White supremacy and the truth about black youth crime in Britain

The Home Affairs Committee report on young black people and crime blames ''social exclusion'' for their over-representation within the criminal justice system, but Deborah Gabriel argues that it is white supremacy by another name.
By Deborah Gabriel
In April 2006 when I wrote a feature for Black Britain about the over-representation of Jamaicans in British prisons, a little bird told me that the government was conducting research into the "phenomenon" of black youth crime. Back in 2005, I wrote several in-depth articles trying to explain the issues surrounding crime and the black community and interviewed ex offenders, youth workers and respected criminologists in the process, which helped to build a picture of the reality of the situation, as opposed to the reactionary and distorted picture that is portrayed through the mainstream media. Armed with this knowledge and experience; after examining the Home Affairs Committee report and having conducted more interviews with experts on their own responses to that research; I am prepared to state openly that the experience of young black people within the British criminal justice system and in the wider society is influenced to a large degree by the system of white supremacy that operates in Britain. Let me be clear that when I use the term "white supremacy" that I am referring to the structured and systemized forms of discrimination, and racial disadvantage that are brought to bear, sub-consciously or intentionally upon people of African descent, which at the same time confers privilege and advantage to individuals racialised as white.

Before I explain how this works in relation to crime and young black people, I must first state that I welcome that the Home Affairs Committee report does acknowledge that the incidence of black youth crime must be put into perspective. For example, it is a reality that in 2004 to 2005, 84.7 per cent of the offences committed by young people aged between 10 and 17 were committed by young white persons. The Home Affairs Committee report states that concerns arise when faced with the fact that despite a minority of black youth being involved in criminal activity, they are nonetheless severely over-represented at every stage of the criminal justice system. Whilst young black people only make up 2.7 per cent of British youths aged between 10 and 17, they account for 8.5 per cent of all arrests. When we examine the disproportionate targeting of black communities by police, that figure should come as no surprise. Black people of all ages are six times more likely to be arrested than white people and six times more likely to be stopped and searched by the police. As the Committee acknowledges, young black people are over-represented in arrests and convictions for certain types of crime; especially robbery and drugs offences, despite the fact that there are lower drug usage levels among young black people.

So what we are seeing here is a system of criminal justice that confers privilege amongst white Britons - because they are less likely to be stopped and searched and less likely to be arrested - which discriminates against people of African descent. That is the first proof of white supremacy at work. Dr Perry Stanislas, a Senior Lecturer in Policing, Community and Criminal Justice at Leicester de Montfort University said that the issue of institutionalised racism in Britain in respect of criminal justice was raised in the Mc Pherson Inquiry, but he believes that it was "fudged." He argues that it was clear that recommendations should have been made back then to curtail the actions of the police, who sub-consciously or intentionally target black communities: "There is a mountain of authoritative, highly regarded academic and other research which shows historically that there is a clear pattern of police discriminating both consciously and through informal institutional practice." Liberal Democrat Shadow Justice Secretary, Simon Hughes, in commenting on the Home Affairs Committee report acknowledged that there is an urgent need "to stop institutionalised racism in the criminal justice system," and urged the government to "change policy urgently if Black Britons are to know that in the future they are equal before the law."

Nacro, the crime reduction charity, whilst welcoming the report, condemned the government for its opposition to targets as a means of reducing discrimination in the criminal justice process. Its Chief Executive, Paul Cavadino said: "The Committee is wrong to oppose setting targets to produce more equal outcomes for young black people in the criminal justice process. Discrimination in the criminal justice system remains the most important factor behind the prosecution and imprisonment of disproportionate numbers of young black people." The Home Affairs report sings the familiar tune that seeks to attribute blame for black youth crime on 'dysfunctional' black families - which must be challenged. We are told that more black children grow up in lone parent families where there is usually an absent father. According to the National Family Planning and Parenting Institute, the father-child relationship is important for "children's greater self-confidence, mental health, positive behaviour and relationships, educational attainment and cognitive skills." In other words, they are suggesting that black families produce criminals. However, hard evidence disproves this theory, as Dr Stanislas said: "Whilst there are some problems among black families - if we look at white families, they produce more criminals of every type, from extreme sexual offenders, paedophiles to mass murderers, than the black family."

