Yesterday, I watch a girl I grew up with bury her 14 year-old son. I never thought I would live to see the day where someone I know would have to bury their child. While we were at the burial, I told one of my friends that no where in the mother's invisible handbook does it instruct you what to do when you have to bury a child.
Gregory Robinson was an innocent victim killed as a result of what is believed to be gang related shooting. Greg was not in a gang. He was going to school doing what's right. His parents and family were raising him to love God and to do what's right. Greg died shielding his two younger cousins from the bullets.
I'm outraged because I watch a young mother bury her son who did not have any life threating health condition. I think if he was a sickly child, many of us would have been able to accept this death a little bit better. Greg was a young man who had no known enemies and by all means he was doing the right thing.
I am also outraged that many young Black children are dying on a daily basis and many people are not concerned because they don't know about these senseless killings. It just so happened that Greg's death made the news, but what about the countless others who have not made the news? Even after they have made the news, nothing is done to try and eliminate or erradicate this violence.
I have some theories as to why there are so many senseless killings in the Black community and some may not agree. It all stems back to slavery. If you don't believe me, get a copy of the Willie Lynch Letter. I was reviewing some of the suggestions he gave to white slave owners in an attempt to control their slaves and the suggesstions he gave December 25, 1712 are still prevelant in the Black community today.
I don't have the stats handy, but I know there are more children of color who are born into poverty with a mother as head of the household than any other race. Willie Lynch suggest to the slave owners that he should remove the male from the family and as a result the mother will rear her children in reverse roles. As a result, the male will be mentally weak and dependent, but physically strong. The female will be psychological independent. This process will put the woman out front and the man behind scared.
Now I know some of you are probably thinking what does that have to do with Greg and his death. Well, most of these senseless killings are done by young Black males who succumb to peer pressure and they join gangs because they don't have the mental capacity to think independently. The absence of a father in the home also contributes to this behavior.
I don't have the answer to the violence that plagues the Black community. What I do know and believe is many of the actions are a direct result of enslaving a race of people for hundreds of years. Although physical slavery is not around, there are other forms of slavery that exist and if you are not on the receiving end, you will probably never get it.
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Paul Fornale
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Comments
Under slavery, whether someone learned to read or write was largely chance and unrelated to intelligence and scholarly aptitude. The culture, therefore, doesn't celebrate it.
Without education, people can't reach their full potential. One of the striking things about Obama is his educational credentials. You can't beat Harvard for international recognition of excellence.
But ultimately, a culture can only save itself. We can't do much from the outside to force a group to place a higher value on education. We can only hope that the examples of Obama, Rice and Powell will make it clear that color doesn't not need to be a barrier to success in the real world.
You're right that a lot of people aren't aware of this happening. As far as why, I would guess there are many reasons. Your writing about it is a good thing to help make more people aware. These children being killed is definitely outrageous. I don't know the answer either, but making people aware is a good first step.
Many of us do care but feel helpless to affect the situation.
It seems like the early days of AIDS when those who could do something didn't want to admit that there was a problem. Ignoring the epidemic doesn't make it go away.
How do you instill self-esteem into a generation of young men?
Education? Most definitely. Creating jobs with dignity? Yes. Gun control? Oh, yes, amen and hallelujah.
What will we as a society do? If we hold true to form, nothing until people with authority or money are affected in some way and then watch the feathers fly.
I know you must be frustrated with this for not only this sad occurence, but for your everyday experience of same. I am wondering, keeping hopeful, that having a black man as President of the United States will set up a new type of male role model for black men. It will have to be reinforced by other things. Maybe if things ever settle down, Pres. Obama can do a series of fireside chats aimed at young black men. All up, they don't have a fair shake, but things have to change for THAT to change.
Hang in, I am sorry for your loss -- just keep doing what you do. You have to be a positive impact on these men as well. Good luck as the school year winds down. Bet you are looking forward to your break soon!
The media doesn't seem to care as much unless the victims are the Jonbenet Ramsey, Natalee Holloway or Caley Anthonys of the world. Please read this link for more insight: http://www.chicagodefender.com/article-2166-missing-murdered-black-youth-get-unequal-national-media-coverage.html
Those parents can't pay for media coverage, much less hope to get daily 24/7 coverage that blonde haired, blue eyed children get. It's shameful and disgraceful because all children are valuable none should be treated as throwaways.
