By - PRENTISS SMITH
It is a sad situation when innocent people of this country are not safe in their homes and when babies die on their couches or in their mother's arms. That is what people are dealing with in Shreveport and all around this country. It is an epidemic of random violence that has left so many in a state of shock. The random murders, particularly in the black communities, are something that no one really understands but have to deal with on a daily basis. There is too much crime and violence in black communities.
There are many communities in this country that are dealing with lost young men who have no respect for themselves or for anyone else. The recent rash of shootings and gun violence in Shreveport and around the country is particularly alarming and egregious during this time of the Covid pandemic. Many of these attacks are perpetrated by young men who have either dropped out of school or have been involved in low level criminal activity. They seem to have no direction, no discipline or no hope. They are more likely to be black, unemployed and unemployable, which is a shame in a country that has so much to offer. Unfortunately, many of these individuals have become afterthoughts to society.
People in some communities are afraid to speak up for fear of retaliation. Law enforcement officials feel handcuffed because they encounter whole communities that have been cowered down by gangs and want to be gang members. A lot of these crimes are being done by repeat offenders — people who have been in and out of the criminal justice system for most of their lives. The truth is that when people do the crime, they ought to do the time, but the problem now is that the jails are full. Prosecutors and judges are having to offer plea bargains to individuals to whom they would not ordinarily offer them, which contributes to the epidemic of repeat offenders continuing to flood the judicial system.
Every day in American cities, large and small, there are more acts of random violence that traumatize families and communities. People have become desensitized to these crimes. People's lives are destroyed because of these predators who prey on the innocent and vulnerable. The main problem has to do with home training and upbringing. Young men, especially young, black men, are increasingly growing up in homes where there are no strong male influences. There at too many children, especially black children, who are being born out of wedlock, which leads to a lot of the pathologies that are seen in urban and black communities. It's a fact that if young people, especially young men, are not engaged positively, they are going to exhibit some of the behaviors that have become all too prevalent in the country today.
Young men, especially young, black men are going to jail all over this country, and there is documented evidence that a majority of them come from fatherless/ broken homes. If there could be a change to this one dynamic, it could change the outcome of many of these young lives. Seventy percent of all children born in black households are born out of wedlock. That is a staggering number. And although out-of-wedlock births are increasing in the white community, it is still two times less than those of black families.
These pathologies will not change unless and until policy makers and politicians get serious about targeting the problems of poverty, crime and the demise of the black family. Men are going to have to be men. There are just too many daddies and not enough fathers.
Real men like the "OG's" of the past have become an endangered species. They just don't exist anymore, and that is the tragedy for many of these young men who are committing acts of violence that grieve us all. At the end of the day, the violence is more symptomatic of a bigger problem — no fathers, no discipline and no direction because there is not a strong male presence in so many of these homes. That has to change in order for these problems to be solved.
Crime in Shreveport is down, but it does not feel like it. While the mayor and the police chief are right to tout those numbers, the fact is that people still don't feel safe in their homes and their communities. Random acts of violence by definition are really hard to interdict. That is why they are called random. Many of these criminal acts take place between people who know each other and find themselves in a fit of anger and acting out in ways that they ultimately regret. Many of these acts are crimes of passion that no one can foresee. In other words, the nature of these acts of violence are inexplicable and deeper than what meets the eye.
The problems of violence will continue to exist until politicians and policy makers figure out a way to deal with the root problems of poverty, lack of education, and lack of jobs. An acknowledgement of these symptomatic problems is the key to addressing them in a holistic way. All the police presence in the world cannot solve these problems. It is going to take a focused and concerted effort from all stakeholders to change what is happening in these communities. Crime and violence is all too real, especially in urban and black communities. There is just too much of it. And that's the way I see it. smithpren@aol.com
THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED IN THE July 17 ISSUE OF FOCUS SB - THE INQUSIITOR