Black-on-Black Crime Talking Points

Last month, CNN contributor Van Jones appeared on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher and discussed the murder rates of young Black males across the United States.Maher remarked, “We do know that, for young Black men, gun homicides are the leading cause of death. And … that leading cause outstrips the next 15 causes combined … Also, Black men ages 18 to 25 die from gun homicides at a rate nearly 19 times that of White young men of the same age. And they’re not being killed by White supremacists; they’re being killed by each other; that is the truth.”Jones concurred and then told Maher, “I’m really glad that you raised it because I think there is this myth that the Black community only cares about a Black kid getting killed if a White cop does it or a White supremacist does it, and it’s just not true. The media only cares.”Jones insinuated that the media purposefully ignores the leading cause of death among Black males because it prioritizes news about White males shooting and killing Black men. Right-wing media outlets instantly applauded Jones for pointing out how the mainstream media “only cares” about “fanning the flames of racial division.”However,...