Dunbar Village Miscreants Get Life While A New Set Arrested For Setting A Teen On Fire

I was just reading the post at What About Our Daughters regarding the reaction of the family and supporters of those convicted in the Dunbar Village case as their sentences were issued. The relative youth of some of those criminals regarding getting a life-term is up for debate amongst some people. Even after the fact. I understand the defense attorneys fighting it because that's their job but there are still people who think crimes committed by those under the age of 18 solely involve their lack of judgement. While that may be true to varying degrees sometimes a criminal is just a criminal. Some youths are well on their way to being sociopaths. Some boys have been allowed to flourish as if under the direct guidance of Lucifer himself. Everyone cannot be rehabilitated or redeemed. Not when they have no remorse and no conscience.

I used to think prosecutors were singling out youths of color and the push for charging juvenile's as adults was cruel and unusual punishment. Since I didn't work in law enforcement or with youths I didn't realize the accumulation of a population that has grown to be more brutal over the years. It is sad because it means that children are being failed in every way possible. It also means a lot of people who do procreate should not until they learn how to be a parent - of course that's not likely to occur. The more atrocities I read about the more I realize it's open season for many who reside in certain residential areas.

There are still others involved in the Dunbar Village terrorism who haven't been arrested and charged for their crimes. It may come down to them committing some other crime to finally get them off the streets. Now there's another case in Florida getting national attention because of the race of the victim. Five boys are being charged with setting a classmate on fire over a minor dispute. He's white and some (if not all) of those involved in the attack are black. The victim owed one of them money for a video game so they stole his dad's bike. Then the victim reported it and they retaliated. The burning gives me shudders because it's what the other males at Dunbar Village wanted to do to the mother and son to destroy evidence.

I'm sure the background history of those convicted for the Dunbar Village crimes will be similar to those being charged in this incident. The local media offers a bit more information. One of the mothers is interviewed on camera and claims her son was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Perhaps she's correct..but that's the same thing one of the mothers said about her son about Dunbar Village. Is there a "My Son Can't Be A Criminal 101" textbook out there? A lack of sympathy gene? How long until one of the parents of those accused say racism is involved? The response is nearly identical.

The Real Black State of the Union Pt. 3

So I'm continuing the topic from last week's posts about how pathology is being attributed to a person's race only when it comes to people of color, the militarism of law enforcement and the complacency of those who ignore the pathologies that have a negative impact on their communities because they may share a similar heritage as the perpetrators.

One of my reader’s comments from last week had me nodding my head in agreement. I’m going to post it here with my response in blue: via Brother OMi

1. In my experience, I run into VERY few people who join the police/military because they wanted to. Most, especially enlisted and lower ranking police officers, join because of being unable to get hired for several reasons OR because there are no jobs. Thus, the police and the military are filled with people from the lower dregs of society. That says alot. Police/military should be high paying jobs that seek QUALIFED and MENTALLY STABLE applicants. 


So we have quite a few people serving who join due to the high unemployment in their residential areas. Also people who should never be allowed to serve. We see so many officers who shoot first, who overreach their authority and lack proper training (I'd say common sense). Thanks to the NRA guns are readily and illegally available with a thriving market. I'd like to think if some of the threat to bodily harm was removed the police would have to adjust how they respond to crime. Just look at the preponderance of rape against female service members. It's a huge problem and due to the coverups by the higher ups it will not be resolved any time soon. Some have also suggested it's one of the biggest reasons why the military doesn't want "Don't Ask Don't Tell" revoked because a lot of men would become targets. 

2. I will say that when it comes to the police, they are poorly trained. They get sent to handle situations that are way beyond their abilities (domestic violence issues, etc.) and are expected to handle them professionally and efficiently. 



Why are situations still beyond the abilities of an officer to appropriately respond to? It's 2009. If counterintelligence tactics can be used by groups like PETA in the guise of helping animals why can't the police get appropriate strategies in place to respond to a variety of issues. They have gang units, major crimes, special victims: why not other specialties? How much impact can individual communities have on the implementation of law enforcement if all they do is complain about brutality? 

3. Our communities have to do a better job of policing ourselves. oftentimes we give a safe haven to the criminal element. If (Louvelle) Mixon was not harbored by friends and relatives, this might not have happened. 


