It is often overlooked that black women bear the brunt of violent crime. Many see Harris as an ally

This story was originally published by The 19th on September 26, 2024.

WASHINGTON, DC – A march in the nation’s capital last week drew thousands of crime victims and their families and brought to light an often-ignored reality: Women of color bear the brunt of violent crime in the United States. The crowd that gathered near the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday was predominantly black women.

Led by the nonprofit Alliance for Security and Justice, the effort challenges the country’s prevailing “law and order” approach, which in the past has resulted in harsh punishments and policing. Now, 30 years after the Violence Against Women Act was enacted, participants called for a new victims’ rights movement based on crime prevention, rehabilitation, economic mobility and trauma recovery, rather than punitive policies that increase incarceration rates.

But in conversations with The 19th, Black women — both survivors of violent crimes and mothers of victims — expressed more complicated feelings about how to balance the search for justice with prevention efforts. Her thoughts reflect how this group thinks about the risks of the 2024 election and how many see Vice President Kamala Harris — a presidential candidate with a career in law enforcement who puts victims at the center but also acknowledges the harms of the system — as an ally.

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“Some people can be rehabilitated, others are just mean and evil,” said Karen Spencer-McGee, a 60-year-old domestic violence and sexual assault survivor who lives in Memphis, Tennessee. “So there are some things that should be punishable. But you can’t fight crime without fighting poverty and the maleducation of black and brown people.”

According to federal data, in 2023, Black women faced the highest rate of victimization (27.2 violent crimes per 1,000 women). Still, Spencer-McGee and other black women at the Crime Survivors Speak March in Washington shared a common feeling that they were dismissed or treated as suspects by police after experiencing violence. Research backs this up, indicating that crimes committed against black people are less likely to be solved by law enforcement and are less likely to be reported in the news than crimes against white people. The protesters described finding community with women in similar situations and standing up for themselves together.

Sabchilnata Parker, 53, of Eustis, Florida, lost her 21-year-old son, Andrew Da’von Jones, after he was robbed and fatally shot outside a grocery store in 2016. Parker said she has repeatedly tried to get updates from law enforcement over the years, but feels “ostracized.” The case is still open.

“I went to talk to the police captain and was blown away because this was just a black-on-black crime that was then swept under the rug,” Parker said.

When asked for her opinion on incarceration, she said that the real issue is access to guns and that the country needs stricter gun regulations. However, harsher punishments such as long prison sentences should be imposed for perpetrators who repeatedly commit serious crimes such as murder, she said.

Black voters and officials have grappled for years with the question of what role punishment should play in the criminal justice system. Three decades ago, the country suffered from record-breaking violent crime rates that peaked in 1991. The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, also known as the Crime Act of 1994, was pushed by national politicians, including then-U.S. Senator Joe Biden, as a solution to the problem.

Some black lawmakers opposed the bill and called for more attention to prevention, but more broadly, a 1994 Gallup poll found that 58 percent of black Americans also supported the bill, compared to 49 percent of white Americans.

Ultimately, the 1994 Crime Act was passed and has since drawn widespread criticism for expanding policing and harsh punishments that have hit adults and children hard in black communities. During the highest incarceration rates in the early 2000s, black people represented about 12 percent of the U.S. population but 38 percent of those incarcerated.

Black voters are keenly aware of the harms of mass incarceration, and the data suggests they want systemic policing reforms and reductions in incarceration. The same is true for crime survivors, according to the Alliance for Justice and Safety. A 2022 report by the organization concluded that most victims favor criminal interventions that focus on rehabilitation and access to things like jobs and housing, rather than increasing arrests and prison stays.

But without the political will of lawmakers to fund evidence-based prevention efforts, communities most affected by crime must rely on existing forms of accountability.

“There is a recognition that something needs to be done about violent crime. For communities that feel the brunt of this trauma, suffering and fear of crime, policing is what is routinely targeted in this country – because we don’t have many alternatives.” Jocelyn Fontaine, Senior Fellow at Justice Policy Center at the Urban Institute told The 19th before the march.

In many ways, Harris’ attempt to maintain the line between tough-on-crime and criminal justice reform reflects this conflict. Harris said her journey to becoming a prosecutor began in high school when she learned her best friend was being abused by her father. It was a desire to protect people like her friend that sparked her interest in the law, Harris said. Early in her career, Harris was tasked with handling child sexual abuse cases, experience she brought to her roles as district attorney of San Francisco and attorney general of California by establishing units to handle these issues. She has consistently positioned herself as an advocate for victims and those who feel neglected by the system.

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“It’s a myth to say that African Americans don’t want law enforcement. That’s what we do,” Harris said at a panel discussion in 2006, when she was still a district attorney in San Francisco. “We want our grandmothers to be able to walk to church safely. We want our babies to be able to walk to the park safely. What we don’t want is racial profiling. What we don’t want is excessive force. What we don’t want is for our civil liberties and civil rights to be taken away.”

Harris went on to say that incarceration without comprehensive repatriation services to support people after they are released from prison will lead to re-offending. Although Harris’ framing of the issue has evolved, the core message behind those 2006 remarks has remained. Their 2024 presidential campaign website recognizes the Biden-Harris administration’s efforts to remove illegal guns and invest in local law enforcement and community safety programs.

At the DC march, female survivors and mothers of crime victims highlighted similar priorities.

“I want to see her do more police operations, more foot operations by sergeants and detectives, and more murder cases. I want more compassionate officers,” said Andrelena Rosser, a Memphis resident who lost her 32-year-old son, De’Andre Rosser, in an April shooting.

Rosser said she supports Harris’ interest in community policing; She believes officers who take the time to get to know a neighborhood can help build trust and a sense of security. She also seemed frustrated as she thought about the harmful effects of policing and prisons.

In particular, she was critical of long prison sentences for children and emphasized that government efforts should be made to provide at-risk youth with early educational or employment opportunities and mental health services.

“It’s so hard,” Rosser said. “I know they need to be punished if they commit a crime, but give them something. A 15-year-old who never has the chance or opportunity to go back home – I hate to even think about it.”

Despite signs of some uncertainty about how best to address the issue, the black women at the march were determined to support Harris. As women at the intersection of violent crime and mass incarceration, Harris’ legal background and public image as a voice for crime victims provide hope that they will not continue to be overlooked.

“We have to vote,” Parker said. “Once she steps in, I think there will be a huge change, especially for black women and what we stand for, because sometimes we’re not listened to.”