Do you think that we have lost the vision and the mission of Dr. King's Dream and that of the Civil Rights Movement?
I wonder all the time as I see and hear all of the Black-on-Black crime. The single parent households, the high divorce rate, the low marriage rate, the high sexually transmitted disease rate, drug addiction, alcohol addiction, welfare addiction---hell, the list goes on and on. One 1/12 of the year has past and already Baltimore and DC have close to 20 murders, if not more. Bodies being found in ditches, heavily wooded areas, in homes, etc...its a gawd damn disgrace...but what do we do? Where do we start? Does it start in the home? Is it the fault of the poor public school systems in the areas? Is it the lack of respect that people have for one another in general? Whose to blame for the lack of leadership for our Race...or should we govern ourselves?
The very rights that Dr. King, Andrew Young, Jesse Jackson, and others marched for are the very rights that folks either don't care about or take for granted. Hell, most kids don't even know Dr. King, other than the fact that schools are closed and Momma & Daddy may not work, if they work at all. Ask them about Harriet Tubman, or Mary McLeod Bethune, and you will get blank stares and hear crickets chirping. I don't mean to sound jaded or cynical, but WTF are WE as a race going to do about OUR problem? Its not the White man's issue...its an issue within our own little word of Colored, Negro Black, African AmericanCulture...
Before you ask, no I don't have one solution to the problem, because I believe that it is tenfold. I think that folks have gotten away from the business of parenting. Yeah, children are different from when I was young. Yes, they have more opportunities than I had. Yes, there are more distractions than I had, (i.e. MTV, video games, computers) But, the one constant thing in my life was the FEAR of embarrassing my family. No, I didn't do everything my parents said. No, I wasn't 100% good girl all of the time, I did my fair share of sneaking, and lying...and thank goodness I never got caught. But always always always in the back of my mind I had a fear of my parents finding out. That fear kept me from doing anything illegal...anything...I was and I am still more afraid of my parents than I am of the police, or any other authority figure. And I don't think the children of today have that fear.
The Public school system in the urban areas are jacked. How can you learn with busted windows, and disorder in the classroom? I think that the schools are hiring mediocre instructors and facilitators, that are content with the status quo and getting buy. The schools do not have an adequate curriculum that will instill, inform, instruct, and inspire the children to want to know and learn more. The schools don't teach Black History at all and if they do, its in February. I think that those in the system, be it welfare, incarceration, rehabilitation, etc, are all skilled in working the system to their advantage.
So again, how to we get back to living out King's Dream? The dream of equality for all. The goodness of mankind, and the pursuit of life and liberty?
Your thoughts...
SassyScribe
I wonder all the time as I see and hear all of the Black-on-Black crime. The single parent households, the high divorce rate, the low marriage rate, the high sexually transmitted disease rate, drug addiction, alcohol addiction, welfare addiction---hell, the list goes on and on. One 1/12 of the year has past and already Baltimore and DC have close to 20 murders, if not more. Bodies being found in ditches, heavily wooded areas, in homes, etc...its a gawd damn disgrace...but what do we do? Where do we start? Does it start in the home? Is it the fault of the poor public school systems in the areas? Is it the lack of respect that people have for one another in general? Whose to blame for the lack of leadership for our Race...or should we govern ourselves?
The very rights that Dr. King, Andrew Young, Jesse Jackson, and others marched for are the very rights that folks either don't care about or take for granted. Hell, most kids don't even know Dr. King, other than the fact that schools are closed and Momma & Daddy may not work, if they work at all. Ask them about Harriet Tubman, or Mary McLeod Bethune, and you will get blank stares and hear crickets chirping. I don't mean to sound jaded or cynical, but WTF are WE as a race going to do about OUR problem? Its not the White man's issue...its an issue within our own little word of Colored, Negro Black, African AmericanCulture...
Before you ask, no I don't have one solution to the problem, because I believe that it is tenfold. I think that folks have gotten away from the business of parenting. Yeah, children are different from when I was young. Yes, they have more opportunities than I had. Yes, there are more distractions than I had, (i.e. MTV, video games, computers) But, the one constant thing in my life was the FEAR of embarrassing my family. No, I didn't do everything my parents said. No, I wasn't 100% good girl all of the time, I did my fair share of sneaking, and lying...and thank goodness I never got caught. But always always always in the back of my mind I had a fear of my parents finding out. That fear kept me from doing anything illegal...anything...I was and I am still more afraid of my parents than I am of the police, or any other authority figure. And I don't think the children of today have that fear.
The Public school system in the urban areas are jacked. How can you learn with busted windows, and disorder in the classroom? I think that the schools are hiring mediocre instructors and facilitators, that are content with the status quo and getting buy. The schools do not have an adequate curriculum that will instill, inform, instruct, and inspire the children to want to know and learn more. The schools don't teach Black History at all and if they do, its in February. I think that those in the system, be it welfare, incarceration, rehabilitation, etc, are all skilled in working the system to their advantage.
So again, how to we get back to living out King's Dream? The dream of equality for all. The goodness of mankind, and the pursuit of life and liberty?
Your thoughts...
SassyScribe
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