Meanwhile, Back On the Street...

I'm doing a carryover (of sorts) regarding yesterday's post, but even if you didn't bother to READ that one (shame on you), I'm making it EASY ENOUGH to make this post self-contextual.
As I was going out to remove the latest used "crack baggie" from my property this morning (and I'm getting quite the large collection over the years), I couldn't help but wonder why the need to challenge oneself by attempting to rise above things such as drugs is curiously absent from almost all the citizens in MY neighborhood?
Last night, CNN happened to have a spot I found interesting (as opposed to the liberal tripe they usually air) concerning BLACK MEN IN CRISIS. Since this was yet another case for CAPTAIN OBVIOUS, I nonetheless followed along with the show, listening to things I have known and heard for years, yet which continue to fall of relatively DEAF ears. This is one choir that doesn't need preaching to.
And again this morning, nestled near the BOTTOM of the editorial page was a small article that (imho) has HUGE implications, although I must admit that I found the headline not only a bit humorous, but misleading in it's nature:
MURDER OF BLACKS IS PUBLIC HEALTH CONCERN.
Oooookay then. When did "murder" become a public HEALTH concern, as opposed to a public SAFETY concern? All color and race aside, doesn't murder alone dictate that we have a CRIMINAL concern that is a more pressing issue?
I will grant you that there ARE people (of all races) that honestly NEED to be "put down", and I would gladly volunteer my time in the pursuit of such, but to decry that the murder of BLACKS ALONE represents a public health issue simply reminds me that the writer is equating this situation to a plague of bubonically-infested rodents. Now I agree with anyone that feels drug dealers (and their associated ilk) are JUST LIKE a plague, and should be eradicated as such, but let's take a hard look at this "murder" aspect. This isn't the bird flu...or a backed-up sewer system were talking about...it's PEOPLE.
Take the Sean Taylor murder. The writer claims that Taylor is the archetypal murder victim in America today - black, male, young. And it's been proven that the leading cause of death for people fitting the aforementioned criteria is EIGHT TIMES greater than their white counterparts. Nearly HALF of America's 2005 murder victims were BLACK, and the number of black men slain is on the RISE. To quote the writer: "Isn't it a matter of public health that the most likely cause of death for a black male between the ages of 15 and 35 is homicide?"
Perhaps, but the writer fails to mention the CAUSE of the murders/homicides. And that would be (if you haven't guessed by now)....OTHER BLACK MALES!!!
So what is conveniently omitted from the article is the root cause...and without ALL the facts (such as these) one cannot come to a reasonable conclusion. What is also omitted is the fact that black males murder whites at a rate much greater than white-on-white murder/homicide. The Hispanics are unfairly lumped in with other whites, so THOSE numbers become skewed in the statistical process. And those are stats from the DOJ, not some white supremacy buttwipes.
This is purely a SAFETY concern, not a HEALTH concern, unless the corpses lie rotting in our streets, while the government is planning some more free giveaway programs to "alleviate" this problem (which would not surprise me).
Once again, it all boils down to PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY and ACCOUNTABILITY, and no amount of government intervention or programs will forcibly imbue anyone with values like these - they have to come from within first. The decision to take back one's life cannot be "painted on" ...it has to be founded BY that person with the courage to admit mistakes and then learn from them.
If we (as a society) are to make any headway in halting the murders of black men, it's going to take some monumental decisions by the BLACK community, many of them will be unpopular, and although there are men of color with their fingers on the pulse of what's going down, and are out there preaching to those who will listen, their numbers are all too few, and sadly, their voices fall on drug and crime-deafened ears.
That has to change.
Everyone else acknowledges this growing problem in the black community...whether or not the black community itself will act upon the situation and "own up" enough to make some tough choices, and reclaim their young men as well as their community, turning it from striving to thriving is something that time alone will tell.
And by the looks of things now, they've got one helluva road to hoe.
Question is: Is the black community (itself) up to such a daunting task?
Larry Elder would tell them to stop being victicrats. I'm with Larry on this one.

Have a Safe Weekend!