Once again my wonderful city of New Orleans has taken the title of being the 'Murder Capital.' This is not a title that I nor anyone in this city should take joy or pride in...in fact we all should feel shamed that we have left the crime in this city reach the heights that it has. It has gotten so bad that the number of people killed in a week down here range between 8 to 12 and they are mostly african american males between the ages of 16 and 27....that's the annihilation of an entire generation right there!!
In 2007 we had 210 killings per people and in 2008, we had 68 killings per 100,000 people in the city. As of July of this year, there were a reported number of 97 murders. 97!! These young men are killing each other for no other reason than that they can. It has gotten to the point where I only pick up the newspaper down here for the living section because looking anything else will surely break your heart. The reasons that come out of their mouths that they feel validates the taking of another life: "he disrespected me", "he was fucking around with my girl" "he not from my hood". This has always been an issue for me: New Orleans is broken into neighborhoods or wards as they're called down here and the fighting that goes on between the different wards...it's crazy, no other word can describe it.I love my city and when things are going good I love everything about my city. I take pride in saying that I'm from New Orleans...the New Orleans that's based on our food, our culture, partying, our history, I take pride in THAT part but this? I shake my head at my brothers acting like animals in cages that do not have the capability of thinking rationally and making something of themselves.I blame it on the parents who have this children before they are ready for them and then leave them to raise themselves without any good role models, I blame the school system in this city that before and after Katrina have been filled with school teachers and adminstrators that gave no second thought to the students but were just concerned about their paycheck and I blame the prejudiced police officers in this city who judge some of these young men and accuse or badger them until they snap. I'm not taking the blame away from the ones that are committing these crimes because the heaviest blame lays on their shoulders. At the end of the day, THEY are responsible about the choices they make, the type of people they associate with, the lifestyle they lead and what they choose to do with their lives. I am saying that the environment in which they are raised can have an effect on them...maybe it's time to change the environment and help this generation before it's completely annihilated.
In 2007 we had 210 killings per people and in 2008, we had 68 killings per 100,000 people in the city. As of July of this year, there were a reported number of 97 murders. 97!! These young men are killing each other for no other reason than that they can. It has gotten to the point where I only pick up the newspaper down here for the living section because looking anything else will surely break your heart. The reasons that come out of their mouths that they feel validates the taking of another life: "he disrespected me", "he was fucking around with my girl" "he not from my hood". This has always been an issue for me: New Orleans is broken into neighborhoods or wards as they're called down here and the fighting that goes on between the different wards...it's crazy, no other word can describe it.I love my city and when things are going good I love everything about my city. I take pride in saying that I'm from New Orleans...the New Orleans that's based on our food, our culture, partying, our history, I take pride in THAT part but this? I shake my head at my brothers acting like animals in cages that do not have the capability of thinking rationally and making something of themselves.I blame it on the parents who have this children before they are ready for them and then leave them to raise themselves without any good role models, I blame the school system in this city that before and after Katrina have been filled with school teachers and adminstrators that gave no second thought to the students but were just concerned about their paycheck and I blame the prejudiced police officers in this city who judge some of these young men and accuse or badger them until they snap. I'm not taking the blame away from the ones that are committing these crimes because the heaviest blame lays on their shoulders. At the end of the day, THEY are responsible about the choices they make, the type of people they associate with, the lifestyle they lead and what they choose to do with their lives. I am saying that the environment in which they are raised can have an effect on them...maybe it's time to change the environment and help this generation before it's completely annihilated.
Let's learn from the murder of Derrion Albert, Ashley "AJ" Jewell and Kevin Miller. Or...I fear that the phrase I hear out of black women's mouths all the time "There's no good black men around" may one day become a reality all of us have to face.
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