Resurrecting a conversation long buried under discussions about many other issues in the Black community, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder spoke out against the high rate of youth violence in Detroit, calling the city’s 60 percent saturation “unacceptable,” the Detroit News writes:

“Addressing more than 6,000 at the Detroit Branch NAACP's Fight for Freedom Fund Dinner at Cobo Center, Holder, the nation's first African-American attorney general, said an average of two young Black men a week are killed in Detroit, according to one report. And 60 percent of young people are exposed to violence as victims or witnesses.

"This is shocking and all of this is unacceptable," Holder said.

Holder said that's why his office is directing resources to reduce childhood exposure to violence, raise awareness of its ramifications and study its causes.

…

Holder's remarks came as violent crime continues to be a major issue in Detroit. From Jan. 1 to March 21, there were 70 murders in the city — a 37 percent jump over the same period last year, according to Detroit Police Department figures.”

Read the full story here.

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