse, and childhood trauma
in young men. However, those programs are underfunded, and the national gun
homicide toll has begun to climb again after a decade of relative stability. The public’s
attention—and thus policy makers’ focus—seems to have shifted from urban homi-
cides to mass shootings. In this essay, I argue that, because the gun homicide crisis
disproportionately impacts young Black men, it will not get the attention nor federal
funding it deserves until the Black community rises up to demand it.
Keywords
African/Black Americans, race/ethnicity, h omicides, victimization, intraracial crim e,
problem-oriented policing, race and policing, juvenile victimization, race and juvenile
justice, subculture of violence, criminological theories, critical race theory, mass
incarceration, race and death penalty, social disorganization
1
Howard University, Washington, DC, USA
Corresponding Author:
Shirley M. Carswell, Howard University, 525 Bryant St. NW, Room 233-F, Washington, DC 20059, USA.
Email: shirley.carswell@howard.edu
Race and Justice
ªThe Author(s) 2019
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/2153368719865306
journals.sagepub.com/home/raj
2022, Vol. 12(1) 126–\ 140

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