Dissecting the Perfect Storm: Law, Policy, and Violent African American Juveniles

The African American male has been demonized in American Society. From an African American perspective the proof is in the pudding African Americans are only thirteen (13%) of the U.S. population yet they make up fifty percent (50%) of the adult prison population. Richard Pryor the famous black comedian once stated the following regarding the Criminal Justice System and African Americans:“Is it criminal justice or just us in the criminal justice system”[1]. The perfect storm can best be described as a series of individual events which by themselves are rarely harmful however when they come together they create a cataclysmic event. The African American community has faced many challenges in the U.S. however the series of events that it has not been able to overcome since the 1960s are: failed economic policies, the heroin epidemic of the 1960s and 1970s, the Crack Cocaine epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s, incarceration of adult black males (fathers), and the destruction of the two parent household in the African American community. The end result of these policies created a void for African American juvenile male with many believing their only option is drugs and violence as a means of survival. This article explores theory, science, and provides some insight as to the complexity associated with African American male juveniles and violence in the African American Community.