In the past few months, gunfire blazed at an alarming rate throughout the metropolitan area, especially on the North Side and in parts of the South Side and other predominantly African-American neighborhoods. African Americans are dying from criminal homicides at an alarming rate, especially African-American males, and particularly from gun-related violence.
The escalating level of violence associated with drugs and gangs, particularly in the St. Louis metropolitan area, lies squarely on the shoulders of young African Americans, and the appalling fact is that a good number are committed by blacks against blacks.
Where is the indignation from the community? If a cop kills a black youth, the community rises up in arms, but when dozens of crimes, some of them fatal, are perpetrated in our neighborhoods by ourselves, the silence is deafening.
I expect a lot of flack from some people of color, who will accuse me of exaggerating the facts and putting too much blame on our youth. But almost daily I read in the newspaper or see televised yet another dead, young, black victim of violence.
How do we measure the human impact of homicide within our communities? Is it normal for seniors and women to fear walking the streets alone or for black males to expect death by homicide before reaching the age of 45? It is a human tragedy for our families and our communities, and it also hinders economic and social development, thereby limiting the number of jobs in the village.
I am not putting the responsibility for our problems on our children, but black youth must be reformed. Parents and citizens must take pride as well as ownership over our own communities, and we must develop a plan to aid young people and adults in developing projects to reduce crime and the fear of crime. It is up to us to make our community a safer, better place to live, work and attend school.
Neighbors know who the criminals and drug pushers are. Is it snitching to expose them?
We must develop a joint approach to violence prevention and interference. It is essential that we include a cultural viewpoint on black-on-black crime, African-American youth violence, and the impact of violence on children. We can no longer blame female-headed households with children, excessive use of police force, or poor housing conditions for our problems.
We must not be overwhelmed by doomsday thoughts about our youth, but find ways to help our communities engage young people as a means to solve community problems. This should be a critical component of our mission. I do not want to face another weekend of reading about the violent deaths of young black women and men.
I can be reached by fax at (314) 837-3369 or by e-mail at: berhay@swbell.net.
