This morning Chris and I were watching/listening to News on 1 as we got ready. (News channel with only NYC stuff you cycle through in like 15 minutes). Anyways, one news story was that Queens cops have finally arrested one of two rapists on the loose in Hollis/St. Albans, Qns who was responsible for about 30 rapes that started last November. This guy's MO was that he stalked women at bus stops late at night. Police went so far as to shadow buses to find out when this guy would strike next. Another news story was the police are looking for a man who attacked an 87 woman in the elevator of her apartment building, robbing her of $900. He rode the elevator with her up little while and then got her in a choke hold, before hitting her over the head and robbing her.
Questions: Do the injustices of a previous generation justify the rape of unassuming women?Does institutionalized racism make a person so callous that he loses all respect for human dignity?
Jay and Chris both have valid points. Yes, institutional racism has made it hard for black men and women to get their due in this society, esepcially for the same hard work whites may be doing. We cannot negate that fact. It's horrible and pervades everything from hiring practices to drug sentencing guidelines. (This explains the black men in jail for selling the rock instead of the powder.) I don't think it is something that can be remedied in one generation, BUT we have to stop using past wrongs as a crutch and instead use it as a ladder to something better. Case in point: You see Boodro doing something worng but you resolve yourself to never become a Boodro. We as a people need to wake up everyday and say yes, there are people out there that do not want me to suceed, or my children to succeed, but it is MY responsibility to prove them wrong, and to go over and beyond whenever possible. Yes, this sometimes means that a black man will be working for the same pay to do 105% of what his white counterpart is doing, but at the end of the day, that person is doing something for the greater good of his people that cannot be measured. He is lifting them out of the bondage that they have put themselves in.
Don't get me wrong, I see Jesse's point, and I am the first to admit that the racism that exists has severely hurt our community (namely our black men who don't see much outside of quick money, ballin, or rappin), but where he goes wrong is that he puts EVERYTHING into the "We need governmental assistance" basket and the "Personal Responsibility" basket sits empty. Yes, the government did us wrong, but there comes a point when you have to look inside of you. I have two examples of this (and will then leave you to ponder):
1. Black in America told the story of Eric Michael Dyson and his brother. Both grew up in a pretty rough house with drugs and lots of crime. Eric is now a sucessful author and can be seen on CNN as a contributor (along with his wife) often. His brother: in prison serving life for murder, one he says was stupid and unnesessary. This is the mother of scientific design in a research study (my inner nerd reers it's beautiful head!): two brothers and only one turns out "bad?" Explain.
2. On a more spritual level, Adam and Eve were oblivious and blissfully happy in the Garden of Eden. The snake tricked them and God displayed his displeasure. He left them to fend for themselves, with one main thing to hold it all together: He gave them their FREE WILL! This means the ability to decide good and evil for themselves.
Where does free will and the ability to discern good and evil for ourselves play into this? How are some able to differentiate the two, and others fall into a trap?
This whole rant should have all been prefaced with: I am "privledged" and it is hard to say these things when my reality isn't the mean streets and living from day to day. But really, this is ALL of our reality, and until we look at it truthfully, we can never pose working solutions to problems the government isn't too eager to solve. Just a few weeks ago the US Congress formally apologized for slavery! It took them HOW long? Now Jesse, your great great great great grandchildren will be walking before we see the government instituting some real solution.
We can't wait any longer. Our children are killing each other NOW.
Posts
2 comments:
My big beef with Jesse Jackson is, granted, yes there should be social programs targeted at the economically disadvantaged (which would disproportionately help black folks). But he lost all credibilty to his argument when he said that Barack Obama was "talking down to black people" and that he wanted to cut his genitals off.
What made it worse about his comment is that it was not some politically pre-thought answer to a question. He thought he was off-mic and said it under his voice to another commentator. The circumstances suggest that he meant what he said, he was not joking or "mis-speaking", and was conveying a personal thought that he himself personally felt. (Seeing the video made it even more obvious as he followed his comment with a nasty body language expression.) It's when you let your defenses down that your true feelings come out. In privacy we are our true selves. So granted it stinks that he got caught out there, but to me it was a honest and striking example of what he truly felt.
And if he truly felt that way, then to me he lost a lot of credibility to his argument. The reason being if he thinks that to point out what somebody is doing wrong means you are "talking down" to them, does that mean that any parent who disciplines his/her child "talks down" to them? Does that mean if you point out your friend's drinking or drug problem, you are "talking down" to them? If your boss points out that you're not doing your job right, he/she is all of a sudden "talking down" to you?
For Jesse to come to the conclusion that Obama was "talking down" instead of giving constructive criticism or "tough love" proves to me that he doesn't grasp the first...and more critical....part of how we lift up the whole black community. Until we as a people accept our half of responsibilty for getting ourselves out of this huge whole we are in, we will continue to keep waiting and expecting things to change only to repeat the cycle over and over again.
If "government intervention" is a ladder, it only extends half way down into the hole. The first half of the hole we have to start climbing out of ourselves first!
Free will....A theoretical concept? Adam and eve - as the bible tells it - were free from evil thoughts UNTIL influenced by an external source. We are humans and are all at some point influenced by these sources. Black youth (in general) happen to have more negative external influences. I think that's fair to say. Moreover, I think its fair to say that some people are more easily influenced than others.(that - albeit very a very simple one - is an explaination for the difference in the Dyson brothers I suppose). Yes, theoretically, you are born of free will and you choose your own fate but its a bit more complex than that. N'est-ce pas?
Post a Comment