What prompted this commentary is the fact that I am fed up with crime as committed by young black men. Far more often than not, when a horrendous crime is captured on a security camera — a robbery, a beating, whatever — the criminals are young black men, sometimes teenagers or even younger.
COMMENTARY
Among other things, this is embarrassing for the African American community.
It gives justification to the many whites — and more than a few blacks — who make no secret of the fact that they are scared of black men, especially if they are young.
Maybe I am naive — I’ve been told that before — but I fail to understand the rationale behind the ever-increasing criminal activity in Detroit, a giant thorn in the side of a city that is struggling to reinvent itself, and obviously progress is being made.
But as long as there is rampant crime, and the fear of crime, Detroit’s progress will be hindered, and the “good areas” will continue to only be downtown, Midtown, Indian Village, Palmer Woods and a few others.
I dare say that the majority of people in Detroit have been touched by crime in one way or another. Which is not to suggest there is not crime in other cities, but the focus here is Detroit. I, for one, have been held up at gunpoint and had a car stolen.
One of the most horrific aspects of the crime wave is how random it has become. It is impossible to fathom why, for example, there would be shootings at block parties, shots fired though windows of homes for no reason, arguments settled with gunfire…and why, by the way, is gun possession so prevalent?
Most of the young, or not-so-young, black men committing these crimes are not doing so because they do not have a job or are hungry, and it is doubtful that most of them are “angry.” Their motivation is something else entirely, and they are operating with a seared conscience and a badly distorted sense of what they think they have a right to do.
The number of young black men in jail because of deliberately having chosen the “gangsta” lifestyle is heartbreaking. I know one young man personally who is only 20 years old, and very smart, but will be spending 20 years in jail for being an accomplice in a robbery murder.
And as a side thought, how far can any young man go when he looks up to foul-mouthed, venom-spewing “gangsta rappers”?
Although I am very much a “now” person and an open-minded individual, I also know that I am from a different generation — singer Howard Hewett, 60, says being “old school” means you are a survivor and you have sense.
But I know that on the deepest level, people know right from wrong. No one could possibly think it is “OK” to kill, maim, steal, rob, sell drugs, break into homes, etc. Trouble is, the sense of right and wrong has been muddied — and in some cases nearly destroyed — by peer pressure, a society and media that glorify violence, deplorable conditions in the home including parents who teach them nothing, schools that come up short, lack of spiritual values and much more.
“To Be Young, Gifted and Black,” recorded by Nina Simone in 1969 with lyrics by Weldon Irvine, is a great song on many levels. It says, “In the whole world you know, there’s a million boys and girls who are young, gifted and black, and that’s a fact.” Also, “You are young, gifted and black, we must begin to tell our young. There’s a world waiting for you. Yours is the quest that’s just begun.”
So many young black people are achieving great things, and thank God for them, but so many others, especially males, are opting for a life of bad behavior and criminal activity, and we all pay the price.
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