When Youth Violence Spurred 'Superpredator' Fear By Clyde Haberman

In 1995, political scientist, John Dilution, introduced the phrase super-predator. He referred to the coming of super-predators as kids who arise from inner black neighborhoods who created bloodbaths in America’s streets. One year later in 1996, Hillary Clinton labelled young black children as super-predators as well. Ever since Dilulio and Clinton began spreading the term, “super-predators”, it has settled its place in today’s politics and the on-going debate on effects of race on incarceration rates. This adds on to the long living myth that young black children are at a higher risk for developing more violent attitudes and personas. The New York Times article, When Youth Violence Spurred ‘Superpredator’ Fear by Clyde Haberman explains the

Not only did the prosecutors charge the young teenager with second degree murder, they also tried him as an adult. Haberman explains how if this had happened 20 years previous, the media would have seized in how America was to soon be taken over by “super-predators.” In the so called ‘super-predator era’, children incarceration rates were expected to rise drastically and people across the country were expecting panic and bloodbath to conquer the land. Although, Haberman is quick to debunk this hypothesis and argues that instead “murders committed by those ages 10 to 17 fell by roughly two-thirds from 1994 to 2011, according to statistics kept by the Justice Department’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention” (Haberman). Although, data doesn’t stop states from issuing children life sentences and trying teenagers as young as 13-years-old as adults. Luckily, the United States Supreme Court ruled against automatic life sentences for children. Sadly, the damage from the super-predator theory has already effected thousands of children’s lives and the Supreme Court ruling can’t reclaim them. Although, it can prevent future situations of young teenagers with a great deal of potential from receiving harsh and destructive sentences. It shocked me to realize how many lives have been effected by the super-predator

Hardaway was named a so called ‘super-predator.’ This theory comes from political scientist, John DiIulio. He stated that “an expected increase in the number of urban teenagers who were ‘fatherless, Godless, and jobless’ would result in a bloodbath of violence on America’s city streets” (Drizin). This term soon became viral and was used to make it easier to prosecute juveniles as adults. Criminologists like Barry Krisberg and Frank Zimring attempted to point out flaws in the theory but it was too late, the term super-predator had already spread across the country. Drivin describes this time period as a sad chapter in our nation’s history. Not only were Dilulio’s predictions wrong, but they were racist and profiled millions of innocent Americans. Although, “in the years since the superpredator myth imploded, thinking about juvenile crime and culpability has evolved” (Drizin). With more organizations forming alliances with criminal justice, young black teenagers are beginning to have a voice. I believe that teenagers with stories like Hardaway’s, there are people willing to defend them and allow their voice to be heard. There is still room for improvement amongst the children incarceration rate. As a country, we need to cease the cycle of putting away children away for life.