There is no way that you can live in a society where you see cops kicking in the heads of black men and some women, young people shooting one another without fear of punishment, seeing garden variety racism everyday, that you can believe that you are valued or have a future......and if you think that way.....you will feel that you really have nothing to lose.....and that's not good.
I wish I could do something. I really do.
I have noticed that there is such peer pressure among young black males to be clownish, and not smart. It seems okay for the girls to acheive.
So sorry for your friend's loss.
I really don't know the *origin* of the problem, but you are completely right about the problem being lack of a male figure and secure family structure.
I am with lalucas in hoping that the Obama's lead by example. I am hoping that President Obama, himself, fills the missing male role and the family, in general, inspires.
Not that "inspiration" can replace a mother and father in the home, but it is a start.
I agree that some of this stems from slavery but it's the type of slavery that I disagree with. The slavery that I think is the root of the problem is the welfare state that pays people to stay unemployed. There is no incentive to get a job and make a living on their own so they have no self worth. Instead they live in a perpetual state of poverty for generations.
The absence of the father only adds to this problem because on top of no self worth you also start to accept a lack of accountability. The so-called Black Leaders talk a great game but what have they DONE for their community. They should be teaching that there ARE consequences for infidelity and having children out of wedlock not participating in the same behaviour!! A REAL man provides for his FAMILY not just for himself. The church is also reponsible for this because they are not doing enough to reach the youth in the low-income areas with the message of hope.
This is going to take a coordinated effort from schools, churches, community leaders and parents (yes, parents) to rescue this demographic before it destroys itself. It's going to take reponsibility and accountability from everyone before this gets turned around. Otherwise this senseless killing will continue until a whole generation is completely wiped out.
Those African Americans that I know who are successful and grew up in a less than perfect environment always tell me the same thing: "You have to take reponsibility for yourself and MAKE your dreams come true. Nobody is going to hand you anything." It starts accepting responsibility for your self and your actions and holding yourself accountable. If that is done at all levels this situation will improve rapidly. If not, it won't. Rated for your passion on this subject.
So yeah, education is good, but the education that is available to poor kids today still assumes that they are bound for the cheap labor pool. There is self help, sure, and that's been done. Little or nothing that blacks have today--which is more than they had yesterday--has been given to them by whites, and most of it has been gained in spite of white resistance of varying degrees of strength and sophistication--and that includes the presidency.
I read about black history because I believe you have a responsibility to educate yourself on this issue. I hear a lot of white people say slavery's over, racism is over, though I see from the comments here that most OSers are hipper than that. Still, there's a large problem of denial in this country. I don't believe every white person is a racist, but I do believe that good white people really want to believe that racism is over, and that clouds their ability to see evidence.
I am sorry about your friend's loss of her son and will have her in my thoughts.
One of the things Obama keeps talking about is how important it is to have the father involved in the family, especially in black families. I have often wondered why so mny black women are raising their children alone. Your comments about slavery and Willie Lynch might explain. Thanks for the information. By the way, is that where the word 'lynching' came from.
I also want to say that I believe job training programs are a plus for people who lack basic skills to sustain themselves; however it is very difficult to convince a young man that working an honest job (that may pay minimum wage or a little more) is the route to go. Many of them don't see successful Black men in their communities. The only successful men of color they see are drug dealers, gang leaders and sometimes a minister. A lot of these young men tend to do wrong because they know they will end up in jail and oftentimes it's a family reunion. Daddy, uncle, cousin, and a lot of other friends are there so why not join them?
I don't know what the answer is, but I think you're on the right track that it has a lot to do with fathers. Not too long ago my husband and I were in a restaurant joking around with our waiter, who was a young black man, and somehow it came up that we had been married 15 years. This young man, who had just gotten married himself, had never known anyone to be married for that long. His parents were never married and none of his friends were married. He was trying to be a good husband and father, but it was difficult because his friends would meet him after work every day and want to go out drinking - and since he was the one working, they wanted to "borrow" his money to pay for everything!
