I'll be I was on the NPR Blogger Roundtable today.
This "Special Edition" of the blog will continue in perpetuity as far as I am concerned. This SILENCE about this horrific crime is an abomination. Please read yesterday's post and the list of Black"leaders" who have ignored what I think is one of the most vicious hate crimes I have heard of in recent memory, the gang rape at Dunbar Village. Please keep calling and writing.
IF you need an example of what to say, you can go read some sample emails from Katie in the comments section. Katie is far more *cough* diplomatic *cough* that I am ( I know my limitations! :)) I will actually be adding a list of African American women's groups to the list of the "Immorally Indifferent" ( we must be evenhanded in our criticism).
Last but certainly not least, it is not just Dunbar Village that our "leaders" are being silent about, but a series of heartbreaking Black on Black crimes including the report yesterday of the execution of three and the serious injury of young promising African American teenagers in Newark, NJ. Mayor Corey Booker has his hands full. I think one of the victims' father said it best:
“I just want to say that I don’t blame you for what happened,” said James Harvey, the young man’s father, his eyes teary. “I blame the parents in this city for not raising their children right.”
Preach! Preach!
Now I know I am going to receive comments saying that it is wrong to blame parents for their children's actions. Because placing blame ( or assigning personal responsibility) is something some folks have an aversion to no matter how heinous the crime. To those folks battling with me in the comments section over my view on these heinous crimes and blaming poverty and the federal government for personal choices, I will say this over and over again POOR PEOPLE ARE NOT INHERENTLY MORE VIOLENT THAN ANYONE ELSE. Plenty of poor people live their lives in a moral and upright way and are the salt of the earth so something else is going on to make you line up four teenagers on their knees against a wall and shoot them in the head. Poverty in and of itself does not flip some switch in the brain and cause you to view your fellow woman or man as prey.
I personally think that it is the systematic destruction of the Black family and I think that the Poverty Industrial Complex has done more to destroy the fabric of the Black family and Black community than Jim Crow or slavery ever did. IF anything Jim Crow forced us closer together out of sheer necessity.
I know I am radical for suggesting that piling a bunch of poor Black folks in an enclave and leaving them to fend for themselves while they are turned into prey and sitting ducks is immoral and cruel, but I'm going to keep saying it. It is IMMORAL and CRUEL!
But go ahead and speak on it. The debate in the comments has been interesting and enlightening.
For those wanting to help the victims of the Dunbar Village attack:
Checks can be made payable to the Dunbar Village Victim Assistance Fund-St. Ann. They can be dropped off at any Wachovia branch or mailed to: St. Ann Catholic Church, 310 N. Olive Ave., West Palm Beach, FL 33401. The church’s phone number is (561) 832-3757. (SOURCE)