Black Families should not be used as an excuse to explain away crime
Dr Stanislas warns that when examining crime and the black community it is essential to separate genuine issues of concern with what is in reality an ongoing criminalization of black people. Black families should not be used as an excuse for crime within black communities or placed under a microscope, especially when "the white family produces more dysfunctional individuals, " he said. Patterns of offending in the USA and Britain point to crimes committed by black communities being linked to poverty, whilst crimes committed by whites have different motives as Dr Stanislas argued: "Sexual offences are predominantly committed by white men - so why are they not talking about the white families that create them?" That is a pertinent question. However, the rule of white supremacy dictates that white interests must be protected at all costs. Therefore questioning why "normal" white families commit such a wide range of crimes and commit more crimes than black people is not on the agenda. Dr Stanislas said: "Where I would accept the definition of white supremacy on this issue is in the need and requirement [of the state] to constantly denigrate and demonize black people and the constant creation and re-creation of narratives that do so."
The report makes several references to "social exclusion" as "a key underlying cause of overrepresentation" of young black people in the criminal justice system. But "social exclusion" and "social disadvantage" have become convenient buzzwords for avoiding any state responsibility in this over-representation . Young black people are stopped and searched by police officers, and at every stage of the criminal justice system decisions are made that seal the fate of black youths in deciding whether to caution or arrest and on sentencing and detention. There is a degree of intentionality in these processes - so using abstract phrases like "social exclusion" and "social disadvantage" mask the underlying truths. Professor Ben Bowling, a specialist advisor to the Home Affairs Committee Inquiry, shared the view that the issue of responsibility in the report was far too abstract: "One of the criticisms that I would make of the report as a whole is that the whole deliberation ends up being very amorphous. Where do you turn both in explaining how this horrendous situation has come about and in understanding where you go from here is rather diffused and rather abstract, because it's the fault of so many processes. It's the fault of so many people who are un-named that it becomes almost like nobody's fault."
Professor Bowling said that he has three major criticisms of the Home Affairs Committee report, stating that in the first instance: "I don't think it's anywhere near critical enough in identifying governments as responsible for the situation that we find ourselves in - particularly in relation to criminal justice." Letting the police loose on black communities without proper control and accountability has allowed black youths to become easy targets for officers seeking to improve their arrest rates by doing stop and searches on groups of young men on the streets of London. Professor Bowling said: "The report does not go far enough in saying that this is not something that has happened by chance or accident." His second criticism of the report is its lack of historical perspective pertaining to the experience of black people in Britain. Witnesses mentioned slavery and therefore the Committee was obliged to report it: "Some witnesses traced historic patterns of disadvantage back to slavery: 'Slavery is a crime unprecedented in human history in terms of its large scale effects, and we are still living with the contemporary effects.'" However, Professor Bowling said that the issue of slavery "wasn't taken forward anywhere near as far as I would have liked." His third major criticism was in his opinion the weakness of the recommendations. He said that the recommendations in the report do not go far enough and that the first point of action should be to "put the leash back on the police."
The issue of the chattel enslavement of African peoples is not irrelevant to the issue of young black people and crime in Britain. In his joint submission to the Home Affairs Committee Inquiry, Professor Bowling and co-advisor Coretta Phillips point out that even before black people arrived in Britain en masse in the 1950s, surveys on public attitudes among white Britons revealed that there were "widespread perceptions of black people as inherently inferior to Europeans and inclined towards crime and deviance." Given that in the preceding 200 years, Christianity, scientific racism, literature and popular culture have all served to justify slavery and denigrate people of African descent it is hardly surprising that the ordinary British public would hold these views, nor that these prejudices would be held by members of the police and criminal justice system and influence their actions. Professor Bowling said: "In the 1980s the police imagined a black criminal underclass and now sadly, that is what we are approaching. "

I know what your trying to get and understand that it does play a fraction into this issue, but we are now far beyond that and WE have to take responsibilty. The youths are needing to do it for themselves, and although we try our best to stop it, these youths are not listening. They seem to have an overwhelming amount of arrogance and pride that seems to really stem from nothing but violence... we can't help unless they can help themselves, it's a half way point, and i'm not gonna start blameing white people who quite frankly don't give a sh*t, cause they don't even wanna help anyway

Unfortunately this is what is often said when attempts are made to put into perspective the 'reality' of the social/economic/political situation black peope live in, in this country........nay! in the world.

It is easy to put forward the, "well yeah we understand that, but we are beyond that point now" argument when faced with the 'truth' of such social research/analysis.....and indeed hard to argue against the 'logic' of such a simple statement. But we do an injustice to ourselves, and in fact help to perpetuate the scourge of white supremacy/racism by taking this simple stance.

Another unfortunate thing is that when attempt is made to put some focus on these 'underlying realities', is that it raises accusations of 'making excuses for black people' and 'burying our heads in the sand'........a great shame really.......when in fact it is so VERY IMPORTANT that we look into, discuss and understand, the underlying factors which 'drive' and 'shape' our social condition. It is also VERY DANGEROUS to ignore these 'truths' with a mere wave of the hand and "yeah, yeah, same old exuses" proclomations, because such an attitude toward ourselves and OUR condition is another factor in our demise.

We need to look wider than the narrow 'screen of activity' we are directed to focus on, because this thing is much, much deeper than 'the criminal element among us' (remember societies throughout time have had, and will continue to have the 'criminal element'......but how many have been made to feel that it is almost some kind of inherent gene peculiar to their nature?)

One cannot and should not, ignore the deep and entrenched 'conditioning and shaping' factors that are an integral part of the whole 'white supremacy/racism' phenomenon.

