Getting Past Youth Terrorism
So I’m sick and tired of conversations about the state of Black youth ending with the same played-out solutions—restoring strong family values. Now don’t get me wrong, of course family is important, but we are mistaken if we think that broken homes are the main factors fueling gang violence. If we should blame anything it should be the freedom of humyn kind. That’s right, all moral impositions—respect, honest work, luck—remain fluid and vulnerable to one’s departure. It’s the social situation that determines the logic and integrity of any value.
You probably know where I’m going with this. When I see groups of Black youth disrespecting my younger sisters, disrespecting my physical proximity to those womyn in my life, I see hard lessons learned. People of color in America learn early on that honest work never saved anyone from the poor house nor discrimination. Thus, in opposition to a demoralizing structure, it only makes sense that Black youth terrorize the streets. Power, decoded as the escape from helplessness, is achieved through violence much easier than attempting to live a morally sound life, especially in an anti-Black world.
A more robust conclusion to this never ending conversation proposes the mobilization of Black youth against racism. Racism, which requires the impotence of people of color to function, regarding the practical change of our socio-economic conditions, deserves our energy. Not only would an organization guided by theory and prepared to defend itself address crucial structural elements, but will also safeguard the colorful community from its mystified bastards.
You know, those are the kids with normal psychic faculties, who explode to purge themselves of repressed anger—repressed in hope that things will change in good faith. We cannot blame them for their anger, because they simply cannot find the body from which their troubles originate. Maybe if they could discover this body the displacement of their anger would be effective and positive.
