New Haven Independent

posted by: joedoesn'tlivehereanymore on November 30, 2005  7:50pm

There is an increase in young men using guns to settle disputes?  When faced with a risky situation, and possibly no alternative, barrels are aimed, triggers are pulled, blood is shed and families mourn?  But isn’t that what these soldiers are trained to do? OK, maybe young men are only allowed to do this far from home.  So, Parents and Politicians, what’s it going to be, more handwringing, or some skull-cracking?

posted by: Lovebabz on December 1, 2005  3:43pm

The problem of Black on Black crime is one that has plagued our neighborhoods for decades as has drug trafficing.  Many people wish this problem could be solved simply by adding more police on the streets.  Well I gotta say if it were only just about Policing, then this problem would be solved.  But the reality is that the issues that plague our urban centers and I daresay lately, our suburban neighbors too, is one about community commitment and responsibility.  When we fail to address these issues as a community then we fail as communities.  The issues facing young men of color aren’t complex issues, they just go unaddressed. They are ignored, not because we don’t care, but because we are at a loss as to how to address all the ills.  We are at a loss as to how to pay for the types of treatments needed to correct behaviours and we are at a loss as to how to coordinate all the necessary services that could move someone or families to self-sufficiency.  What we are seeing with Young men of Color is a symptom of a larger problem that stems from generations of being shut out of a system that was never ever meant for Us. 

So, perhaps it’s easy for people to say politicians are wrangling their hands. Or maybe we do need more Police.  But in my heart, I am convinced we already know what to do. The same spirit that guides us to help those in need after natural disasters, or horrific tragedies, must also guide us and move us to address and succeed on issues that tear down our communities.  Tis the season…

posted by: DMcMahon on December 2, 2005  10:38am

Babz,
You say, “I am convinced we already know what to do.” Well, I wish you would tell us. If you have some answers, I’d like to hear them.
When you say “a larger problem that stems from generations of being shut out of a system that was never ever meant for Us,” I’m not quite sure I know what you mean. I have an idea, but you don’t give any specifics.
I guess that’s my main complaint. The only people who are coming up with any specific solutions are the police and they are responding in the only way they can, more boots on the streets. I live on Dwight street and I don’t like seeing all those cops around. I wish someone would come up with a better solution, but no one is.
I don’t claim to have any answers. I wish I did, but I can’t claim any sociological expertise. I don’t know how to stop kids from shooting one another, and it doesn’t seem like anyone else really does either.
If you have a real answer, a real way to solve this problem, I wish you’d share it. Most of what you say sounds like empty rhetoric. Don’t take this as an attack, I mean it as a prompt to more fully explain your point and maybe provide some real solutions. Something we could actually do, rather than just words we say.
I fear the problem isn’t as simple as you may think. It isn’t just a race issue; it isn’t just a class issue; it isn’t just a location issue; it’s probably all of those and more.

posted by: Lovebabz on December 2, 2005  2:49pm

You certainly do know what I mean.  Everyday we all walk by and see young people hanging around.  Everyday we see young people traveling in large groups with no place in particular to go. We need to STOP and engage in them like human beings.  We as concerned folks ought to volunteer our time to mentor young people.  Everyone thinks everyone else has the solutions and guess what? The solution is you and me and your neighbors and my neighbors.  I bet my life if these young men weren’t of color and weren’t in poor neighbors, we would see all manner of actitivites and opportunities to support their development. This most certainly is a race issue. The solutions have to be as varied as the number of stars in the sky.  There is no magic potion.  It requires people taking an active interest in young people.  You wish someone would do something—-Why DON"T YOU DO SOMETHING. There are folks in your neighborhood who are working to address this issue, join up with them, meet with them.  If you belong to a church, create a youth outreach committee. There is a guy in your neighborhood who has been trying to engage neighbors to join him in reaching out to young people.  He walks the streets in your neighborhood everynight.  Connect with him.  The system to which I was referring are the justice system, education system, and prison system.  There are solutions everywhere, what there aren’t enough of are caring neighbors who are willing to spend a few nights a week to reach a kid(s). The whole purpose of gangs is to create a sense of family and sense of belonging. Imagine that. What if every kid had a mentor, what if every kid had a safe place to go. Imagine!  What if we work to make gangs uneccessary by supporting families where they are. I bet you know a family on your street that is struggling, I bet you have ssen children out all hopurs of the night, I bet you have seen children eating junk food and no one pays them any attention.  If you saw all this in another country, you would be moved to help.  What does help mean, for me I would get to know that family, but for you , it might be something different.  I do beleive the solutions are simple—there ain’t nothing new under the sun.  And too bad you think my response is empty rhetoric, I know first hand what the power of commitment can do.  My husband and I are the proud parents of 4 children we adopted through DCF.  Each one came to us with horrific stories of abuse and neglect.  But I will tell you if you give a kid a break and raise your expectations about their abilities and you act as a wall on their behalf.  You will see great things!  I see it, I live it!  So you can keep wishing, or you can get in the storm with the rest of us and think of ways you can be of service to the young people in your neighborhood.  They need you.  Go and see my friend Bea Dosier-Taylor at Black Print Heritage Gallery on Edegewood and Day St.  She will get you connected. Also, you may want to do some light reading, let me suggest a few books from my personal library that I found quite illuminating.  Up From Slavery—Booker T Washington, The Great Wells of Democracy, the Meaning of Race in American Life—Manning Marable, Lift Every Voice, Turning a Civil Rights Setback into a New Vision of Social Justice—Lani Guinier.  Saving the world starts on your street. You have the answers.

posted by: DMcMahon on December 3, 2005  4:58pm

I’m not convinced that seeing kids hanging around together is necessarily a bad thing. If the question is “Why do kids shoot each other?” I don’t think the answer is “Because they have nothing else to do.”
If I’m reading you correctly, your advice is to volunteer to mentor kids. Do you have objective evidence that it has a large-scale effect? I accept on faith that mentoring or adopting underprigeleged kids can have some positive effect, but I’m not sure what it does to impact the root cause of the problem, as you identify it.
If it is the justice, prison and education systems that are at the heart of the problem, wouldn’t our efforts be better focused there? Rather than treating the symptoms, shouldn’t we treat the disease? I know it’s harder to fix big problems than it is to fix small problems, but it’s also more beneficial.
The problem with this kind of discourse is that people rely on anecdotal evidence and personal observation, but those things aren’t good enough to make real decisions. We need facts and objective evidence.
To solve the problem, we’ll have to clearly define it. Let me see if I can work this through. As you identified it in the beginning, the problems are black-on-black violence and drug trafficing. Your claim is that the primary cause of these problems is that poor, black men in cities do not have access to decent education and are unfairly treated by the justice and prison systems. If so, what evidence do you have to support that claim? What specific things do you propose to fix it? What evidence do you have to support the claim that your solutions will work?

You ask why don’t I do something? I don’t feel like I’m in a position to answer the questions I’ve posed. I don’t have the necessary data. Posing these questions is all that I feel I’m qualified to do.

posted by: Lovebabz on December 4, 2005  7:43pm

Asking questions is easy.  The hard part is connecting with folks on how to solve problems and listening to different perspectives that are based on personal experience, concern for the issue and love of humanity. That requires commitment—real commitment over the long haul.  Well I guess kids shooting kids is not enough to spur some folks into action. Good luck on your data collection. Don’t sell yourself short you are qualified to do more than ask questions.
In the words of the late great Adam Clayton Powell: Keep the faith baby!