This present administration promises to wage a uniform war on national crime. Mr. Cummings, Attorney General, told the American Bar Association that Convened in Grand Rapids, last week, that one of the major movements of this administration would be crime prevention.
Now one cannot well mention crime without mentioning the Negro because records of ten states prove that the higher percentage of crime is committed by Negroes. Of course as scholars have pointed out, there are reasons for these facts. The Negroe's present environment, his past history and the high percentage of illiteracy that prevails are all logical reasons for the alarming increase of crimes committed by Negroes. An interesting point to note, however, is that the majority of the crimes committed by Negroes occur within the race. This leads us to conclude that there is another reason for this high percentage of crime--Justice seems asleep when the crime involves all Negroes and of course the Negro criminal is tempted to increase his activity, knowing that the sentence will be light or his case shall be dismissed after the trial has amused the court officials.
This is a loose screw that the average community may do well to tighten up before even thinking of a "national police" or "International Scotland Yard". Our officials must be men able to see the importance of crime prevention among Negroes. As it is, if a Negro murders another Negro, the sentence is usually 3 to 7 years, rape cases 5 to 9 months, while assault and battery charges are usually dismissed with light fines. So the Negro that is criminally inclined goes on his savage way, killing and raping his fellowman, disgracing his race and handicapping its progress, all because Justice has not yet realized that severe punishment is the only PREVENTIVE OF ANY CRIME.