Black Youth Sociology

The existence of police brutality affects the mental health of Black youth, in regards to heightened depression and suicidal ideation. Even though people of color in the United States make up less than 38% of the population, "almost half of all people killed by police are minorities" and more than half are unarmed victims (The Guardian 2015). According to Mapping Police Violence, law enforcement has killed at least 263 Black individuals in 2016 including adolescents; 346 Black Americans were killed the previous year (2016). There has also been an increase in capturing these police shootings on film and then posting to social media for users to view soon thereafter. Black youth in the United States are exposed to this violence through a variety of outlets, such as news reports, social media and their personal encounters with police. The never-ending replays of unarmed Black citizens being shot to death by police officers is traumatizing and induces a constant state of fear that renders Black people hopeless for a country that will perceive their lives as equal and deserving of justice as non-minority individuals.

Murders with firearms have had an enormous impact on males.An American lawyer from Los Angeles California “The No. 1 cause of preventable death for young black men is not auto accidents or accidental drowning, but homicide” Larry Elder. Regardless, in female rates, there have been 2.3 also during the last two years. In 2014, the homicide rate for black male teens was 46 per 100,000 people, which is over 20 times higher than the rate for white men.“Homicide through gun violence is the leading cause of death among young African-American males in the United States if people look in a different perspective, they have a higher tendency of dying and having their lives taken away (Ryan Coogler).”. Although, for women, black and Hispanic had the highest homicide rates in 2014.Rather than for teens the males have had the upper rates for homicides than women during their teen

“In 2015, nearly a thousand people were shot and killed by police. Almost all of those people shot, over 95%, were men” (Police Shootings, Travis). The racial breakdown of these killings consist of “51.3% white, 27.3% blacks, 17.8% hispanic, 38 people were other race” (Police Shootings, Travis). While it is true that African- Americans represent only 12% of the population, and yet are 2 times that rate in police shootings. According to F.B.I data in 2014, 4,224 black men were arrested and charged with murder in this country. Statistics also state that in 2013, 90% of African- American murders were committed by other African- Americans. While similar statistics can be stated about whites, since 84% of whites were murdered by other whites. Racial killings

On July 6th, a Minnesota police officer pulled Philando Castile, a 32 year old black male, for a broken tail light. The officer asked the man to get out his license and as he reached for them, the officer then pulled a gun and shot Castile. As Castile lay with his head back bleeding out, his fiance, Diamond Reynolds filmed a video explaining he had shot Castile four times. Reynolds’s four year old daughter had been sitting in the back seat to witness the entire thing. Of the 708 police shootings to occur before September this year, ¼ of those deaths, 173 black individuals have been shot dead. Between 2008 and 2012, 12,765 people had been victims of police shootings and 51.1% were African American. Just to put things in perspective for you.

According to a Washington Post database of lethal police shootings 24 unarmed black men have been shot and killed by police so far this year. This means one a black man dies every nine days. Three unarmed black men were shot and killed in the month of April alone. All three shootings were either caught on tape or reported on local TV. The 24 unarmed black men that were killed compose a startling small amount of the 585 people shot and killed by police. According to The Post database. Most of those killed were white or Hispanic, and a good number of all races were armed. However, according to Wesley, black men accounted for 40 percent of the 60 unarmed deaths, even though they make up just 6 percent of the U.S. population.

In 2015 alone there has been over 300 murders by policemen. At least 33% of the individuals were unarmed. African Americans just happen to be 3 times more likely to be killed by police than whites. In fact, 17 of the 100 largest cities in the United States are where black men were killed at higher rates that the United States murder rate in 2014. Majority of the time blacks are suspected of violent crimes or being armed with guns or other weapons. In such cases police have a better chance of being acquitted of all charges rather face any jail time.

According to the According to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, homicide is the leading cause of death for black men ages 15-34 nationwide. Gun violence usually occurs as result of frustrations taking place within extremely oppressed areas. When young kids don’t have a healthy outlet for expressing their anger, it can lead to violence and unnecessary crime.

In the media there is a great deal of violence and nobody can really deny that. However, the effects media has on children and young adults have been debated for years. In this paper I will be discussing the effects of media violence, the other factors, and the possible solutions to alleviate this global issue.

something of a culture. Through generation to generation and the depictions shown in the movie,

Many news sources broadcast these situations and omit certain details or in a way paint the victim as a violent criminal. Travyon Martin, Tamir Rice and countless others have been used to push the agenda that black boys are aggressors. The increased number of cases involving a black person subjected to police brutality is truly taking a toll on black teens in America. According to this graph, 68% of black Americans felt stress over police violence towards minorities (Harris Poll, 2017). In 2017, the percentage jumped up to 71%.

If you're black, you are almost 25 times more likely to be shot in New York City than a white person — and you are also more likely to be arrested for pulling a trigger, alarming new NYPD statistics show.

Orlando Patterson’s The Cultural Matrix, Understanding Black Youth, is a tantalizing summary of the obstacles to black youth survival and success in the United States today. Of course, the primary obstacles to that can be separated into institutional and cultural obstacles as we see best represented in chapter two, “The Social and Cultural Matrix of Black Youth,” and chapter eleven, “Culture, Inequality, and Gender Relations among Urban Black Youth” written by Jody Miller. To put it simply the institutional factors are the wider society-wide problems and inequities that place disadvantages and obstacles on Black youth, the crumbling inner-city schools, food-deserts, mass incarceration, and more that will be discussed, make up the institutional side of the equation; whereas, the “Hip-Hop” and “Hood” cultures I mentioned in my response to Jones’ work on violence against and between Black women is the cultural side of the coin. Misogyny, the elevation of single-motherhood, the elevation of violence as a means of problem-solving and loyalty illustration, the criminality and drug use prevalent and often respected or revered by Hip Hop culture make up the tail-end of that coin, the cultural issues associated among young urban African-American communities.

knowledgeable, and skillful. As a counselor, counseling an African American client, they must first understand the client background. In order to understand the client background, the counselor needs to understand the African American culture. Counselors have to understand some of the major issues associated with African American socioeconomic, single parenting household, crime rates, low education achievement. Many African Americans live in poverty and high crime areas. Although many lives in poverty, region plays a big part of their live. Many adolescence of the black community are faced with troubling circumstances. An effective counselor working

The media is a main influence to kids in our society, with all the violence in it big problems can occur. Violence surrounds the media and influences people's behaviors. Violence in the media is disturbing because the storyline of the violence has a strong influence on its viewers. Media violence can persuade the viewers to make the wrong decisions and tend to be more violent. Also it can have disturbing and rude effects on others.

News media calls to attention current events. The information comes from real people who have had their lives changed be it for good or bad. Though what is being shared might not be prevalent at the time, it does call to attention one’s stance to the situation and possible future handlings of it. News media covers topics like teenage suicide, kidnappings, drive-by shootings, etc. Because such delicate topics are brought to light, it calls to attention one’s surroundings and forces reaction. The news media is a tool that relays stories but it is them who decide how to share them. However, it is how they do so that impacts the story, which is why they must remain true to facts to not deter from the message. When deterring occurs, lies spread and the topic isn’t what it began as but a twist to its original. By looking beyond what we know, and observing beyond our lens, we learn.