HBCU Researchers Looking for Nuance Behind Gun Violence Affecting Black Men and Boys

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Researchers are tackling the correlation between high-crime communities, guns, and young Black men.

Four historically Black colleges and universities in four cities with disadvantaged neighborhoods are working together to stop the violence impacting people living there before it starts. They're going beyond the numbers and data to get it done.

The HBCU's, including Texas Southern University, are including the people most at risk in their research. Part of their project involves interviews with Black men between the ages of 15 and 24 in communities that struggle with gun violence.

CJR Director Dr. Henderson said, "We felt it was important that we begin to ask questions, not just of the adults, but other youth that are involved in this space. These kids are going to know, first and foremost, what it is they're being challenged by. They're going to be able to provide for us, what they feel, are the motivating factors to causing them to possess guns in the first place."

"This provides an opportunity for us to ask these kids just what's happening. Black kids are not the only kids who are dying as a result of guns, but they represent such a large swath of these kids that we want to understand just what's happening."

Click HERE to watch the full ABC-13 report.