Mari's pyscho theory
I haven't been reporting on the shootings over in Ward 2, as other bloggers and the listservs have covered it and I would just be repeating the same thing. In other words I have nothing constructive to add.Constructive.
You know that 'Plan', the one drawn up by 'The Man' that is supposed to put Black folk down? Well there must be a paragraph or two in it for black eradication program where we are supposed to go around killing each other. It's black on black violence and it's the stuff that makes subrubanites feel better about living way out, far from the big bad city. As plans go it is brilliant. Get blacks to sell poison to other black people so it destroys family life and makes them unable to be a strong people. Then encourage them to constantly refer to each other as n*g**rs to sow seeds to worthlessness. Then shoot at each other, whereby you can get other black people shot in the crossfire because they were in the "wrong place at the wrong time".
Face it the city isn't going to stop it until a certain type of human sacrifice is made. And you'd hope that the city reacts correctly, as banning under aged people from music venues doesn't address the problem of gun violence. I'd rather not have the city wait till an anglo citizen is shot to crack down because that just comes across as black lives not being as worthy.
As the title suggests I know this isn't making sense, so allow and forgive this rant. All I need right now is a good cuppa tea and I'll be my calm, non-pyscho theory spouting self.
Labels: crime
posted by Mari @ 29.1.07
10 Comments:
The other side of this is that we need to nurture young women and girls (black, white, and everyone else) and empower them with the tools they need to create self esteem not based on what "boys" or young men think about them. This sometimes in part leads to teen pregnancies and individuals becoming parents before they are mature enough to know what that means. And kids without a good parent or two don't know how to avoid life's snares. There are many great examples out there.
Too many girls with daddy issues to even want to tackle that.
Also it's not so much the teenage pregnancies that are a problem, as the rate for females aged 15-19 are declining as are the numbers of young AfAm births. The bulk of teenage mothers are 18 & 19 years olds (pdf) so technically they are adult mothers. Young, but legal adults. The problem is not that they are young, the problem is they are unsupported. The rate of unmarried women having babies has ticked up slightly. I don't know if they have a live-in partner or a support system that will help them raise their children, but I'm guessing many don't.
May I suggest reading Promises I Can Keep by Kathryn Edin and Maria Kefalas which is about poor urban mothers. It gives a sympathetic look at poor women who become mothers. It is a quick enough read.
I keep hearing about The Plan. I'm a full fledged, card carrying member of the "Anglo" tribe, and I haven't received my copy of The Plan yet.
Until I do, I'm going to keep on living in a community where I am clearly in the minority, and I'm clearly not entirely welcomed based upon my physical appearance.
Come to think of it, I'm not convinced that there *isn't* an "AfAm" Plan. What does the AfAm Plan call for?
A Man. Not THE Man.
I know The Gays have an Agenda, but no Plan has been approved by the committee. But I haven't yet been filled in on The Plan.
It is strange...the crime seems to have moved west of 8th, and My People report that crime near my old place at 5th and T has dropped. I don't understand why or how crimewaves move around like that.
Mari,
As always a fantastic post and your readers are correct...we have strayed so far off course from what really matters. Not having a solid parental structure is one of the major issues as to why we are ducking bullets...and you are right instead of banning 17 year-olds from clubs how about questioning why parents are not asking the right questions of their children.
Deon Peoples is not a unique story...but it is a story we should try to teach to the little gang bangers out there...if you live by the bullet sooner or later a bullet will take you.
My post may have a hint of anger but it is more disgust than anger. I am disgusted with DC, Shaw, MPD, Fenty and about a million other people because if they LISTENED instead of promising maybe Deon Peoples would have been breathing today.
There is a gang war going on and before we lose 10-20 more young black men...WE (supposedly I am a "card carrying member" as well according to LT) need to say no more.
Where have the Red Hats been...Where are the Guardian Angels...
I am getting that book this week.
Off Seventh,
the Guardian Angels are over in Carver Terrace. It hasn't been particularly pretty over there either. The last man shot was a 50 year old out with his ten year old daughter who asked some guys playing football to not sit on his car. One of them shot him 6 times. Before that the body of a 17 year old (somehow related to an exchange of gunfire nearby) was found in an alley. His father had been killed a few blocks away two years before. Hope it calms down both places soon.
mari,
it is too convenient to blame the violence on the white people's "plan." If there is such a thing. I don't know too many white people living in dc, let alone in Shaw, would would subscribe to it. It is tragic what is happening in our city and our neighborhood. Most of the perpetrators are black, and most of the victims are as well. This city's government is mostly black -- and don't question whether Fenty is truly black because of course he is. if you go down that rabbit hole then you are equating backwards with black, and I know you wouldn't agree with that. Of course in the larger scheme, you could argue that the Man is white, and he is responsible for most of the country's problems, but that would be overly simplistic. There is no easy solution, no one person/race/or thing to pin the blame on. Of course, the kid who pulls the trigger is arguably the most guilty.
sorry my rant is not quite as poetic as yours, but I felt I needed to respond. The news has been weighing on me greatly. (in full disclosure, I am not white. But I am not black either). Go figure.
The AfAm plan calls for avoidance of responsibility and scapegoating other races for the consequences of avoidance. The AfAm/Latino hostilities in this country are just beginning. Whether a Latino is "legal" or not, she/he is more likely to take personal responsibility, thus expanding the scapegoating practiced by AfAms. Face it, Latinos are thriving in this country even when there is open discussion in the Fed government about ways to curb their power. They are powerful because they take responsibility for themselves.
"The Man" is part Latino at this point. We all need to get used to that fact.
- Nafhawk
Just wow! All his reverse racism makes me sick. Let me make it quite clear. The good working people that have moved into the Shaw-U Street neighborhood are not the ones committing the crimes and we are NOT to be blamed. Try taking some personal responsibility for your own actions or in-actions. Complaining of no jobs -- get a freak'n clue and get an education. Some simple facts:
Over 1 BILLION dollars a year spent on public schools in DC.
A DC student can get $50,000 in education grants from the federal government for tuition for out-of-state schools.
People make choices and have to live with the consequences. You have NO one to blame but yourself. The sooner the "old timers" of this neighborhood figure out that education is the key the better off you'll be. The tools are there, the money is being spent. Use it or shut up.
You complain when no one invest money in your neighborhoods. All that you have is liquor stores and cheap take out food places behind bars. Well now that the investment has come you complain about the "Man" and how you are being forced out. Gesh, the rhetoric I have heard the past week on the blogs & at the Crime meeting at Bar Nun tells me that legacy people in this community would rather have someone give them something for nothing then work for it.
Have a problem with pregnancy? Use birth control or don’t have sex.
Do you actually believe the crap you are giving out? I guess so because it's much easier for you to swallow then to take responsibility.
I’d say roughly 90% of the people in this neighborhood are general hard working people. It’s those few that have a huge chip on their shoulder and those who do not take an active roll in their children’s lives that are the problem.
Be careful what you ask for regarding “The Man” Our goals are just to have a safe neighborhood for all who live here. Otherwise, you’ll see the neighborhood go back to what it was in 80’s.
Okay, the tone has gone from snarky and cynical to uncivil. Also the problem can be found in the pronoun "you". You as in me? Mari? You as in one of the other posters? And then the posts have gotten so long that I have to hit F11. People don't make me hit F11 'cause then DCHHS calls me in for computer abuse.
Anywho. I've had my tea and I'm closing comments so I won't have to babysit this post.
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