What's Killing African-Americans?

“Unfortunately the legacy that we’ve inherited is not encouraging. Had the church wholeheartedly embraced Paul’s teaching, it would not have kept its tragic silence or participated in some of the great evils of the past two thousand years. In fact, many of them probably could have been avoided, or at least resisted, had Christians paid careful attention to Romans 9-11.” (Author Unknown)

As I awoke one evening to go to work, I found myself unusually frustrated by the conflicts challenging the hard-working people I encountered. Many struggled to maintain decent lifestyles while simultaneously aspiring for success. Others fought against obstacles which threatened their very existence. These people, who seemed stalked by an invisible fiend, lived like pariahs in a life they seemed to be at odds with. I arrived at work and had not conversed for more than a minute with my co-workers before I received a page from the emergency room. I was wanted in the ER.

Upon arriving in the ER, I was asked to see to a patient in room 3. “Her family is in the lobby, registering her right now. Just make your way to the room…her mother should be here shortly.” I made my way through a crowd of police officers to room 3 and stopped at the closed door. Instinctively, I tensed and grasped the cold doorknob. What now? I thought to myself. Who has done what to whom? I suddenly felt ashamed for this assumption as a chill caused me to push roughly against the door. The room glowed dully with florescent lighting and fell harshly on a small figure curled up on the hospital bed. A woman was lying on her side, sobbing hysterically. She was African-American and looked in her mid-twenties, and she seemed to be unaware of the staff busily removing her clothing (safety precaution). I was both stunned and convicted.
“What happened?” I asked. A police officer who had walked in behind me answered.
“We found her locked in her room. There was a noose around her neck and the end of the rope was attached to her closet door.” The police officer stopped by the bed and looked at the woman who was shaking convulsively. “She wanted to kill herself.” I stood where I was until the room cleared, and then slowly approached the bed where the woman lay, still sobbing. She didn’t seem to notice me, and if she did she made no hint of it.
“What happened?” I asked. My voice was soft and reverberated gently off the hospital walls. The woman’s gaze shifted from the tear-soaked pillow and her eyes locked into mine. They were deep and bloodshot, and seemed to extend down into her soul; portholes that gushed from the pit of her mysterious grief. They were surprisingly strong, but shaded by an opaque veil of sadness that clouded their natural glow.
“Everything is coming down on me. Everything is going wrong.” She seemed to choke on her words as her suppressed sobs pulsed throughout her body in an attempt to escape. “I am under so much stress and I don’t know what else to do.” Her eyes flooded over in smooth streams down her cheeks. “I just want the pain to stop. I need it to stop!”

We spent nearly 2 hours talking and processing life stress and its effect on people of color. Throughout the discussion, I learned that she had recently graduated from a top tier school and had received her graduate degree. As we continued to talk, the woman’s face dried and she began to smile faintly. “
You really care, don’t you?” She asked calmly, half relieved and half puzzled. “Thanks for caring about me.” I stood up to leave. I was going to make arrangements to transfer her to a different hospital for special treatment. As I closed the door to room 3 behind me, I shook my head.
“
Man,” I thought, “All she wanted was for someone to care.”

The Challenge:

• Most African-Americans believe that suicide is a problem that concerns only white Americans, but between 1980 and 1995 suicide rates have increased 214% among African-American males between the ages of 15 and 24. Suicide rates among African-American females have increased 93%. These suicide rates are currently double.

• In 1998, suicide has claimed the lives of more young adults than the cumulative deaths resulting from diseases such as AIDS, cancer, heart disease, pneumonia, birth defects, strokes, influenza, and chronic lung disease.

• In 1968, The Temptations released a hit song called I Wish It Would Rain. The songwriter, Roger Pittersbee, committed suicide shortly after discovering that his wife was having an affair. Listen to the song.

Causes:

• As a result of chronic challenges in society, families (particularly youth) are currently suffering more than ever.

• “When the Constitution was written, a strange formula to determine taxes and representation declared that the Negro was 60% of a person. Today, another curious formula seems to declare that he is 50% of a person. Of the good things in life, he has approximately ½ those of whites; of the bad, he has twice those of the whites. Negroes have half the income of whites…There are twice as many unemployed.” -King, 1967.

• Approximately 40 years after the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement, black youth are growing up unqualified for gainful employment, even as slaves. Resulting is a state of civil war with children in violent revolts against the failing secular and religious leadership within the black and white communities.

What Is Killing African-Americans?

• Over ¼ of African-American families live in poverty, and many more are uninsured or underinsured. The relationship between poverty, hopelessness, and social isolation has been clearly documented and combined; these factors encourage the use of drugs, guns, and suicide which serve as coping mechanisms.

• African-American men may cope with stress by heading in the opposite direction. “They’re more likely to opt out of stressful situations because they feel unable to ‘be a man’ in socially accepted ways, like having a good job or owning a nice home.” -William Lawson

• The average African-American college graduate will earn $500,000 less in his or her lifetime than an average white college graduate. African-American high school graduates working full-time from age 25 to 64 will earn $300,000 less on average. Many African-Americans are not just cash poor…they are wealth poor.

• “Consider the dimensions of this failure. A black boy has a 1-in-3,700 chance of getting a Ph.D. in mathematics, engineering, or physical sciences; a 1-in-766 chance of becoming a lawyer; a 1-in-195 chance of becoming a teacher. But his chances are 1-in-2 of never attending college, even if he graduates from high school; 1-in-20 of being imprisoned while in his 20s. Only the details are different for his sister.” -Eugene Rivers

• Faulty Messages: “When you think the problems are personal, you tend to think that the solutions are the same. If only the poor were willing to work harder, act better, get educated, stay out of jail and parent more effectively, their problems would go away. It’s hard to argue with any of these things in the abstract; in principle such suggestions sound just fine. But one could do all of these things and still be in bad shape at home, work, or school.” -Michael Eric Dyson

She just wanted someone to care about her. Helping people personally is essential. But, as Dr. Martin Luther King stated, “Compassion for the victim along the Jericho road is never enough; we must transform the Jericho road.” With the challenges that we currently face, such transformation is more urgent now than ever. We all have a role to play.