Reply to Crime on the hill - Charles Allen has got to go

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It's about dehumanization.  It's sociopathy.  Incivility and violent crime share that common core and one can easily lead to the other.  [/quote]

I agree, but I also think it runs both ways. Black men in DC have been dehumanized by the system, as well as by their gentrifying white neighbors, for their entire lives. This is not an excuse but an explanation for how some of these men come to act. Poverty, limited educational options, the juvenile justice system (which takes angry young men and turns them into people with few choices outside criminal activity), racist economic policy, gentrification, etc. all combine to make these lives very hard to live. There are people who figure it out and rise above. But it isn't 100%, and some of those kids really never had a shot. I have spent some time with kids who are displaced do to domestic violence in DC, and I don't know what to tell you. There is nothing quite like talking to a 5 or 6 year old, who is every way just like every other 5 or 6 year old in the world, but who does not have a stable home, a consistent source of love and support, regular access to school, decent nutrition, opportunities to exercise, good examples for emotional regulation, and on and on. I grew up lacking a few of those things and while I'm not a criminal, there are times I really struggle. These kids don't have any of it. I know some of them grow up to commit the kinds of crimes that make our neighborhoods unsafe.

How do you help that 5 or 6 year old kid? You start by helping is parents. That means whatever you think of someone, you give them a hand because they have a child and you want to help the child. You have to address poverty, job access, housing. You need mental health services. You need healthcare. You need to stop using the police, the courts, and the jails to process every single thing that happens in these people's lives. They need some damn grace. They are people. They are human.

I detest violent crime and I am scared of what I see around this city right now. But you can't talk about the dehumanizing nature of crime without talking about the way we dehumanize so many people in this city every day and then expect them to turn around and live they way we want them to without a hand up.

It runs both ways.[/quote]

Blaming violent, sociopathic behavior on "white gentrifying neighbors" (who would also be called racist if they LEFT the neighborhood because "white flight") is offensive. And yes, lots of children through no fault of their own end up in terrible situations with horrible families who neglect and abuse them. That's a tragedy. But we are talking about a pattern of crime in our city wherein young black men commit violent acts and are excused from the consequences of them -- and so, not surprisingly, go on to commit more violent acts. Why is it that so many liberals in this city are so condescending about black people? Do you not think they should be held responsible for their behavior? You treat even the adults among them like children, which is offensive and racist. If a white 24 year old defrauded a bunch of investors in a start-up I assume you wouldn't argue that he should be spared prison because his brain isn't developed until he's 26 or his parents neglected him. Why are you making that argument about a 24 year old thug who is shoving guns in the faces of law-abiding citizens and terrorizing neighborhoods?

And the notion that we should just throw money at this deeply entrenched cultural problem (a culture that glorifies violence and claims hard work and educational achievement are "acting white") is laughable. There are already tons of programs aimed at helping all of these men. Every summer DC spends money offering jobs to at -risk youth; schools have free after school programs; rec centers do as well. Some kids benefit from these, but other young adults choose not to. Instead, we're told it's just an unsolvable "systemic" issue and that we just have to endure the criminal behavior. Enough. DC residents should start fighting back like law abiding folks in Philadelphia have been recently. Protect yourselves. Because this city's leaders don't care about your safety, even as they waste your hard earned money.[/quote]

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