Ah yes the 800 lb. elephant in the room. Black people tend to make all kinds of excuses for all sorts of depravity when it comes in the form of a Black male. A Black woman can be called all manner of derogatory terms and be told its her responsibility to rescue others and she will not get a break. The protectionism of those with melanin and a penis knows no bounds though. As if it's a birth defect for someone to make the choice to engage in criminal activity and they have no responsibility for it. This also extends in the world of entertainment and the promoting of smut as music but that's another post! You cannot hold police officers to a higher standard by allowing criminals to run free to steal, rape and kill. 

4. Our concept of crime and punishment is extremely flawed and will not work unless we do a proper re-evaluation of it. Being tough doesn't seem to work.

A nation built on exploitation and hypocrisy will always be an iffy prospect for appropriate behavior. The US also suffers from this hyper-masculine hero complex. Sometimes charging in trying to take over and intimidation tactics require more thought, scrutiny and a gentle hand.

Basically it’s an acknowledgement of class differences and pathologies and how they may manifest themselves in certain situations. I am in complete agreement about how the quality of services is affected by the quality of those providing it. Lack of training will yield poor results. We don’t train people how to be parents either. We don’t value motherhood, though some women tend to equate motherhood with being a woman. The ability to breed has nothing to do with quality parenting. When people (mostly men) who are ill-equipped to face societal challenges, with borderline psychoses and/or are otherwise unhireable or come from areas of high unemployment that’s a breeding ground for a killer. 

We know the military had to lower their standards for admission to avoid a draft so can you imagine how dangerous it would be to serve alongside someone you’d normally have nothing to do with in your regular life? Or join a police force with those ready to explode? It’s why there's such a preponderance for rape. Women aren’t safe in any area of society where its citizens don’t place a high value on their person AND while other people remain silent. It can't be left solely up to women to speak out against these things. It can't be just women who are deemed "worthy" of protecting because that means some are not. Of course since these incidences are shrouded in secrecy that also fosters a breeding ground for this sort of activity. 

As it was pointed out on certain blogs had the police valued the lives of the sex workers Louvelle Mixon had raped, they may have arrested him before he attacked a 12 year old and got pulled over at that traffic stop with the ensuing gun battle. He didn’t value his life at all so why would have valued yours? The former officer Powell didn’t value the lives of an entire population of those he was supposed to be neutral about on paper at least. You know the whole innocent until proven guilty tenet that’s supposed to be one of our strongest foundations for justice?

When Transgendered People Are Assaulted Why Do People Make A Joke Out Of It?

Los Angeles based rapper Pam Jones was reportedly robbed, beaten and assaulted. The story appeared on All Hip Hop and Media Take Out, which is known for being particularly vicious in its coverage of entertainment/gossip. If you read the comment section (though really why would you want to) you'd find the usual knuckle dragger responses where some think it's a kind of joke for a transgendered woman to be raped. As if rape is any less a heinous crime and violation when it happens to someone who wasn't born a biological female, or is a lesbian or even a male. 

Roving gangs of Black men gathering together to steal, beat and rape should send a shudder down the spines of people instead of dismissing it. This is what's going on in Darfur, Congo and has been used as the first tactic of war to control the general population. Calling attention to these acts of violence is more important than worrying about lingering racial stereotypes. If the thugs don't care about the image of innocent men who are law abiding we can't be protectionists for criminals.

The larger issue has to do with the attempts at dehumanizing the person because if they're not a person, then what happens to them doesn't matter. Which is what's happening to Black women right now by the way. So in reporting the assault on Jones, she has been referred to as a transsexual, tranny and he/she. All of those are incorrect terms and should cease immediately! By the way there's a MySpace link with an update on Ms. Jones' condition.

Dad Takes Kid On A Fieldtrip to Robbery

Nope this isn't an April Fool's joke. I know people are desperate but this is ridiculous. Just watch the video. I really have no words and I already gave out the Lame Award of Shame...

