Who’s Holding The Smoking Gun?
Written by Jecquea Howsie |
Headline: As rapid gunfire broke-out a 12-year-old boy sought refuge inside a tennis shoe store; crouching behind shelves-so he wouldn’t be noticed, accidentally stood up just as the final bullet entered the store and shot him in the chest. The little boy looked at the intended target pleading, “Please don’t let me die,” instead, he looked at the boy and fled.
Images like these plague black communities, and as the war on terror continues to divide American families, the genocide of the youth destroys the black aesthetic.
“Not since slavery,” notes former U.S. Secretary of Human Services Dr. Louis Sullivan, “has so much calamity and ongoing catastrophe been visited on Black males.” Likewise, it’s the African American community’s massive homicide rate that accounts for most of America’s murders.
Recent studies suggest that two factors explain this high murder rate in America. First is the violence of the drug trade in African-American 
communities. Crime expert Eli Lehrer notes: “The most likely person to murder you is your fellow drug dealer.” Second, the legacy of slavery; Pepperdine Professor James Q. Wilson argues that the family structure and community solidarity combined with fatherlessness and family breakdown, in turn leads to greater disrespect for the law and a male youth culture based around aggression.
Headline: A southern hip hop artist was gunned down in the busy parking lot of the upscale Beverly Center mall in Los Angeles, California. The murder of rapper Dolla, whose real name was Roderick Anthony Burton II, resonated throughout the music industry.
People argue that rap has a negative impact on society. Originating in the Bronx, rap music was a way for black youth to express their beliefs against the oppression of political strife, and as a wakeup call to the issues affecting their communities.
Although the themes of Afrocentricity and political involvement resonated with blacks, gangsta music attracted mainstream followers. Known best for its abrasive lyrics that objectify women, the genre also reflects the violent lifestyles of inner city youth.
When Ice T yelled “f*ck the police”, the world took notice. Remember those five teenagers from Compton, CA, well they were just n*gg*s with attitude. It was nothing but a g-thing when Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg introduced West Coast slang, but when two of the greatest rappers of all time were silenced, people realized the influence hip hop had on America’s youth.
Headline: Under the skullcap and above the mask, it was a man's eyes that two witnesses said they could identify as he gunned down a 15-year-old boy in the drive-through of a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant. Unfortunately, the threat of retaliation was too much of a risk and no one came forward.
The culture of intimidation and fear cripple crime-infested inner cities. When violence erupts in a neighborhood people 
often hide. They avoid police, shut their doors, and don’t go out at night. It’s the “stop snitching” message that encourages silence and reinforces the cycle of violence.
It’s been over 13 years since Tupac and Biggie were snuffed out in their prime. Yet, no one has come forward with any information about either incident; a coincidence, not likely. Both murders are supposedly ongoing, but how is it that police aren’t any closer to capturing the people responsible then they were when it happened. Perhaps the answers lie within the “code of the streets”.
In a 60 Minutes interview, Professor David Kennedy of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice says, “[Not talking] makes it much harder for the police to catch killers. Nationwide, he says, police are able to arrest a suspect in about 60 percent of the homicide cases they investigate. That’s known as the "clearance rate." But Kennedy says in some neighborhoods the rate is much, much lower. The unwillingness to come forward, Kennedy says, lies at the core of the problem.
Black men are overrepresented in the prison population. Some people argue that blacks created their own problems. It’s a fact that there is a lack of respect for others and authority within black culture. However, until black communities decide that criminals aren’t going to define their community, crime will still exist.
Like journalist Fred Fry says, “Imagine how many blacks would be in prison if the stop snitching movement was not protecting criminals 
from arrest. Then again, if they knew that they were going to get caught, then maybe they wouldn't commit the crime in the first place.”
Headline: Highway gun battle ends in death, as T.I’s childhood friend and personal assistant, Philant Johnson, dies in his arms.
Everyday another black man dies, and every night another child goes to bed without their father. With the alarming rate of imprisoned black males, combined with the death toll of black men, the “Black Family” is more like a myth then a viable structure.
The idea that every black male will grow up to be a productive and responsible member of society is laughable. The reality is that many of these children will grow up and become counterproductive. They may engage in criminal activity, end up in jail, and have children and pass those same traditions onto them. Thus creating the cycle we have today.
Sadly, black women are forced to play the mommy and daddy role. “It is a crisis,” M. Belinda Tucker, a UCLA professor of psychiatry says, “But it is a crisis set in the context of a larger crisis: the continuing vulnerability of the black male in this society.”
Headline: Black people come together to rid their communities of violence and crime, and men step up and reclaim their families.
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Amen.
Thanks,
Marie A. Lee, RHD/ACT
Housing Coordinator
504-247-9120 Office
504-247-9125 Fax