This young man was clearly an exceptional person who was trying to do the best he could even without a role model. But for the most part, people do what they see others doing. No one can teach what they don't know. And I think you're right that this goes all the way back to slavery, to a time when families were broken up and even if a man and woman were allowed to get married, they might be sold to different places with their children taken away from them. What was taken away from them then was the right to BE a family. And it's easier to take away than to give back.
I've been reading your old blog entries. You sound like an amazing person!
However, I don't agree with your assessment of its cause. Yes, there is still various forms of slavery among all peoples, no matter what race, religion or skin color, but it is not the slavery that is holding the black community back. If it was, we would not have the successful black leaders, entertainers, politicians, atheletes, scientists and business people that we have in our country. I believe the answer is education and belief in oneself that will free any person no matter who he or she is.
I am tired of the excuses we have for others. If we constantly come up with excuses or reasons why a group of people are "handicapped" or "hindered," that group will start believing the excuses and reasons and possibly give up or not put forth the effort it takes to succeed. Why try if you are destined to fail or have too many things going against you?
I truly believe that education is the key to freedom no matter what what skin color.
I do know the stats of the high death rate among young black men. It comes up in my own headlines often enough, not by the way of gang violence, just seemingly random, greed-based....
I also know what it's like to bury a child. A mother shouldn't outlive her children.
I share your outrage (and on a lighter note, your birthday!)
great post
When will we get beyond the killing and work to help our follow man? I think it will take the nation, no matter where one is from, to do the right thing and support one another.
Thanks you for bring this much needed debate and awareness to our attention.
Rated
I think that there are many factors at play. Not to discount anything you mentioned, or the other posts which correctly cite education (and a culture-wide embrace of education) as a solution, along with the creation of non-discriminatory, living wage (and higher) job opportunities--but I have a theory of another contributing factor as to why gangs are seemingly perpetual and why some young men don't commit to marriage and fatherhood in a family unit (as opposed to single parenting with various women).
I think that corporal punishment is still very much a part of child raising in certain communities, and maybe not to the level that anyone would think of as child abuse, but still, the threat (and follow through) of a beating is what a young single mother may rely on to keep her children in line. I think that if corporal punishment is relied on as the first response to misbehavior, then a child will from a young age embrace the idea that violence is an appropriate solution to one's conflicts and problems. So domestic violence and gang violence become tolerated.
It is just a thought. I don't really have any answers and I wish I did.
Jennifer C, you are absolutely correct about corporal punishment being a part of a culture. I think that's one of the problems when parents have limited to no education. I recently came to the realization that the reason many of my students run to a fight is because they see it as a form of entertainment. They enjoy watching and discussing these street fights like it was a bout between professional boxers. Many of them have never been entertained so they don't know what entertainment is.
@gmgaston, you are absolutely correct about people coming together. It is my hope and prayer that we will get it together real soon. I often wonder how many scientists, doctors, attorneys, etc., have died when they children died.
@Allie, many of my students (in high school) have NEVER been to a wedding. One day I was discussing something and we were talking about church. I knew many of the kids had never been to church for a funeral because most of the kids who die have their funerals at a funeral home. So I said, you all have never been to church for a wedding or baptism? The reply was NO. Then I had to come back to reality and remember that most of the people in their family are not married and probably will never marry and as a result the prom is the highlight of many of these kids lives. If the people do marry, oftentimes the wedding is performed at City Hall.
@proudandprogressive, the term lynching did come from Willie Lynch.
@cindy, thanks for your support and you are absolutely correct about a mother outliving her child. It just shouldn't happen, especially to a senseless crime like this. (I know you must be wonderful, because we have the same b-day!)
Like you, I don't have the answers, but, also like you, it becomes more and more infuriating. especially when you read about the bastards such as AIG execs and all the other people who control the massively imbalanced proportion of the world's wealth stand by, sipping their wine, smoking their cigars on the verandas of their estates while the stratification of our socio-political culture continues to live on. Just as long as those who don't want to be involved aren't impacted in a negative way.
I truly believe there'll be a day when the separation between the haves and have-nots the stratification of our world will arrive at a point that it'll simply be intolerable and those who aren't among the esitmated 3% of the world's population that control 98% of the world's money will tire of their plight and do something about it.
Let's hope that's soon.