OK, So Here's The Plan...
Community leaders were moved to have a meeting last evening in lieu of the six shootings that have occurred over the past few days, and although in concept it would appear that there still ARE people willing to get involved, I have to wonder as to the efficacy of meetings such as this.
Having been behind the pulpit several times, as well as in the pews, I have a perspective that is a bit more unique from the average person's.
I also happen to live within a mile's radius of four of those six shootings, and I have seen the best AND the worst these neighborhoods have to offer, so again, that does give me a unique perspective. One other thing that adds to this "uniqueness" is the fact that in 55 years, I have never been part of the judicial system vis-a-vis incarcerated, arrested, or even visited anyone in any lockup. So, from a LAW-ABIDING aspect, I feel I can be more objective than most anyone else that has already spoken to this matter.
With that said, I'll say what I feel needs to be said, and I apologize in advance if I say anything that I have ALREADY said here or on anyone else's blog. But some things DO bear repeating.
Having this meeting is fine, but having a room full of citizens distraught, disappointed, dismayed, and otherwise disillusioned, does nothing but provide a place to blow off some steam. And although that's all well and good, it's not really addressing the problem, but merely addressing the result of not having a solution TO the problem.
The problem, as we all have seen time and again is drugs...and gangs.
Fort Wayne DOES have a DRUG problem.
Fort Wayne DOES have a GANG problem.
And Fort Wayne DOES have a cultural disconnect problem in it's black community.
As I've stated previously, the black community is divided against itself, and what did Abraham Lincoln say about a "house" divided against itself?
It cannot stand.
Welcome to the south side of Fort Wayne.
The "old order" is fast fading into the sunset, and by that I mean the elderly black patriarchs and matriarchs of REAL families; families that were UNITED...bound by their heritage and culture, and not subversively fragmented by whatever wind the media blew up their collective asses. These are the people that knew what a FAMILY was, but sadly, they're passing from us all too soon, much like the vets from a past war. And their legacy to our future has been trampled into the dirt beneath this generation's feet.
Case in point - A "typical black family" down here consisting of 3-4 people (no real father for the 2 kids - he's just mama's boyfriend THIS month). Mom might work a menial job to make sure the WIC keeps flowing and HUD pays a chunk of the rent of the hovel that Section 8 stuck them into. They also pretty much rent everything in the house, and the "beds" consist on mattresses on a floor in what is supposed to be a bedroom. No curtains on the windows, but sheets, a nice newer car (or SUV) out front (and hopefully insured), children that have no respect for other people or their , and basically have the "run" of the neighborhood to all hours, even on school nights. Mom never seems to cook, but has take-out fast food every night (when the kids aren't running to Speedway for some "hot fries" and orange drink). The kids are most likely failing or at best doing below par in school, and mom (who never seems to have time to get involved) hasn't a clue as to WHY the kids are doing badly. And the boyfriend is probably selling (or at least DOING) drugs so he's got some "walkin' around" money to get his "bling" on.
How am I doing so far?
Sound familiar?
Welcome to the south side of Fort Wayne.
So this meeting is "supposed" to find solutions to violence. Well, when you have small groups of people instead of a FAMILY massed in primarily in ONE "exclusive" (read blighted) part of town, one societal aberration will eventually lead to another. And violence is but one part of this complex equation.
Sure these people are frustrated...and angry. But it's the victimology in them that's doing it. Somewhere along the road, they forgot what it is to be motivated, opting instead for having their hand out to anyone and everyone willing to fill them. That doesn't teach people anything, but how to become a neighborhood of governmental panhandlers and how to successfully BEG!
"Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; TEACH him to fish and you feed him for life" is the way the saying goes.
This of course is predicated upon the fact that this man wants to motivate himself into getting off his ass, picking up the rod and reel and heading for the nearest body of water. it's much easier to grab a gun and hold up a store or a person, right?
Welcome to the south side of Fort Wayne.
The black community seeks an end to gun violence. Do they really, or can this just be a case of NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard)? "As long as MY child isn't shot, I don't care all that much", seems to be the order of the day. Is the black community willing to go against the "status quo", make some VERY tough decisions (which will most likely piss off a lot of their OWN people), and do what is right for themselves AND their children? Is the black community willing to accept help from the OTHER communities in the city? Or the city law-enforcement agencies? Can the black community overcome this "need" to police themselves, and in doing so, break down the walls of the sub-culture that has pervaded their neighborhoods for the past several decades?
Time will tell.
In the meantime, one thing I would do is to find SOME way to reinstate a CURFEW. If people are in the wrong place at the wrong time, $hit WILL happen, especially when there are predatory thugs roaming to all hours on our streets. And if this curfew need apply to not JUST young people, but everyone else (for an interim time), so be it. I don't really need to be ANYWHERE at 0330 hrs except watching the insides of my eyelids!


Like I said, it will take generations to UNDO the mess we currently have here, and it's going to have to be a JOINT EFFORT with the black community wanting to affect change in their neighborhoods.
But praying alone won't change anything, nor will having meetings or forming committees. It WILL take hard work, dedication, and a SINCERE desire to settle for something a LOT better than what currently resides on our streets.
No one ever said that THIS type of change would be easy, but the end result will be dividends for the future we can only imagine now.
We shall see what the level of sincerity within the black community will be in the weeks and months to come....long after these six victims have been in the ground and people have gotten back to their daily routine.
We'll see if change for the better is truly sustainable.
And while I wish these people well with this endeavor, I won't be betting the farm on this, nor holding my breath.