Obama, Black Political Establishment Criticized for Failure to Directly Address “Knockout Game” Violence

For Release: December 4, 2013
Contact: David Almasi at (202) 543-4110 x11 or (703) 568-4727 or [email protected] or Judy Kent at (703) 759-7476 or [email protected]

WASHINGTON, DC — In no uncertain terms, members of the Project 21 black leadership network are calling out many self-appointed black leaders, activists and journalists for thus far being unwilling to directly address the senseless “knockout game” violence terrorizing innocent Americans. Project 21 members are also thanking those others who are courageously speaking out against the unacceptable mayhem.

“The members of the racial grievance industry who’ve attempted to sanitize rather than denounce this chaotic behavior on the grounds that the offenders are black do so as an insult to all black Americans. In their sanitation process, they excuse the very behavior society shouldn’t excuse — nor allow — from any race. In effect, these people are saying blacks cannot be expected to live up to society’s standards and must be excused. This, however one wants to justify it, is offensive,” says Project 21 spokesman Derryck Green.

Green adds: “This behavior is also a violent illustration of two things: the effect of the disintegration of the traditional family structure and the degeneration of a sound moral value system. Both of these things continue to plague segments of black Americans. This is inarguable and undeniable.”

Although not considered to be a new behavior, cities across America appear to have had a spike in seemingly random violence in which people are targeted for one-punch attacks meant to render the victim unconscious for sport. At least ten recent attacks in New York City are being attributed to the “knockout game.” Some attacks also appear to be racially and religiously motivated, and known perpetrators are generally young black men.

Project 21 spokesman Kevin Martin is critical of black special interest groups he says are not doing enough to stop the violence directed against people simply conducting everyday business. Martin says: “The action by black youth playing this so-called game for cheap thrills is reprehensible in itself. But the relative silence by groups such as the NAACP, Rainbow PUSH and the National Urban League as well as the Congressional Black Caucus is equally reprehensible. It essentially gives quiet approval to those who carry out these assaults. The silence of these groups only give their critics more reason to call them out, and it gives heft to the charge that they are silent because there is nothing for them to gain politically in speaking out against those assaults.”

Project 21 spokesman Stacy Washington names names, specifically calling out President Barack Obama for choosing to sit out this racial issue after having waded into other controversies in the past. She says: “Most notably absent from the national discourse on the knockout attacks is President Obama. After seeing fit in the past to comment on an arrest of a black professor in Boston and a stand your ground case in Florida, numerous attacks on white citizens (some resulting in death) occurring around the country in what could be deemed an epidemic garners only silence from President Obama.”

Washington adds: “Since our President isn’t leading on this issue, members of Project 21 will. I condemn the cowards that are perpetrating these criminal acts on innocent citizens and call on the media to repudiate these attacks and cease to call this deadly criminal activity a ‘game.’ The media needs to use its investigative powers to aid in the capture and prosecution of these felonious invaders instead of coddling them with soft speech and a refusal to fully cover the carnage.”

Project 21’s Martin adds: “I would like to commend those blacks in our community who have already joined Project 21 in publicly condemning these assaults, such as former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson. I would encourage more public figures in our community to speak out when it is needed and not just when it’s politically expedient.”

These comments from the membership of the Project 21 black leadership network come from a recent blog post posted on Amy Ridenour’s National Center Blog, which can be found here. The post contains longer comments from these three, as well as critiques of members of the media who seem willing to downplay the potential severity of knockout game attacks. The blog also contains past statements made by Martin and other members denouncing knockout game behavior.

Project 21, a leading voice of black conservatives for over two decades, is sponsored by the National Center for Public Policy Research (http://www.nationalcenter.org).

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