The Real Black State of the Union Pt. 1

So I was reading this great post "Ours Is Not A Culture Of Failure" by Tami at What Tami Said which was in itself a critique of the article "Race Still Matters For Poor Blacks" by Clarence Page of the Chicago Tribune and "Raising the Obama Generation" by Stephen Talty. There are some great points being made but there are some areas where we our opinions diverge. 

From Page's article: The National Urban League released its annual "State of Black America" report. Predictably, as with previous reports that the 99-year-old league has conducted since the 1970s, the state of black America is pretty miserable.

Blacks were twice as likely to be unemployed, three times more likely to live in poverty and more than six times as likely to be imprisoned compared with whites, the study said. Blacks also lost their homes due to foreclosure at a greater rate than other ethnic groups. This is partly because many blacks had been targeted for sub-prime loans during the economic boom, civil rights groups charge, even when their credit was good enough to get them into conventional loans. 

Mainstream black leaders tend to blame black poverty on external barriers like racism, discrimination and the disappearance of low-skill jobs. Conservative critics tend to blame black poverty on black behavior, attitudes and other "cultural" conditioning.

Blah, blah, blah! My response is: it sucks to be Black apparently. Do I really need a reminder of all the problems? These Civil Rights organizations are still not providing SOLUTIONS. Let's talk about the various social classes that exist that they'd like to otherwise ignore. Having access to resources and being not only encouraged but expected to excel does impact your life. Let's talk about white racism but we're not in a position to ignore how our attitudes and choices compound it.

Tami writes:  Are low achievement, unemployment, substance abuse or criminality elements of black culture? Native culture? Italian or Irish culture? White culture?

No.

And they are not the culture of the poor either.

But these ills are often the result of living forgotten in poverty in a country that is all about symbols of wealth and "getting yours." These ills are the result of no opportunity in the land of opportunity. These ills are the result of schools with old books or no books. These ills are the result of being warehoused in dangerous, rat-trap, public-housing high rises, and tenements, and reservations and isolated Appalachian villages and trailer parks. These ills are the result of inadequate healthcare and childcare.

I agree...but I don't. Apathy, anger, depression, hostility, hopelessness, mediocrity and imbalance. I think about how all of these things color challenging situations for people of color. We can only change the things we can control. The first thing we have to control is ourselves. Then we can address the ills of society. If you're running with a broken leg you won't get very far. 

 

If the "culture" hasn’t failed it is severely damaged. Or perhaps the question that should be posed is: “What Is Black Culture?” There are differences amongst ethnic groups of Blacks as well as different behavior patterns amongst the social classes. Of course individuals make personal choices that may differ from the majority of their group of origin but certain generalities do prevail. We're not all Middle Class and we don't all possess Middle Class sensibilities. Whatever that's supposed to mean today. 

I think we can safely establish a yard stick of a dominant generic “Black” by which non-Blacks may be attributing to us all because they don't do shades of grey, er black. It’s like lumping all Asians together or not realizing that China for example has something like 50 diverse ethnic groups. I will continue this conversation in another post because despite my efforts at editing I have so much more to discuss. 

First You Get Jacked For Your Bags - Now It's For What's In 'Em

I read this and asked myself if it was April Fool's Day yet, but alas it's not. Apparently there was a sting operation that went down where airline contractors where stealing items out of our checked bags. This went down in St. Louis and they claim it was only one airline, but how much do you want to bet this sort of thing has happened all over the country with all of those suckers? I've recalled having things missing from bags before and the airline liability is a joke! Plus we can't lock our bags without giving them the keys. These are supposed to be highly scrutinized airline employees who have to pass a background/criminal check, but they're stealing?!

See this is why I'm very suspicious of the TSA. We have practically no rights when we "decide" to travel by air. Our bodies are scanned, we have to take off our shoes and they can rifle through all of our most intimate belongings all in the name of "safety". Sounds like a police state to me!

Then to add insult to injury the cheapo airlines - who lobby the government by the way - have stolen our beverages, our food, our kneecap and elbow space and inching closer to our sanity and they wonder why people don't want to fly. Our flights are bumped, the planes aren't being maintained on schedule and the customer service is negligible at best. Unless you're a First Class flier - then you're ok. See how paying more nets you basic hospitality but only accounts for a portion of the airlines' profits while the masses in Coach who are supporting the entire operation get treated like gum on the bottom of their shoe?

