The reality of that horrible event is but another testament to the horrible teachings that we, the Black Community, collectively teach our children by failing to teach them to "walk away."
Notice how many people were just standing around watching. The young man holding the cell phone, or next to the person holding the cell phone is a worthless, shameful example of the type of Black youth that society shuns. What kind of young man stands watching with a cell phone within reach (or worse, in his hand) and merely says "Daaaaamn" as another young black man is pummeled with a board, kicked and stomped.
This horrible event isn't a reflection on the mindless antics that this video clip reveals, but rather the collective failure of Black Parents across the United States who continue to fail to hold their children to a standard that is above, or equal to that of any other race on the continent.
Non of us can hold our heads high in light of an event such as this, and each of us are responsible. We are responsible because if Black parents didn't let their young teenage daughters to date undesirable Black men, and instilled a sense of pride, self worth, and a hunger for better in those daughters, then said daughters would not breed with, nor give birth to, pathetic examples of dull minded young men and women displayed in the video. Black women wouldn't associate with violent, loud, ignorant Black men with no aspirations in life. No plan. No dreams. No intellectual tools that are generally required to succeed in life.
There might have been 20 honor students in the street watching the fight that day, but that is irrelevant, because people do not mentally sort out bullies, from "A" students when viewing the video clip. A significant number of people mentally, visually, and audibly process that fight as:
"Niggers in the street fighting.... Again."
When are we going to learn? A young black man suffered, and is dead, because the Black Community failed him. I failed him. You failed him. We failed him.
1. If his friend(s) would've walked (or ran) away, he wouldn't have felt compelled to intervene.
2. If he would've walked away regardless of what his friends were doing- He would be alive today.
3. Jenna 6.. remember them? What would've happened if they would've simply taken pictures of the nooses hanging from the trees, reported the incident, noted the principal's response (or lack of response) and started having interviews with the ACLU, CNN, Oprah, etc., you get the idea. The power of the mind and pen are instruments that change things. The "Jenna 6" chose to resort to violence, which merely leaves all of us blind; perceived as Niggers-that-can't-ever-learn, by a society that is leaving the Black Community behind, in its intellectual and social wake.
Dr. King would be ashamed ... we already slap him in the face and urinate on his grave, every time we use his name, to denote a street in the Black Community that is run down, drug infested, blighted, and satisfied with "just getting by."
I am saddened by what the video reports, however I am even more saddened by the fact that nothing will change tomorrow, because to the Black Community, his death is an acceptable loss- as if we enjoy seeing Black Men shot, run down, incarcerated, shunned, high, and uneducated...
.. as if we enjoy seeing many Black Women raped, talked down to, cursed out, hit, embarrassed, left alone with kids to raise, and not an accomplishment to their name.
16 year old Derrion Albert is dead.
He is dead because we, as a race of people 16 years ago, were quite comfortable knowing that we (as a people) were not shaping, empowering, nor challenging our youth.
Tell me, 6 months after Derrion Albert's funeral- will the parents of those children require their kids to have a B average or give up sports? Of course not. Will the students see themselves as "lacking" and make it a point to do whatever it is to secure a career, a future, a life that can support a family and the emergencies that come with having a family? Of course not. Will the parents of everyone who was in the street that day, make it a point to REQUIRE their children perform socially, and intellectually like their white counterparts that live on the other side of Chicago? Of course not.
Sad isn't it? One could reasonably gather that we like seeing our Black youth lying limp in the gutter.
Kinda makes me want to pick up the phone, dial 312-747-8272 and tell them that "we," all of us, Black parents, teachers, professionals, journeymen, laborers, husbands, wives, friends.. "did it."
