Saxakali Magazine V1N1
Social Issues:
Saxakali Magazine V1N1
Social
Issues:
According to newspaper headlines: "Killings Soar in Big Cities Across U.S." "Drug Turf War Yields Violence," "Neighborhood Unite Against Crime," etc. All this point to increase violence. Television news programs portrays urban America overwhelmed by rampant crime waves, a place in which residents are afraid to leave their homes.
Both TV and newspapers essentially tells the same story. Most of our politicians, it seems, are in accordance with this depiction of not just the streets of New York City, but all of America. Is the crime rate really increasing as the media and politicians claim or has it actually leveled off or even decreases, depending on the nature of the crime?
The Bureau if Justice Statistics, for instance, has reported that violent crimes, personal theft, and household crimes have been down from their peak in the early-1980's. Yet, a relatively large amount of Americans still call for increased policing, building more prisons and even expanding the use of the death penalty into the other states and making it more inclusive of other crimes. Is the United States really experiencing a crime crisis? One might venture to say no simply because the statistics show otherwise. If there is any fundamental truth to the media's claim then the FBI and Bureau of Justice needs to radically revise their figures which show the contrary.
Another explanation can be found when one considers financial aspects of television networks and newspapers more closely. Both mediums of information have to jockey with each other for the general public's attention so as to attract advertisers, which coincidentally is the primary source of revenue. Given these conditions, stories that tend to be sensational or real "attention-getters' receive most of the coverage.
Unfortunately, this means reporting the most gruesome and bloodiest crimes. Further, our sound bite generation usually receive the issues in a vastly oversimplified manner which tends to perpetuate ignorance of the social forces at work in our class and race stratified world. In addition, very few reporters have the desire or are allowed the time or space to comprehensively deal with the issues at hand. Consequently, the public is bombarded with images that play on their deepest fear, "Am I going to be next?"
In an atmosphere of hysteria and paranoia, politicians seize these invaluable opportunities to mount campaigns of "Taking Back the Streets." This is evident when one of the top priority is the issue of crime in almost every campaign. Mayor Guiliani, for instance, ran his campaign on such a stance which won over the traditional white democrats and alienated the African-American communities. Even the president of the United States has played the crime card in an attempt to whip up support for his US$ 22 billion anti-crime package.
The success of such tactics, has historically been the most effective during economic downturns in which a sizable portion of the population have been displaced. As a result, there is a need to create a "scapegoat" around which our leaders can rally support. Its worthwhile knowing that just about every generation calls for war on crime in America and ours is no different.
What kinds of activities are considered as criminal, and what kinds of crime are pursued most vigorously in America - "white-collar" or "blue-collar"? How can this land be considered the most free when it also have the highest incarceration rate per capita in the world? Civil and political guarantees mean little without social, cultural and economic rights.
Are not the hungry and homeless victims of societal crimes? Were not the "riots" in Los Angeles a justified act of lower-class protest for long overdue social justice? Does not gang violence reflect low-class competition for control of scarce resources in the underground, informal economy of our depressed communities? Crimes reflect poverty, and are not only committed in minority communities.
Were some who ran one way
were some who ran another way
were some who did not run at all
were some who will not run again
And I was with them all,
when the sun and the streets exploded,
and a city of clerks,
turned a city of menMartin Carter
Save Children From Prison 