Black Community - Self Destruction

I was utterly depressed when I read about the shooting incident which occurred on the night of the 29 March in Stockwell, where an innocent man and a young girl were seriously injured.

To have young black boys not only having access to guns but also willing to use them in such an indiscriminate manner is beyond belief. What goes through these boys' minds God only knows? The sad fact is that this is not an isolated incident and these outrages will continue. For me the obvious question is where are the parents of these boys in all this.

Most of these incidents in London and other inner cities across the country, the common denominator are that the victims and perpetrators are young and black. However, in this situation two innocent bystanders were caught in the crossfire. Over the years many initiatives and much government expenditure has been ploughed in trying to turn the tide of violence plighting the black community. But yet black-on-black crime spreads like an incurable cancer.

As this crisis deepens, black leaders have put the responsibility on teachers, blamed it on racism, unemployment and even slavery. However few if any never approach the heart of the matter. A stable nurturing family can help a black child beat all those obstacles and come out a decent and responsible member of society.

It is time (30 years too late in my opinion) for black people to look at their parenting skills. If black families and communities do not take as their responsibility to help keep black boys from getting astray, it makes it frankly impossible for the rest of the wider society, from law enforcement agencies to business to government to help.

Too many black "baby fathers" make children as trophies and do nothing to raise them or show them decent masculinity. There are black mothers who are also violent and hopeless and do little to stop their sons (and sometimes daughters) being drawn into the pervasive black sub-culture of drugs, rap and violent crime.

The government needs to get tougher on the failing black parents of criminal children and force them to attend classes. Black children are vastly over-represented in penal institutions and foster care. Black families must bite the bullet and start taking responsibility for their children and not blame society for the truly chaotic situation that they have themselves created. It is only when black parents, along with black community leaders, black politicians and the wider black community realise this, and only then will this tragic descent into complete self-destruction be halted. The culture of non-responsibility and self-denial among Afro-Caribbean people needs to stop or else black people will become pariahs in society; feared and hated by all.