Forum tackles black-on-black crime

Police, leaders worried about rise in gang violence

By HECTOR CASTROP-I REPORTER

Seattle's African American leaders have watched with alarm in recent years as crime by blacks against blacks continues to plague their community.

"This is an issue that we'll have to solve," said the Rev. Harriet Walden, who has been working on what has been dubbed black-on-black crime since 1999.

Locally, other leaders also have stepped into the discussion, and Tuesday, as part of the annual Juneteenth observances commemorating the end of slavery in Texas, many will attend a community forum at Rainier Beach High School titled "Black-on-Black Crime: What are we going to do?"
FBI statistics show that in 2005, the most recent year for which data are available, the victim and offender were both black in 63.5 percent of the more than a half-million crimes reported nationally.

Locally, Seattle police have been increasingly concerned about a rise in violence between rival gangs, particularly in the Central District and South Seattle. In the majority of instances, the drive-by shootings, assaults and other gang-related crimes involve the city's black gangs, but the impact of the violence is widespread.

Walden and a colleague set up a Web site, silentwar.org, to addresses the problem.

They began by talking to people about violence in the community and surveyed about 1,000 people.

"Most people in our community know somebody who has been hurt," Walden said.

Part of the problem, she said, is that drugs and guns are too easily obtained by young men and woman of all races.

"As adults, we have not figured out a good way to be able to confront the bad guys and win," Walden said.

At the same time, boundaries for youths are no longer clear, she said.
Local activist the Rev. Donovan Rivers, who plans to attend the forum, said he is not only concerned about crime, but also wants to keep young black men out of jail.

With gang activity, in particular, expected to rise this summer, Rivers
said he expects police enforcement to be equally tough.

"The police are not going to play this year," he said. "They're going to hit hard."

Rivers said he hopes the community will come through with youth programs this summer to help keep children out of trouble.

When are our violent black youth going to realize that we are only hurting ourselves. Sometimes I feel like every year or everyday rather that we are setting ourselves back.