Crime and Policy in the African American Community

Street crime disproportionately involves African Americans. In recent years, most governmental responses to street crime, such as prison building, have stressed law and order. They have failed. A newer approach has been to organize local communities, especially in white and middle-class neighborhoods. It has been said that African Americans in low-income communities do not care about reducing crime and cannot organize themselves. However, most of what is called community crime prevention is defensive, in effect locks up the community, and does not address the causes of crime. Block watches and patrols are illustrative. By contrast, the national Crime Is Not a Part of Our Black Heritage program opens rather than closes African American communities. Through informal schools that teach African American heritage and culture, as well as through organizing with the help of the media, blacks in the communities take ownership of the program. Preliminary evaluation results are promising, but it is important to recognize that the goals of the program, to change attitudes and behavior, will require time and commitment.