I actually was stopped by one of those hacks who measured my carry-on bag for American Airlines and claimed it was too bulky and it had to be checked. They did it to 10 other people. Nobody's going to convince me these airlines aren't involved in some sort of racket - especially when they offer $10 sandwiches on a 5.5 hour flight and not so much as a peanut to tide you over.

Since Amtrak's been severely handicapped for years and we're so ass-backwards in the United States there's no high-speed affordable rail like the TGV in Europe. In fact a lot of the rail tracks that did exist were deliberately torn up thanks to the oil companies working in collusion with the automakers and the government building the highways and ordering interstate traffic. Now that it just costs so darn much they want to rethink it. The roads are crumbling and a proposed bullet train between San Francisco and Los Angeles has a $10B pricetag. I mean I'm all for the train but that's a lot of money you know. 

I question the innovation of those that wanted to be fuel efficient and have an alternative years ago, from electric car technology to using cooking oil as a gas replacement but were thwarted in favor of short term gains and profits for a few. I also want to know when the airlines are going to held accountable for their government bailouts and corporate welfare using tax payer money when they're gouging us. If AIG can be taken to task why not them? I want all of my checked bag fees refunded via the tax return and meal credits. Is that too much to ask?

What That Black Male Teen Homicide Report Says and Doesn't Say

I have mixed feelings about the report titled, "The Recent Surge in Homicides Involving Young Black Males and Guns: Time to Reinvest in Prevention and Crime Control". Like what we want to hear about is more bad news. I'm wondering why did it take 6-8 years of 'fact-finding' for enough a trend to emerge for this report to be released? Since this all occurred during the Bush administration and is just as much a condemnation of his failed policies as everything else. Didn't Kanye say Bush didn't care about Black people?! 

As if we need to be told of how dire the circumstances are for (not wealthy) Blacks in a predominantly Black environment. So a "thinking head" at Northeastern University - James Alan Fox - figures out that more male teens have been killing each other since 2000. Gee, do ya think the economy and lack of police presence had something to do with it? The ease with which weapons can be acquired illegally thanks to the lobbying efforts of the NRA? The failure of the "We Are Victims of White Racism But We Do Nothing to Address the Failure of Our Leadership" Civil Rights crowd? While we're ready to tsk tsk and shake our heads or be angry we should be asking a few more questions. 

Why the call to arms over this particular issue at this time? Have we noticed how quickly certain parts of this report have been disseminated in the media in a very specific way? This will increase the fears of certain segments of the population. It's not a coincidence this report comes out right before Obama takes office. This also serves to demoralize others. Was this an act of benevolence and a warning or more rhetoric? Are you wondering who James Fox is?

James Alan Fox, Ph.D.

The Lipman Family Professor of Criminal Justice and 

Professor of Law, Policy and Society
Northeastern University
Boston, Massachusetts 02115

617-373-3296 office
617-416-4400 cell

e-mail: j.fox@neu.edu

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Feel free to contact him and tell him how you feel about the report after reading it!

Report feedback via Associated Press

(AP) Black teenagers are killing each other in rising numbers as part of a troubling trend that has been masked by a falling crime rate in the United States, according to a new study released Monday by Northeastern University. 

FBI crime statistics show overall decreases in violent crime and murder. But amid those numbers, the report by criminal justice professors James Alan Fox and Marc Swatt found other disturbing trends. 

Among their findings: an increase of more than 39 percent in the number of black males between ages 14-17 killed between 2000 and 2007 and an increase of 34 percent in the number of blacks that age who committed homicide. 

The increases for white male teens, meanwhile, were nearly 17 percent and 3 percent, respectively. 

"We can't ignore the fact that hidden within the overall good news on crime is very bad news for a segment of the population - young black males - and that needs our attention," Fox said. 

Fox calls for an infusion of government money to beef up police forces and restore mentor, sports, after-school and summer programs that withered as federal funds were redirected from cities to homeland security after the Sept. 11 terror attacks. 

"We need to invest much more in the lives of these kids," Fox said. "I know there's lots of people who say times are tough and we don't have the money, but we either pay for these programs now or pray for the victims later because crime doesn't wait until the economy improves." 

