The Intersecting Cycle of Violence, Poverty, income inequality, etc. Created by systematic racism.

“Being black in U.S. society means always having to be prepared for antiblack actions by whites—in most places and at many times of the day, week, month, or year. Being black means living with various types of racial discrimination from cradle to grave.” (Feagin 2010:187)

I often hear people question the Black Lives Matter Movement because of the levels of violence Black Americans commit against each other; some might describe this as Black on Black Crime. Well, Black on Black Crime is false. It’s a racist narrative that White people have used over the decades to paint a negative picture of Black Americans. Black people live amongst each other, just as white people live amongst each other; you are more likely to commit a crime against someone in the same area. White people commit just as much crime against each other, but you don’t hear the term white on white crime, you don’t see their crime rates reported 24/7.

The amount of violence that we commit against each other can be and are significantly high. What’s ironic to me is how the government has failed to take responsibility for a considerable part of the violence—allowing the blame to be put on people of color and making us look bad as a whole, only to succeed in their plan of keeping us inferior. They hardly ever show the positive, which then eventually we give in to those narratives and turn against each other. They fail to take responsibility; they use short term solutions to violence when the source of the problem is much more significant.

What most people don’t know or realize is that Violence and Poverty feed into each other. They are part of the intersecting cycle; of poverty, lack of education, lack of opportunities, and violence that society and systemic racism have created. Not only is this cycle created by systemic racism, but also by the systematic oppression of the Black Race. According to the poverty report by Heartland Alliance: Cycle of Risk, places with high numbers in violence also have high amounts of poverty, lack of educational opportunities, adverse health conditions, income inequality, etc. The system denies opportunities to people of color purposefully.

To end high levels of violence, the government must take accountability and fix the cycle from where it begins instead of where it starts to repeat; if they want to see change, then it's time for them to commit to fix their mistake and create a fair system. You can not fix violence until you fix what causes it. Systematic racism has not only made it difficult for people of color but has created generational depression. Today, we still live in a segregated society. The black community is continuously receiving a lousy hand from this country. They may not tell us where we get to work, live, and so on they don’t have to; it’s clear as day. If everyone would open their eyes to see that, you’ll see that now is not the time to get comfortable and turn on each other. Doing that will only allow this cycle to continue for generations to come. There is no quick fix to violence, and just like Senator Kamala Harris said during her convention speech, “ There is no cure for Racism,” we have to start holding people accountable. We shouldn’t have to always forgive someone for doing something that they knew was wrong, history has taught everyone what’s wrong and what’s right, so if a person is still doing things with racist intentions, they are doing it on purpose.