The sting of Death &the Victory of the Grave
Each year, about 31,000 Americans commit suicide, making it the eighth leading cause of death in the United States. Once thought to be primarily a white male problem, suicide is increasingly dramatically in the Black community. Whether Black, Caucasian, or any other racial or ethnic group, the number one risk factor for suicide is being male.
Suicide is now the third-leading cause of death for African-American males ages 15 through 24, and a rate increase of 233 % for boys between the ages of 10 and 14. Black teenagers in this country are killing themselves at a rate of 5 per day. Sixty-five percent of them are using firearms to do it.
One theorist states that ,“the most common element involved in suicide seems to be the persons perception that life is so painful that only death can provide relief.” There is the first the often ignored phenomenon of suicides by cops for most young black males , who chooses to confront law enforcement officers in fatalistic shootouts , even though fully aware of the dire consequences of confronting a more organized , and determined , force.
http://www.blacknews.com/news/henrie_m_treadwell301.shtml
This is followed by the increasing accounts of equally ignored , very educated males of a high social class, taking their lives at prestigious Ivey League schools across the country, in Universities such as Yale, Cornell, and NYU .
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-harold-koplewicz/suicide-college-has-your_b_511583.html
Some are jumping and others are also using weapons. What is of more concern to you , the fact that guns are playing a major part, elites are giving up, police inability to address the problem by using different approaches to fighting crimes, or that , an increasing number of young black are joining their privileged whites counterparts and succumbing to despair , and fatalism by by resorting to suicides , in unarguably the greatest , and most prosperous country in the world ?
May 2, 2010 at 1:11 pm
Thanks for responding. It is something worth following up on. I will do so and get back to you. Regards.
May 2, 2010 at 6:28 pm
http://www.suicide.org/suicide-statistics.html
Here are some stats , though dated, they are quite revealing.
http://www.suicide.org/suicide-statistics.html
One action that must be conducted before any talk of solution , is that of awareness, and empathy as to fact that such problems exist. Why also are they more high school drop outs,less college education , and eventual employable black males versus their females counterparts even as both are grown up in sometimes dysfunctional , fatherless, female dominated homes?My quick unscientific guess might be , that it is due to the strength of an indirect role model that girls can derive in such a home , as opposed to the males. It could also be that cultural conditioning of males verses females to handle problems. Boys would reach out to peers to seek out solutions , and these are often labeled as gangs , while girls are encourage to find other less destructive , yet self reliant ,escapist and coping strategies.
Girls it is claimed by another study are accustomed to being part of a disadvantaged group and so have developed coping mechanisms. They also like their white female counterparts might attempt suicides more than males , but tend to complete it less. This proves that the attempt might simply be a safety valve attention garnering strategy .
http://www.nopcas.com/articles/article_details.php?post_id=8
Mental problems , and a cry for help carries with it an impression of weakness on the part of victims in these communities. There is as such a reluctance to reach out for help by black young males and even parents . In addition to this feeling of alienation and despair that is prevalent in young males , attempting to cope with prevailing internal and external issues, one must not ignore the role that increase use of drugs experimentation has on the psyche and overall attitudes of young males.
There is a plethora of social , economic, and even political causes for the increasing trends in suicide in black males . It surely requires attention by social scientist , and policy makers and other concerned . It might however take the observation as to similar trends in the white, asian,and others as to the fragile state of their own communities , before some concrete efforts are made to deal with increasing suicides of males over females. I hope to stay on top of it, as I am of the view that it is a tragedy of mammoth proportion , with many far reaching debilitating social fallouts down the road for the society as a whole.