Fox emphasizes that despite problems highlighted in his report, crime isn't out of control. Recent crimes statistics indicate progress, including a drop in overall crime and murder rates between 2006 and 2007, the most recent year available. The numbers are a vast improvement over the 1990s when the emergence of crack cocaine fueled an explosion in violence, the Northeastern report said. In 1993, 225 out of every 100,000 blacks ages 14-17 committed homicide compared with 81 out of 100,000 today. 

But that's an increase from 2000, when the number was 66 per 100,000. 

"When you stop paying attention to it, when you stop working at it, the problems can and do rebound," Fox said. 

The report indicates guns are overwhelmingly the weapon of choice for young black offenders and are now used in nearly 85 percent of all homicides they commit, matching 1990s levels. The Rev. Jeffrey Brown, executive director of the anti-crime Ten Point Coalition in Boston, said the spike in gun murders by and on young blacks "bears out what I see on the streets every day." 

"The victim and perpetrators of gun crimes are getting younger and younger," he said. 

Expansion in government and after-school programs would be welcome, he said. He added that local families and the larger community groups, particularly churches, also need to do more helping kids and families at risk from violence. 

Teens - who Brown said "don't know from one day to the next if a bullet screaming through their street has their name on it or not" - talk to him about more mentoring and after-school programs, more strong male and female role models. They also wonder if their lives would be different if their fathers were around. 

"When you get to the street level, politics doesn't matter. What matters are these young people and the daily violence that they have to face, and is there anybody out there to help them?" Brown said. "That's their question." 

But some warn more money for more programs could be wasted. Kay Hymowitz, a Manhattan Institute fellow who has studied the breakdown of marriage in the United States, said programs for at-risk youth are often ineffective and don't address the root problem of absentee fathers and fractured black families. 

"We still need to bring the conversation around to the subject that everyone has been uneasy about, and that's the breakdown of the family," she said. 

Hymowitz said people have shied from addressing the disarray in the black family because "it sounds like blaming blacks to some people." But she said the issue must be confronted head on. 

"We don't know how to bring fathers back into the family, but we do know that the silence on the subject over the last 40 years has been a disaster for blacks and this (report) is evidence of that," she said.

Why are there no studies on the poor quality of the lives of  Black female teens being dissected and given news coverage? Oh right, Black women don't count! And racism apparently doesn't apply if you don't exist. This just plays right into the tired argument of how (all) Blacks are victims and pathetic. Will the NAACP and "Hot Comb" Al Sharpton have anything to say about this or will they be holding a press conference defending the criminals as per usual? Jesse Jackson Sr. has been awfully quiet lately!

White male teen murder rates have also increased during this same period, but apparently the media likes to talk about how depraved Black people are exclusively. Columbine? A fluke! The Oklahoma terrorism and militia groups and growth of the KKK amongst younger whites? Hogwash! 

Apparently women don't express their aggression in ways worthy of studying by these male researchers either. I can't help but wonder aloud if Fox is looking for notoriety and a grant or two for being  a 'Black male homicide crime expert'? It's not as if it would take a rocket scientist to surmise that neighborhoods full of callously neglected, unemployed, enabling, besieged and otherwise accepting of the circumstances people that the outcome would be any different. We don't need yet another white person telling Black people how to feel or what to think.

This isn't a Hollywood movie where the white teacher with a heart of gold risks their relative comfort to go preach to the 'heathen' colored children about how they don't have to be savages anymore because said great white teacher can show them the way of humanity. And we can all feel good in about 1.5 hours pretending that's all it takes. As if certain policies have not caused harm and even prevented tackling some of the underlying issues at hand.

This report offers no solutions, no strategies for change, no identification of key elements to use to enact change and little accountability. Except to tell people that certain elements of Black society offer a bleak existence at best.

I did not believe this myself until a few short weeks ago. Certain neighborhoods are breeding grounds for dangerous people who will commit every evil act imaginable. We can dissect all the reasons for it and offer numerous 'solutions'. It's just time to roll outta there. This is a real-life Grand Theft Auto video game and somebody else has control of the joystick. If you don't want to you and yours to be part of someone else's fun for kicks it's time to go! 

It's the countdown to 2009. Leave and don't look back.

