Killings over 'respect' are frequent in Birmingham, here's an eye-opening theory why

A day after al.com published an in-depth article glorifying a “son of Birmingham” who went on to become one of the “most feared, revered and dominant criminals” at the “top of the drug game” in New York City, it followed up by publishing a thoughtful piece on violent crime in the Magic City by Jefferson County District Attorney Brandon Falls, who has taken an active role in organizing the Birmingham Violence Reduction Initiative.

The initiative brought together law enforcement officials and the city’s most at-risk young men for a “come-to-Jesus meeting and a promise,” wrote Carol Robinson. “If you screw up, you are going to jail, and so are your friends and associates, they said. But if you don’t, if you try to do better, all those law enforcement agencies will lend their power and authority to help you succeed and lead a better life.”

“The overall message to these young men is we want them alive, safe and out of prison,” said Police Chief A.C. Roper.

The reason why such a meeting was necessary is because violence — gun violence in particular — in Birmingham has spiked this year. The Magic City is on pace for just under 100 murders in 2015, making it one of the most violent cities in the country per capita. This is a particularly strange shift from 2014, which was a record low year for homicides in Birmingham.

So why is this happening? JeffCo DA Brandon Falls sat down to review a year’s worth of shootings in Birmingham and wasn’t surprised by what he found. But for those of us who don’t work in the criminal justice system, it may be revelatory.

“The majority of shootings are done for a ridiculous reason,” Falls explained, “usually involving one person ‘disrespecting’ another.”

My reaction — and I’d imagine most people’s reaction — is that being “disrespected” seems like an unimaginably low threshold at which to murder someone. But Falls touches on the psychology of why that threshold may not seem so unreasonable to some people, and it’s worth considering.

“The key to understanding disrespect as a reason for murder is simple: When a person has nothing else in the world, respect becomes everything,” said Falls. “If you grow up with no money, then respect is like wealth. If you grow up without a mother or father, then respect is like love. If you grow up without religion, then respect is like God. When you think of it like that, respect might not seem like such a crazy reason for a person to be violent.”

That paragraph is going to stick with me for a while. And I think it’s worth wrestling with.

There is no simple solution to quell the violence in inner-city Birmingham and other cities across the nation, but I do know this: government is not the answer. Go point by point in Falls’ paragraph above and you’ll recognize a problem the government has tried and failed to address, and often made worse.

In a culture that places respect on such a pedestal, the most disrespectful thing we can do is continue propping up a failed bureaucratic system that robs people of the dignity of work and disincentives families to stay together.

For now, the Birmingham Violence Reduction Initiative is saying “no more” to “those few who are perpetrating the worst of the violence” in the Magic City, according to Falls. Their efforts should be applauded. But at some point it’s going to be on all of us to stop treating the symptom — the violence — and start treating the disease — the complex web of public policies and social and cultural issues that have left a segment of the population so hopeless the violence seems rational to them in the first place.