One thing that irritates me about black men is they are not taking accountability for the crimes against black women that they commit. They sold black people into slavery. They brought pimp culture into the black community and sold us. They’ve been pimping black women since the Moors ruled. They formed gangs and increased gun violence in the black community. They brought drugs into the community. Most of the things that contributed to the decline of the black family started with the degenerate culture that black men created.

Within the many circles that discuss issues within the black community, there seems to be an issue that is serverly overlooked. I believe many of these reasons are because within these circles, there are a majority of black men leading the discussions. When it comes to accountability, there seems to be a large focus on the feminist movement and the notion that the feminist movement destroyed the black family thus destroying our communities, however, we should all know that the tactics used by white supremacists were multifacted. We seem to not address the role that organized crime plays into our segregated communities that has been glorified by black men since the early 20th Century. This glorification is easily noticeable in today’s rap music and movies that we highly support that centers on “mafia themes”, gangs, drug trafficking, and pimping.

It seems as though when I address the topic of organized crime there is much deflection from our brothers. It seems they believe that the problem with crime did not appear until the rise in mass incarceration in the mid 1980s/early 1990s, however, it is very evident that organized crime have existed within our communities long before then. Before crack cocaine came into the picture and the government issued it’s “War on Drugs” we have had our communities (a majority being black men) participating in other criminal activities such as selling heroine, numbers racketeering, and human trafficking (pimping). Many of these crimes were associated with organizations that were located in Northeastern cities of the United States that assimilated and sometimes were associated with the Italian Mafias. According to author Nathan Thompson’s “Kings: The True Story of Chicago’s Policy King’s and Numbers Racketeers”:

“Policy became the biggest Black-owned business in the world with combined annual sales sometimes reaching the $100 million mark and employing tens-of-thousands of people nationwide. In Bronzeville, Policy was a major catalyst by which the black economy was driven. In 1938 Time magazine reported that Bronzeville was the “Center of U.S. Negro Business”, and more than a decade later, Our World magazine reported that “Windy City Negroes have more money, bigger cars and brighter clothes than any other city…. The city which has become famous for the biggest Policy wheels, the largest funerals, the flashiest cars and the prettiest women, has built that reputation on one thing, money”. Those attributions, however, were largely due to Policy, a business conceived, owned, and operated by African American men known by many names including “Digit Barons”, “Numbers Bankers”, “Sportsmen”, “Digitarians”, and “the 1-2-3-4 Guys”; but more often than not they were called “Policy Kings”. [1]

Along with numbers racketeering, other crimes such has human trafficking or “pimping” was also well present within the black communities. A notable pimp Robert Beck a.k.a “Iceberg Slim” is a well known author whose book “Pimp” was highly notable for exposing the life of pimping in the black community. His book was based on his own accounts of his life as a pimp. Iceberg Slim started pimping at 18 (around 1936), and continued to be engaged in pimping until the age of 42. During his career, he had over 400 women, both black and white, working for him. Even though when speaking on his book, “Pimp”, he has stated that he did not wish to glamorize his former lifestyle, his works became influential to other black men who in turn used his works for artistic influences. Some of his books such as, “Trick Baby” were adapted into films during the rise of blaxploitation films in the 1979s. Rappers such as Ice T and Ice Cube, whose names pay homage to the author, used his works as influences for the rap persona and lyrics. Another notable admirer of Iceberg slim was the author Donald Goines. Many of Donald Goines’ books have center around the theme of pimp/ho culture, other crimes. [2] Despite the lifestyle of “pimping” being less than glamorous, especially for the women exploited, it seems as though within the black community it is evident that the culture sparks the fantasies of many. Pimp/ho culture can often be exposed in the music, movies, and books, yet the actual issue of human trafficking and the abuse associated is often overlooked in the black community. An estimated 300,000 new girls enter the commercial sex industry each year. The Department of Justice estimates that the most frequent age of entry into the commercial sex industry in the United States is 12-14 years old. A demographic study of sex trafficking in the United States has never been done, so no exact figures are known, but, according to the FBI, for arrests under the age of 18, Black children make up 55 % of all prostitution-related arrests in the U.S. – more than any other racial group. Girls of color are suffering disproportionately at the hands of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC). [3] Instead of focusing on glamorizing the financial gain of sexual exploitation, the focus should be diverted into the victims of this exploitation who are often nelegected and abused.

Despite the “War on Drugs” leading to the mass incarceration of black men for the selling and distribution of crack cocaine, what seems to be overlooked is how drugs have always been present in our communities prior to the 1980s. Prior to crack cocaine, heroine was a major drug being trafficked and sold in our communities and took a toll on the black family, especially after black male soldiers came home from war. In the years following the end of the World War II, African American organized crime grew along with the rise of African American social consciousness and later political, social and economic upward mobility. Many of the major drug traffickers in the United States emerged during the early-to-mid-1960s, such as Leroy “Nicky” Barnes, Guy Fisher and Frank Lucas, taking advantage of the increasing political strength during the civil rights movement. By the early 1970s, the large narcotics empires created by Nicky Barnes and Frank Lucas began expanding beyond Harlem as Lucas sought to ultimately control a large scale drug trafficking operation by gaining control of a network from Indochina directly to the streets of ghettos across the country. Other criminal groups started smuggling marijuana and cocaine in cities including New York, Baltimore, Washington, D.C. as well as in New Jersey, California, Florida and Toronto, Canada. Other groups such as the “Black Mafia” in Philadelphia, whose members were also linked to the Nation of Islam, took over the heroin trade and extorted other groups. Later, a younger group paying homage to the Black Mafia named themselves the “Junior Black Mafia” and were also heavily involved in drug trafficking, specifically crack-cocaine, during the Mid 1980s to early 1990s. [1] After a rise in drug trafficking, specifically that of crack cocaine, the governemrnt issued a drug act that lead to the huge spike in black men becoming incarcerated. The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 increased penalties for crack cocaine possession and usage. It mandated a mandatory minimum sentence of five years without parole for possession of five grams of crack; to receive the same sentence with powder cocaine one had to have 500 grams. [4] Because of mass incarceration due to the “War on Drugs” amongst other crimes, the black community became hit with the reduction of black fathers being present in black families. It seems that the decline of marriage began at the height of mass incarceration.

It seems a huge responsibility of the decline of black families is heavily placed on black women and single motherhood. What we seem to overlook is how crime, poverty, and mass incarceration plays a huge toll on members of the black community. We have young girls and boys being sexually trafficked, drug addicts that are primarily primarily being sold drugs by black men, and gang violence that is being perpetuated in our communities while simultaneously being glorified on black culture. We have become desensitized to these issues which often goes unaddressed which keeps us in the recurrent cycle of poverty, and mental castration. It is quite evident that a majority of these crimes are being committed by black men, and we need to begin holding them accountable. Once we hold them accountable, we need to in turn focus on healing our people so we can have thriving communities. We need to have as much passionate intolerance on these issues as much as we have against white supremacists. Are you up for the challenge?

Notes:

1. “African-American Organized Crime.” – Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Accessed December 29, 2015. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/African-American_organized_crime.

2. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iceberg_Slim

3. “Girls for Sale.” The Black Institute. July 26, 2011. Accessed December 29, 2015. http://www.theblackinstitute.org/girls_for_sale.

4. “Crack Cocaine.” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Accessed December 29, 2015. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crack-cocaine.

5. “MARRIAGE.” Black Demographics. Accessed December 29, 2015. http://blackdemographics.com/households/marriage-in-black-america/.