What we’re seeing in “the charm city” reflects not racism nor Republican oppression–the city has been run by Democrats for generations and currently has an African American mayor and police chief. The police force itself is about half black.
No, what we’re seeing is the result of decades of social policies that break up poor families, that remove the necessary influence of fathers from the homes, that tell young black men that they have rights without responsibilities, that lower educational standards in favor of selfish public employee unions, that say work and character are optional, that respect preening self-expression rather than achievement, that imply religion is only for the weak, and say that violence is an acceptable form of speech.
Combined with the lack of opportunity they see in their crumbling communities, along with the dawning realization that they are ignorant and ill-equipped for the world as it is and cannot hope (in their sane moments) to get a piece of the wealth all around them, it’s almost no wonder that these young men–created in God’s image–stoop to pick up chunks of cement as a form of social protest.
Then we step back, put our hands over our mouths, and wonder what this world is coming to.
One final thought: Didn’t we used to shoot looters? Have we decided, in our guilt, to “give them space to destroy” as payment for our condescending hubris?
