Chicago has a high homicide rate in its black communities? According to ABC News' Sharyl Attkisson, just blame the "Mexicans"

 

ABC News has a Sunday program called Full Measure, hosted by Sharyl Attkisson, which goes around the country offering brief, superficial commentary on the issues of the day, usually facile explanations from one particularly viewpoint. Today, one of its segments dealt with the high number of homicides in Chicago, a city that has seen higher homicide rates than most other cities for as long as its been a city. But today, according to Attkisson. “It all starts in Mexico.” Yeah, that’s right, just blame the “Mexicans” for black people killing each other in Chicago, which according to the DEA is a “distribution center” for drugs coming from Mexico. The implication, of course, is that black gangs in Chicago would not be killing each other and innocent bystanders without drugs from Mexico, which given the history of crime and violence in Chicago is disingenuous and buck-passing in the extreme.

But the question of the relationship between drug trafficking and rising homicide rates is not quite that “simple” and easy. Even a 2017 DEA report, in conjunction with the Chicago Police Department, could not make that connection. It noted that “A recent study by the University of Chicago Crime Lab analyzed several data sets related to violent crime in the city and concluded that, though the spike in shootings and homicides was sudden and sustained, the cause of the increase in violence is unclear.”

Furthermore, the report noted that most homicides were committed by perpetrators with a history of criminal activity, and most involved “some type of altercation,” in which one-quarter involved “adolescents.” 50 percent had prior arrests for violent crime. Two-thirds had current or prior gang experience, but down by 10 percentage points from the previous year (2015). The number of homicides that were not gang-affiliated rose by 25 percent. A Chicago PD report found that from 1991-2011, that “gangland narcotics” homicides only competed with “street gang altercation,” “domestic altercation” and “armed robbery” for the most common reasons for homicides.

The DEA’s own report was forced to admit that “while the proportion of Street Gang Altercation murders rose gradually over the past two decades, the proportion of Gangland Narcotics murders stayed relatively low and stable. This suggests that a smaller proportion of murders are the result of conflicts among drug traffickers. Yet it all somehow “starts” in Mexico.

Another report, entitled Youth Gang Drug Trafficking and Homicide: Policy and Program Implications, written by James C. Howell, noted that analysis of arrest records over a thirty-year period showed that in Chicago, “Black gangs are relatively more involved in drug trafficking; Hispanic gangs, in turf-related violence; Asian and white gangs, in property crimes.” But are drug-related activities the cause of “all” of the homicides in Chicago, as the ABC News piece implied, since it “all starts in Mexico”? It must be those black “Mexicans” doing all the killing--although I suspect that most people in Chicago know better what is happening in their own neighborhoods.

Howell quoted one study in Los Angeles that “found that while some gang-related homicides occurred secondarily to drug trafficking, drug transactions were not a major factor.” and that "contrary to the general assumption, drug trafficking is not a major causative factor of drive-by shootings." Another study found that “only 5 percent of gang-related homicides were related to narcotics.” In St. Louis, another study “found that most gang violence, including homicides, to be ‘expressive,’ retaliatory, or situationally spontaneous. Although some violence was related to protecting drug turf and disciplining customers, most erupted over seemingly petty acts -- disrespecting gang colors, stepping in front of another person, flashing gang hand signs, or driving through a rival neighborhood.”

But in Chicago, one study found that “only 3 percent of gang-motivated homicides were drug related” and that “the connection between street gangs, drugs, and homicide was weak and could not explain the rapid increase in homicide.” While it is true that many gang-related homicides may not have occurred without the existence of drug markets, that doesn’t explain the homicide rate in general, gang-related or otherwise. Howell’s piece also notes that periods of rising gang homicides tend to reflect “periods of intense competition over the expansion and defense of gang territory along a border. In addition to territorial disputes, the ‘expressive’ aspect of gang violence involves impulsive and emotional defense of one's identity as a gang member, defense of the gang and gang members, defense and glorification of the gang's reputation, and recruitment of gang members. Once a spurt ends, the homicide level recedes, but to a level higher than it was previously.” It was also pointed out that the increases of homicide was likely driven by the greater access to and willingness to use firearms, particularly semiautomatic weapons.

The cheap effort to “blame” Mexico for Chicago’s high homicide rate in the black community ignores other issues, like this country’s centuries-old addiction to “recreational” drugs, and the impact it is having in Mexico and the people living there.  Gangs and drugs may make for better “copy,” but the main issue it ignores is that it is people--not drugs--that are committing these murders, and the large majority of homicides are committed for more “mundane” reasons, as a 2007 CDC report concluded: "For homicides and suicides, relationship problems, interpersonal conflicts, mental-health problems, and recent crises were among the primary precipitating factors." Well, I'm sure that some people can find a way to blame the "Mexicans" for that, too.