In The Philadelphia Negro (1899), W.E.B. Du Bois stresses “Crime is a phenomenon of organized social life, and is the open rebellion of an individual against his social environment” (p.235). What is Du Bois’s argument about the causes of crime in Black communities? Do these causes of crime still persist in Black communities in the 21st century?
Please leave at least three comments. One is your original contribution. And two comments are you replies to your classmates. Deadline: 10/24/21, 11:59 pm.
25 thoughts on “Discussion Forum 8: Criminology of W.E.B. Du Bois”
Du Bois is saying that the social environment in black communities causes these crimes. Du Bois’s argument about the causes of crime in black communities is that crime happens when an individual openly rebels and their social environment. These causes of crime still persist in black communities in the 21st century. For example, racism may cause these black communities to rebel against society. Also, poverty and gang violence may cause them to rebel.
Hi Amy, it’s very interesting how communities rebel against oppression and they are label as criminals, as you mentioned racism is a clear example of that, when people fought against it they where label as criminals. Poverty is another way to oppressed people and the way out of that leads to the increase of illegal activities, which many times it seems like it is the only way out.
I agree, due to the fact blacks are getting targeted because of their color skin crimes are increasing due to rebels of being looked different. Therefore especially the black community are seen as criminals because being exposed to social norms that aren’t supposed to be looked.
Hello Amy, I agree with you that these causes of crime still persist in black communities in the 21st century. I think that one of the biggest causes is poverty, that provokes a lot of violence and crimes.
Hi Amy, I agree with you. African Americans are more likely to get racially profiled because of their skin color. Also crime may be big in these black communities.
Hey Amy, I agree with your statement, they always target the skin colors first instead of actually going for the real suspect. Wasting time with dealing with the wrong person and it makes bad for the environment.
I agree with you, I believe that the lack of motivation in those communities is the main cause for these people to commit crimes.
W.E.B Du Bois main argument as the cause of crime was the social environment in which black people lived as a result of color prejudice. Poverty, lack of inspiration to work, discrimination against black boys and girls when it comes to employment, all this caused crime in black communities. Currently most of this causes still exist, we see it clearly when we look at the disproportionate percentage of poverty mostly in communities of color, racism when it comes to employment, and also when it comes to education we see that white people have more opportunities compared to people of color with the same level of education. All this disparities are causes of crime, when people don’t have the resources to feed their family they see as crime as an alternative, this includes drugs, prostitution, gambling, and delinquency.
Hi Julio. I agree with your response. The disparities are causes of crime because every effect has a cause. People will do anything to protect their family, sometimes even illegal actions occur. It all depends on the type of struggle and needs necessary.
Hello Julio,
I agree that lack of opportunities/ability to enter the work force at a livable wage does lead to higher crimes rates in POC communities. This in combination with discrimination and a racist system the options become severely limited the illegible options become increasingly thought about and enacting.
-Cuffia
I totally agree with you, unfortunately we live in a world where white people have more opportunities than people of color.
Hello
According to Du Bois crime was an adaptation to a lack of harmony within black peoples’ social surroundings. And that it came down to the racism inflicted on the community day by day. Du Bois said there were four causes: (a) the convict-lease system, (b) the attitude of the courts, (c) lawlessness and barbarity of the mob, (d) segregation”. The convict-lease system was the leasing out convicts to the highest bidder–these convicts were mostly former slaves. The attitude of the courts refers to the racist attitudes the courts possessed. Lawlessness and barbarity of the mob is Du Bois denouncing the lynchings happening to black people. Segregation also plays a role in the racist system set up by whites and contributes to the crime rates. These issues are still present in black communities and are still contributing to crime today. We have people who have been jailed fighting fires for less than a dollar a day–and they can’t even use that skill once they get out of jail because firefighters get extensive background checks. Our justice system is clearly still racist and cops are murdering unarmed black people just about every day.
–Cuffia
I agree, segregation is a major problem because it has taken a leap of separating the color skin people and white and categories them as different level of classes or look as them as different. This is of course a issue because crimes are happening everyday color people are most targeted due to racism and are getting killed or hurt by others.
Hi Cuffia, I agree that these issues are still present in black communities and also in other communities of color like hispanics, and yeah our current justice system is still a racist system that discriminates against you unless you are white or rich.
Hello Cuffia, I agree that all of these problems are still in the 21st century and are highly related to the actual crimes happening in black communities.
W.E.B. Du Bois believed crime is a phenomenon of organized social life and is the open rebellion of an individual against his social environment. In other words, the lack of unity with social surroundings leads to crime, and the idea of color prejudices the feeling of being disliked due to skin color. This is significant because people of color as much as they prove themselves as worthy they won’t be recognized as more than just low-class servants. These causes of crime continue to persist in the Black communities in the 21st century for instance, racial and ethic discrimination affects people general well-being when they are denied equal access to jobs, services and education.
Hi Vanessa. I agree that these causes of crime will continue because it has been going on for decades now. I believe that there should be equality and peace because it’s just not fair anymore. There is no reason racial and ethic discrimination should still be occurring.
Hi Vanessa, that is true that the lack of unity leads to crime.
Du Bois’s argument is about how the environment in black communities causes crimes. Based on Du Bois many of these are defects of the law, immediate environment, lack of training, lack of opportunities, and lack of desire to work. I personally think that all of the causes mentioned by Du Bois are still provoking the majority of crimes in the actual black communities.
Hi Francisco, I agree with your personally thinking statement because till this day, some believe crimes come from black communities but it doesn’t. Danger is everywhere in the world.
Hello Francisco,
I also think that the training and police culture needs to change. They need to stop being taught to assert dominance in the situation to keep it under control–when that is how it never works. The biggest crime in America is disrespecting a cop or not doing exactly what he or she says. The training needs to be that of de-escalation–other countries can do it and even our police force can if they are white and/or rich.
–Cuffia
Du Bois stated that “Crime is a phenomenon of organized social life, and is the open rebellion of an individual against his social environment. Du Bois argued that a person is transported from one environment to another then the result is lack of harmony with the new conditions. He’s basically saying depending on where you came from that’s how you will act and go about. He’s also saying black communities are more likely to have crimes since the environment that there are in is not too good. Yes, most of these crimes still exist today, also of black neighborhoods you see are not in good condition and the government hasn’t done anything about that which is why there’s a lot of crimes there.
Du Bois believes that social environment in black communities makes crimes and always get targeted for it. Racism will never stop, it will always be in some people. It’s not rare also. They make the black communities seem like it’s not safe to live around there because they start problems and always get targeted first because of their skin color.
According to Du Bois, black communities tend to have more crime and are not so safe because of the environment in which people grow up. Black communities have always been discriminated against and judged for how many people live. Du Bois concentrates on how racial prejudice impacts individuals and how we grow up in a world dominated by the color-line. Today there is the same problem in black communities and, of course, the lack of motivation makes these people resort to wrongdoing such as stealing and using vices.