False Mea Culpas from Bush & OJ

Karma is a debt that must be paid. OJ Simpson was reduced to tears and begging the judge for leniency at his sentencing hearing today. He had been found guilty for a dozen counts related to armed robbery and kidnapping. He might be eligible for parole in 9 years but I honestly don't see him getting out. So many people want to see him under the jailhouse for his role in the slaying of his ex-wife. Hmm, Johnny Cochran was a brilliant lawyer. 

OJ should have recognized the gift he'd been given with the unrestricted support he'd received from the Black community. He had been seen as a symbol for all those Black men who've historically been falsely accused, tried and murdered for crimes they had not committed. Black women foolishly defended a criminally-minded, self-hating and dangerous Black man and embued him with qualities he never had. So many of us still do this and it is to our detriment. Our only fortune was that he went right back to his white skin love and abandoned 'us' once again. He never learned the art of self-reflection or humility and continually escalated the behavior that would land him right back in the system. So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye - and good riddance.

Nepotism

War crimes (also known as torture and murder)

Bankrupting the country

Borrowing more money than we'll ever be to repay

Continuing to be clueless and not giving a damn - check, check check!

Now here's a man that should be in a prison cell right next to the Juice but justice truly is blind. Listening to this excerpt from the Dec 2nd interview with Charles Gibson I am floored. This man does not WANT to get it. The destruction has clearly been revealed for all to see. He made decisions that have caused irrevocable harm but because he has no conscience he is totally able to sleep at night. That is truly evil. 

Did I forget to mention how there's always some woman in the mix making excuses for the man she 'loves' no matter what he does. Yet Barbara Bush is afforded a level of respectability a drug dealer's partner would never get. There are a lot of women sitting in prison now because they turned a blind eye to the criminal acts of their partners. When will we ever learn?

Double Standards for Black Female Athletes

Brace yourself I feel a rant coming on!

Marion Jones was one of nearly 700 who requested a pardon or commutation of their sentence from Shrub. She was denied. One of the more notable pardons was granted to John Forte (Fugees) who was charged with intent to distribute narcotics because he went to the airport to retrieve a suitcase that contained $1.4M worth of cocaine.  We all make mistakes, but come on.

Marion was sent to prison for lying to Federal prosecutors about her use of performance-enhancing drugs. She was retroactively stripped of all her Olympic medals as well as her relay teammates, removed from the entire history of the IOC and had to return her prize money. Martha Stewart was sent to prison on a similar charge over a $50K stock trade. There's also the fact that taking questionable drugs cause long term damage to the body of an athlete. Now we can argue the merits of guilt and need for punishment for breaking the law but I feel uncomfortable with these results. Especially in comparison to the way crimes are viewed when committed by certain men. I know race, class, privilege and as usual - connections can make all the difference in how 'justice' is meted. Paging Scooter Libby....

Genarlow Wilson has been touted as a victim of harsh sentencing. Somehow if you and a group of your friends decide to have sex one after the other with a passed out girl (drunk/physically impaired = no consent = rape) in a hotel room and then move on to getting fellatio from a 15 year old and taping it for kicks, you the oppressed Black male is being railroaded by the 'system.' 

Moving on, one other thing that really irritates me is how the mental prowess and strategizing techniques of the elite athlete is completely ignored for physicality when the athlete is Black. Like with Serena and Venus Williams. If I hear one more correspondent talk about "their power" or how they "overpowered" their competition I will scream! Sheer strength is not enough to become the number-one ranked tennis player and remain for multiple years. 

Which is why I think the use of performance-enhancing drugs is far more prevalent than what the powers that be would have the general public believe. Is it with tacit approval but a 'don't ask don't tell' policy, where if you get caught you're on your own? After all, the US of A wants world dominance in every area including athletics. Who gets to decide what's legal and what's not? Alcohol used to be banned - and it never will be again no matter how many impaired people get behind the wheel of a vehicle and injure or kill others. So why was Marion Jones so publicly humiliated and jailed when she got caught? Was it the severity of the crime or was there more to it? She could've been potentially charged with other crimes - which she may have been acquitted of by a jury of her peers. Was it race or gender or both that motivated the prosecution?