Murders by Black Teenagers Rise, Bucking a Trend

There are many among us who would like to declare the end of racism because we now have a Black President. Hmm...

I am guessing those people have never been to the inner-city and seen how poverty, racism and drugs can destroy communities. Case in point? Black teenagers are dying at an increasing rate:

The murder rate among black teenagers has climbed since 2000 even as murders by young whites have scarcely grown or declined in some places, according to a new report.

The celebrated reduction in murder rates nationally has concealed a “worrisome divergence,” said James Alan Fox, a criminal justice professor at Northeastern University who wrote the report, to be released Monday, with Marc L. Swatt. And there are signs, they said, that the racial gap will grow without countermeasures like restoring police officers in the streets and creating social programs for poor youths.

The main racial difference involves juveniles ages 14 to 17. In 2000, 539 white and 851 black juveniles committed murder, according to an analysis of federal data by the authors. In 2007, the number for whites, 547, had barely changed, while that for blacks was 1,142, up 34 percent.

The increase coincided with a rise in the number of murders involving guns, Dr. Fox said. The number of young blacks who were victims of murder also rose in this period.

Murder rates around the country are far below the record highs of the late 1980s and early 1990s, when a crack epidemic spawned violent turf battles.

“Regrettably, as the nation celebrated the successful fight against violent crime in the 1990s, we grew complacent and eased up on our crime-fighting efforts,” the authors said.

The report primarily blames cutbacks in federal support for community policing and juvenile crime prevention, reduced support for after-school and other social programs, and a weakening of gun laws. Cuts in these areas have been felt most deeply in poor, black urban areas, helping to explain the growing racial disparity in violent crime, Dr. Fox said.

Bus Driver Is Fatally Stabbed in Brooklyn

Occasionally I need a reminder of how dangerous the city I live in can be, and I got one just now:

A 46-year-old New York City bus driver working his route in Brooklyn was stabbed to death on Monday afternoon by a passenger who did not pay the fare, sat down anyway, and later demanded a transfer ticket, the authorities said.

The driver, identified as Edwin Thomas, was operating a bus on the B46 line when he was stabbed at 12:28 p.m. at the intersection of Gates Avenue and Malcolm X Boulevard (also known as Reid Avenue) in Bedford-Stuyvesant, in the 81st Precinct. The passenger fled, and no arrest has been announced.

According to the police, the killer boarded the bus and inserted an invalid MetroCard several times. Although the card was not valid, the rider sat down, and Mr. Thomas continued to operate the bus. At some point later, the rider demanded a transfer, and the driver refused, pointing out that the rider had not paid the fare.

The rider got up, the police said, punched Mr. Thomas in the head and made as if to get off the bus. Then, the authorities said, he suddenly turns around, came back toward the driver and made a slashing motion. He stabbed Mr. Thomas numerous times in the chest and torso.

It's a cold, cold motherfucking world out there...