The Role of Culture in Violence: An Interview with Dr. Latif Davis
A discussion of gun violence in the African American community as rooted in cultural misorientation
Dr. Latif Davis is the author of the new book, Gun Points: The Role of Culture in Violence, that focuses on “the impact of cultural alignment or misalignment on African Americans who have lost connection with their cultural roots.”
As the book’s press release further explains, “the book emphasizes the importance of cultural orientation in shaping attitudes toward violence. Dr. Davis contends that aligning with an Afrocentric worldview — rooted in a deep respect for human life — can play a crucial role in addressing the root causes of violence.”
Dr. Davis is currently a Veterans Service Representative at the Veterans Benefits Administration in Philadelphia, PA. We recently caught up with him to talk about his book, the influence of pop culture on the expansion of gun violence, and more, below.
How did this particular topic — an Afrocentric view of gun violence and cultural misalignment — first become a major idea you wanted to explore in your life? Was there a lightbulb moment?
The idea of getting to the root causes of gun violence in Philadelphia came to me gradually as I progressed through the Africology PhD program at Temple University. I initially just wanted to do my dissertation on the problem of gun violence as a whole, but as I learned to frame my argument from a cultural standpoint — culture having an influence over attitude and behavior — then I felt I had a relevant argument for cultural misorientation as the main problem.
What influence has film or TV had on your work? Was there was a film or TV show from your youth that first sparked in you the idea that African Americans are so often portrayed as perpetrators of violence.
Yes. I grew up in the era of the crack epidemic where African Americans were depicted as the primary cause of drug trafficking until people started questioning where did the guns and drugs originate from? And why just in urban environments? Then there was the Cops TV show that became a cultural phenomenon that presented African Americans in a bad light. In addition to that was the promotion of gangster rap and the glorification of violence in movies and TV that made violence a part of this American institution.
Do you think there is any validity in the argument that pop culture — movies, video games, pop music — influences violent behavior? My view is, they have just as many video games and violent movies and music around the rest of the world, but not as many guns.
I think it has an influence on cultural norms. But it depends on your cultural values I think. If someone grew up with family values that denounce violence as a means of settling differences then I don’t think it has much influence. But some people who may not have grown up with those values and are influenced by an environment where violence is an everyday occurrence, then I think media representations reinforce violence.
In the African American community, gangster movies are celebrated and often, in settings like music videos, emulated. African Americans I think are prone to a great extent to emulate it because of our loss of cultural values which has been removed in America, and possibly because violence seemingly gets results. For a people rendered powerless by American life, any semblance of power, with say a gun, can put power back into their hands and get them results in challenging situations.
Could you expound on the idea of “identifying with the enemy?”
I would say the enemy of African Americans are those who subjugate us — the oppressor. There is a term that classifies a defense mechanism as identifying with the aggressor. That means, “An unconscious mechanism in which the victim adopts the behavior of an individual who is more powerful and hostile towards them. The victim may imitate the characteristics of the aggressor.” Another way to put it is violence begets violence, and a people consistently being exposed to violence in their history has in turn incorporated violence into the fabric of their society.
At GVPedia, we try to expose disinformation spread by the gun lobby, such as the common misconception that big cities that have strong gun laws still have high rates of gun violence. As far as a city like Chicago though, most of the guns come from out of town, or are bought across the border from states with looser laws. Is that a similar problem in Philadelphia?
I haven’t delved into that aspect of gun violence and where the guns originate. My main concern was the thought process that proceeds a malicious act of gun violence in African Americans, and what I found was that they are grounded in an alien culture where gun violence as the answer to problems is normalized….
I didn’t enter into that argument because my research was primarily focused on the cultural and psychological implications of the African American community and its problem with gun violence to get to causes and conditions, or rather the heart of why a person from this community would commit violent crimes to begins with from a cultural perspective.
There is a tendency for the media and consumers to focus on public mass shootings and school shootings instead of the daily gun violence that afflicts many areas of the country. You've mentioned that the Temple University emergency room admits so many gun violence victims that someone there said, “it seems like a mass shooting every day.” How do we get people to recognize everyday gun violence beyond mass shootings?
I think we have to reframe the stigma around the African American community. This is part of what my book tries to do. It reframes the narrative that often labels African Americans in urban environments as a criminal element without distinguishing between those who are law abiding gun users and those who aren’t. Public perception is that they are criminals that needs to be policed, which is another way to control the community through law enforcement.
There have been numerous cases where police officers have crossed the line in violence in dealing with African Americans, and it just amounts to state sanctioned violence. So in any activity it becomes criminalized by a police force that already perceived these communities as a threat. Part of a solution is identifying a problem, and I think to humanize the African American communities shows that they are people who deal with gun violence just as much if not more than other communities.
You were in the Africology Department at Temple University. Can you tell us more about that department?
I have always wanted to study African studies as an African American who has been deprived of such knowledge. When I saw the Africology Department I hadn’t heard of it before studying at Temple, and I didn’t know what I was in for. The Department is based on the Afrocentric study of African phenomenon transcontinentally and transgenerationally It is the premiere African studies program in the world.
Headed by Molefi Asante, the father of afrocentricity, it was one of the first PhD programs for African studies, if I’m not mistaken. I studied under some of the premier scholars in the field including Ama Mazama, Nah Dove, and Kemani Nehusi. It was a life changing experience, as I hoped it would be. It opened my eyes and ears to a whole world based on African history and culture that I was unaware of my whole life.
Do you have any fears that funding for such departments could be affected, considering the Trump administration’s continued attacks on DEI and the denial of systemic racism?
Oh yes I do. Very much so. There has been an ongoing campaign to close the Africology Department by the deans of liberal arts, and this was before Trump. I was told that it undermines other departments like History, Religion, etc. which is based on a false narrative based on white ideological supremacy. So I have no doubt that the school would be emboldened to pursue that more rigorously now, especially with the division within the department, due to new regime change which has turned on Dr. Asante and his supporters these last few years.
Attaining a feeling of success or progress is always hard when one works in gun violence prevention in America. What would you say are some successes you feel you’ve been a part of in some way?
I think launching the book was a success. I wanted to introduce the topic in a fresh new light that may have been overlooked in the past. I think culture gets downplayed when it comes to marginalized people, and taking a cultural narrative opens new possibilities. I wanted to bring what I have learned from the Africology Department to the people who wouldn’t otherwise have access to it. I also wanted to address real world topics that African Americans are dealing with with the tools I have been given. If nothing else I wanted to shed light on the core issue with gun violence in the African American community, which is cultural misorientation.
Dr. Latif Davis (photo courtesy of Dr. Davis)
Dr. Latif Davis is an Air Force veteran of seven years and avid international traveler. He holds a Doctorate of Philosophy in Africology and African American Studies from Temple University, a Masters of Social Work from Temple University, and a Bachelors of Arts in Ethnic, Gender, and Labor with Global Honors from The University of Washington Tacoma.
