Growing up in a Ghetto = Growing up too Fast

Some kids don’t get a childhood. Instead, they just grow up. The happy memories of playing outside with friends are replaced with memories of fear, gunshots, dirty needles, and murder. Once you have seen that, you can never be a kid again.

Alex Kotlowitz, an American author and journalist, wrote a book entitled There Are No Children Here in which he chronicles the lives of two black boys growing up in the infamous Henry Horner Homes housing projects in Chicago. These boys experience things that no child should. In the preface of the book, Kotlowitz states that by the time children in Chicago’s inner city

Reach adolescence, they have contended with more terror than most of us confront in a life time. They have lived with fear and witnessed death. Some of them have lashed out. They have joined gangs, sold drugs and in some cases inflicted pain on others.

The ghetto is a rough place to grow up indeed. But, what makes a ghetto? Why does growing up there cause a youth to automatically forfeit his childhood? The Harvard sociologist William Julius Wilson would say generational poverty – plain and simple.

It all started with integration. Once upon a time black people lived in the same neighborhoods, but once well-to-do blacks could move to better areas, they left all the poor blacks in the neighborhoods by themselves. This created pockets of very low income areas. In the 80’s crack came out of nowhere and violence skyrocketed. Not wanting to deal with that, businesses fled along with the rest of the tax base and community resources.

The consequences of these economic and social forces were female headed households, welfare dependency, and chronic joblessness. For a young black male this is a perfect storm. Nothing hurts a young man more than to see his mother struggle, so if the alternative to an empty refrigerator is pushing dope then so be it.

Unfortunately, these are the types of decisions young black men and boys are faced with in the inner city ghetto. Until we have walked a mile in their shoes, we should not judge. If there were more opportunities in their area, I am sure they would take advantage of them.

References

Kotlowitz, A. (1991). There are no children here: The story of two boys growing up in the other America. New York, NY: Anchor Books.

Wilson, W. J. (1987). The truly disadvantaged: The inner city, the underclass, and public policy. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press

Black-Male-Sex-Object: Why Do We Keep This Stereotype Alive?

A while ago, I did a post about the Central Park 5, a group of young boys accused of raping a white women in New York City. The story was terrible because it brought back ideas about black men as sex crazed deviants. While it turned out that the young men were completely innocent the sting of the stereotype still hurt. But, if I am honest with myself, Black people and black men in particular, do a lot to contribute to the image of black men as sex fiends.

I was on Hulu watching a trailer for the film Dear White People, and a gentlemen made a comment about the angry black people in the movie. In response to a comment about stereotypes of black men he stated

“How dare white people think black men are sex crazed thugs?” But we glorify in music and other media the part of our community that are sex crazed thugs. You can cry all you want about negative stereotypes of blacks in the media but those perceptions will persist as long as the dysfunction in the black community persists to the extent that it does.

I read the comment, and I had to pause for a second and say “there is some truth to what he is saying.” The song lyrics of Lil Wayne, Trey Songz, T.I. and many others could make anyone blush. There is talk of infidelity, fornication, three-somes, rape and anything else you can think of. But that is not the worst of it.

The bad part, and I am sure a lot of people will agree, is that we sing and dance to the songs. We like them, and we turn up the volume when they come on the radio. So, if these songs are so great, why do we protest when the “white media” says black men are sexual miscreants and sites rap music as evidence?

Truth be told, there is a double standard. It is just like the use of the ‘N’ word: we can say it, but the minute someone else says it we break out the protest signs. I do not condone the use of that word by others, nor do I like it when the media says bad things about black men. However, I do recognize that if we want it to stop, we have to stop giving them fuel for their fire.

A History Lesson: Robert Smalls the Civil War Hero

Here is something I bet you did not know. On May 13, 1862, at the age of 23, a South Carolina slave named Robert Smalls out witted Confederate navel officers by making off with one of their ships, the Planter, and delivering it to the Union Army. Yes, it is a shocking story, but it is completely true.

Smalls was forced to work aboard the ship by the Confederacy, and he did so for a year before he and the other enslaved crewmen took control of the ship one night while the captain and crew were ashore asleep. Smalls was flirting with death. Before, he could safely deliver the ship and get to freedom he had to pass four Confederate check points: Castle Pinckney, Fort Ripley, Fort Johnson and Fort Sumter.

To ensure that he would not be detected, he dressed up as the captain of the ship. Because he looked the part, the fort workers could not tell he was a slave, and he was allowed to pass. When he reached the Union naval blockade, he said, “I am delivering this war material, including these cannons, and I think Uncle Abraham Lincoln can put them to good use.”

Smalls was awarded $1,500, the appraised worth of the ship he delivered, and used it to purchase his former owner’s home for himself and his family.  was not Smalls’s last historical act. After the war Smalls made history again by becoming a part of the first generation of black politicians during Reconstruction. He served in the South Carolina State Assembly and the U.S. House of Representatives before racists forces barred African-American from public service.

Smalls was an extraordinary black man indeed. Using incredible intelligence and bravery, he was able to sail himself to freedom and become a member of Congress. His story tells us that no matter our circumstances, we can do great things. That is why it is so important to know our history.

“Of all our studies, history is best qualified to reward our research.”

-Malcolm X in Message to the Grassroots

References

Robert Smalls: A Daring. (2013). PBS. Retrieved from Escapehttp://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/video/robert-smalls-a-daring-escape/

Which Slave Sailed Himself to Freedom? (2013). PBS. Retrieved from ://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/history/which-slave-sailed-himself-to-freedom/