Forensic Psychology Writer Seeks to Publish Article on Blacks and Violence

AMJCA has received an offer and request from Allison Gamble, of forensicpsychology.net, to write and publish here an article discussing:

why is there so much violence in the black community? The article will include: statistics on crime in impoverished neighborhoods, explain why violence is more prevalent, and explain how Its not just because one race is more violent than another but because the way people are oppressed and through oppression comes coping mechanisms to get through life.

This Journal's response is as follows (but is subject to public comment from all quarters):

Allison:

I believe that one of the reasons there is so much crime in some Black communities is that whites hate Blacks and Blacks have turned that anger inward.  Take, for example, your use of the word "race."  What do you mean when you use the word "race"?  Are you suggesting that people with white skin and people with brown skin are from different species?  If you are, then I think that insults Blacks more than the "N" word does.

Whether it comes from Black or white people, I believe the assertion that "race" exists at all is a profound insult to Blacks that can only be based in malice or ignorance.  I, quite frankly, am sick and tired of the "R" word.  It is, in my opinion anachronistic and anti-science.

If you would like to write an article explaining why you still use the "R" word, even though the US Government's Human Genome Project has declared conclusively that "race" simply does NOT exist, then I would be very interested in reading and publishing your article on that topic.  I think we all will learn something, no matter what you say about what you mean when you use the "R" word.

When you use the "R" word, are you talking about the Black "skin color group" or are you asserting that we are from a different species?  If you are not asserting that we are from a different species, then why do you use the word "race"?

Having said that, if you want to write about Black people and crime, and you demonstrate that you have something new and original to bring to the topic, then I'll gladly publish what you write.  I would just request that you either define "race" as a factor in your research or find a way to describe what you mean to say without asserting that I and other people with brown skin belong to a species that is separate and distinct from that comprising the white skin-color-group.

If you insist that you cannot discuss this topic without using the word and the concept of "race," then I insist that you explain and support your definition of the "R" word in light of the findings of the US Government's Human Genome Project and the following articles:

'Race' and the human genome ppS1 - S2 Ari Patrinos doi:10.1038/ng2150Full text | PDF (103K)
Editorial	Top
The unexamined population pS3 doi:10.1038/ng2151Full text | PDF (50K)
Commentaries	Top
Changing the paradigm from 'race' to human genome variation ppS5 - S7 Charmaine D M Royal & Georgia M Dunston Published online: 26 October 2004 | doi:10.1038/ng1454Abstract | Full text | PDF (95K)
Forensic genetics and ethical, legal and social implications beyond the clinic ppS8 - S12 Mildred K Cho & Pamela Sankar Published online: 26 October 2004 | doi:10.1038/ng1594Abstract | Full text | PDF (104K)
What we do and don't know about 'race', 'ethnicity', genetics and health at the dawn of the genome era ppS13 - S15 Francis S Collins Published online: 26 October 2004 | doi:10.1038/ng1436Abstract | Full text | PDF (330K)
Perspectives	Top
Conceptualizing human variation ppS17 - S20 S O Y Keita, R A Kittles, C D M Royal, G E Bonney, P Furbert-Harris, G M Dunston & C N Rotimi Published online: 26 October 2004 | doi:10.1038/ng1455Abstract | Full text | PDF (102K)
Implications of biogeography of human populations for 'race' and medicine ppS21 - S27 Sarah A Tishkoff & Kenneth K Kidd Published online: 26 October 2004 | doi:10.1038/ng1438Abstract | Full text | PDF (270K)
Genetic variation, classification and 'race' ppS28 - S33 Lynn B Jorde & Stephen P Wooding Published online: 26 October 2004 | doi:10.1038/ng1435Abstract | Full text | PDF (850K)
Will tomorrow's medicines work for everyone? ppS34 - S42 Sarah K Tate & David B Goldstein Published online: 26 October 2004 | doi:10.1038/ng1437Abstract | Full text | PDF (161K)
Are medical and nonmedical uses of large-scale genomic markers conflating genetics and 'race'? ppS43 - S47 Charles N Rotimi Published online: 26 October 2004 | doi:10.1038/ng1439Abstract | Full text | PDF (118K)
Assessing genetic contributions to phenotypic differences among 'racial' and 'ethnic' groups ppS48 - S53 Joanna L Mountain & Neil Risch Published online: 26 October 2004 | doi:10.1038/ng1456Abstract | Full text | PDF (226K)
Implications of correlations between skin color and genetic ancestry for biomedical research ppS54 - S60 E J Parra, R A Kittles & M D Shriver Published online: 26 October 2004 | doi:10.1038/ng1440Abstract | Full text | PDF (1,666K)  | Supplementary Information