Proper consideration of 'underlying factors' is essential in the pursuit of 'solutions' for any social ailment.............this is a basic fact of life!

Respect

I don't particularly suscribe to the "white supremicist" argument (well not in the terms it is being described here anyway), having seen far too many examples from my own personal experiences to contradict this line of thought...however that is another discussion and not the point I want to make at the moment. I feel lilsouful1 has a point here that has been completely ignored. Regardless of how the situation has occured and the social conditions that have existed in the past to incubate this situation, young black youth now have a choice. that is the end of it. As someone who has worked with young people for years now, I know the ones who can make something of their lives, and those who do and those who don't.

I feel it is completely wrong to suggest that these youth don't have a choice in the matter, that white supremacy has made their situation inevitbale. And consider that whites make up a far larger contigent of the Uk's population so have higher representative numbers of all these other crimes like peadophilia, rape and what not. But go to pretty much any part of Africa and see how rife corruption, theft on all scales and murder is in the black population and I think the argument of "but the whites are just as bad" starts to falter. Its not about what the white guys are doing. Its about what Mr young black man on Lewisham highstreet bunking off school to go and knife his best mate in the heart, because he kissed his girlfriend. Because....he kissed...his girlfriend. Have mercy.

Respect is a serious issue in our youth. They have a completely perverse perception of what it is. Respect for them is something attained aggressively,. It's about voilence, and loyalty only to your "hood" as opposed to a wider sense of loyalty to law, justice and human beings. Its about killing somebody with a kinfe through the abdomen because they were speaking too loud at a party. It's about putting a bottle in someone's head with the intent of death, because they refuse to join your gang. It's about hospitalizing a bus driver through repeated trauma to the upper body (through the same force of kick you use to strike a goal on soccer), almost killing him, becuase he refuses one of your "boys" on the bus without a valid ticket. It's about kidnapping, torturing and finally killing a girl because she is in with another gang (fair enough that gang wants you dead too but still...), and all this takes place not in Sicily, birth of the original Mafia as you may think such actions would. But here in London, in some flats in Peckham Rye. And the most disturbing thign is that it came to choice. They choose to act this way. Yes they are influenced but choice is choice.

And we have the resposibilty of looking at our music, our attitude to sex and family, our attitude to education and work, our attitude to other races, our love-affair with gangsterisms, our devolving intellectual capacity. These have long since evolved from being problems that the whites constructed. This is us now, here, 2007. WE perpetuate this stuff, yes im sure the white execs at Sony are all too happy to let us do it, but thats just it...WE do it to ourselves. OUR baby -mama's and absent fathers teach their children not to value family, sex or marriage, OUR musical artists tell the youth how to treat women and how wealth accumilation is all that matters, OUR own community encourages the low-social / moral attitudes we now have in the youth.

Im not one for intellectual posturing so propose we try our damn hardest ( I know I am) to try and show these kids that there is an alternative to knifing a human being for "dis-respecting" them. We need to offer something that the community is simply not offering now. We need take away as many barriers as we can ourselves (and we have put up a heck of a lot of them) before we even start to talk to the white politicans about their "conspiracy" to lock us all up. There is no point in the activists of our people fighting for more civil rights, fighting to be more accepted in society, fighting for more opportunities in employment and when we finally get something, 17-yr-old Rakim decides to stuff all that ad go and break someone's face in on catford corner beause they won't give him his copy of Dizzy Rascal back.

Another "basic fact of life" is that black people are not the only ones who have faced discrimination, poverty and injustice - other communities have faced hard-ships and have come through them... meanwhile we have been left far, far behind.

Typical example; the Asian (Indian) family who live on my street. Grand parents came over in the early fifties in search of a better life. At first, they were dirt poor and faced verbal and even physical racism on a daily basis. Two generations later, every single one of the grandchildren (who are now in their 20's and 30's ) are either doctors or well paid business people.

The critical difference here can be summarised in a single word... FAMILY.

As human beings, together we stand and divided we fall. The Asians have by-and- large stuck together and looked out for eachother, resulting in high educational attainment and economic prosperity. This cannot be said for all Asain groups e.g Pakistani muslims who have had major problems with integration.

But the simple truth is that overall, the Asians have succeeded and there's no reason why we can't do the same.

We must place greater importance in the role of the father and in keeping black families together. Black children - especially boys - need positive role models and at the moment they are being spoon fed a diet of gangsta rap propaganda which has convinced many to give up on school in order to persue delusions of instant fame and fortune.

Black children are being encouraged to throw their lives away and this must stop. We must also stop making excuses for the criminal scum who destroy our communities and then hide behind the protective banner of "police brutality and racism!" whenever justice catches up with them.

They deserve to be expelled from our midst and made examples of - not protected.

The excuses and the blame game aren't helping anyone.

Quite frankly, the "victimhood status" has got us nowhere and we need to re-focus our attentions on the family and education.

I concur!!! Family is a ciritical point here.