"The righteous cry out and the Lord hears them and delivers them..." Psalm 34:17
Black men aren't terrorists. Black men have been the victims of terrorism since the founding of this country. And then Shamsud-Din Jabbar happened. Jabbar plowed his rental truck into a crowd of revelers on Bourbon Street in New Orleans on New Year's Day, killing fourteen people and injuring thirty-five others.
Shocking as this cowardice act was, Black men aren't terrorists.
According to Statista, the number of mass shootings in the United States between 1982 and September 2024 have been overwhelmingly committed by White men. White men accounted for 82 of the incidents reported during the cited period, Black men twenty-six.
But something is happening to Black men in this country and I believe the epicenter is mental health.
Jabbar, according to media accounts, was a relatively successful businessman, earning up to 120,000 per year as a consultant. However, negative life experiences, from business losses to divorce to financial pressure, began to take its toll.
It's not unlike any other Black man in this country, striving to make ends meet; to be good fathers and achieve a modicum of success in a culture that has consistently demonized men of color.
Black men are marked men in American culture. Have been. Always will be.
According to the National Institute of Minority Health and Health disparities, Black men are four times more likely to die by suicide than Black women. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry has seen a 60% rise in suicide rates among Black boys over the past two decades. Add high incarceration and low graduation rates to the matrix.
In the last election cycle, 20-25% of Black men voted for a MAGA agenda which has them in its crosshairs.
Black men aren't terrorists.
There is something sinister at work spiritually and mentally, something that ministry leaders must begin to take seriously and begin to address more seriously.
It must begin with a conversation, one absent of criticism and blame, and it must begin in our homes, communities and churches.
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