The Unshakable Reality of Violence
Shauntey McFarlane
Violent behavior among adults and young adults continues to be an ongoing curse that’s been prevalent for the past three decades.
In the Sunday, September 20th issue of the Daily News, an innocent young Harlem man was murdered and another was slain by a rival. Both men were in their early 20’s.
The headline, “Hundreds bid Harlem slay victim goodbye,” foreshadowed a heavy read from its’ start.
In this article, a young man was murdered in a case of mistaken identity. In an additional article of the same nature, in the same issue, on the same page, the headline, “Teen charged in Qns. Man’s murder,” depicted another horror I was in no hurry to approach.
Both murders consequently were committed by thugs affiliated with gangs.
The question which encumbers me is why?
What’s the point?
When one looks back on the history of gang formation, you would come to understand that gangs as far back as the 1960’s were formed for “political and social reform.” Subsequently [as in most cases with groups formed to supposedly protect] power got the best of the cause. Gangs were no longer used to protect, but used as a weapon to intimidate, coerce into submission and control neighborhoods, in most cases the very neighborhoods the gang members themselves lived in. “In the 1970’s the focus of gangs shifted from reform to criminal activity for profit. At this point gang activity was primarily confined to large cities.” www.usdoj.gov
An example of a few gangs that were formed to protect were MS13, Bloods, Crips, and Latin Kings, among others. The answer to the next question is obvious, are these gangs protecting or hurting their communities?
Think about that.
In case you didn’t get a chance to read the story in the Sunday, September 20th issue of the Daily News about the young Harlem man, his name was Glen Wright.
Wright was spending the weekend helping his grandmother around the house when he was stabbed by a group of thugs.
These thugs, these young men, confused Wright with another unknown man who supposedly attacked one of their “posse” members.
Reading that article, envisioning the horror, caused my heart to sink to the point of nausea. The article humanized the victim. Seeing his face, reading about “what he could have been,” caused me to bite my lips in an attempt to restrain the tear of another one lost.
Here’s another story reported in the same issue of the Daily News, “A heated beef turned deadly when a Queens teenagers opened fire on a parked car in Queens, killing 21-year-old rival,” police said.
All I can do was ask questions upon questions. Then the reality hit me [once more], there were two lives lost, the life of the victim and the perpetrator. After all, these are kids [in some cases] or the mentally underdeveloped [in most cases] and the ill-advised [in a lot of cases], committed these crimes.
So, what’s to become of their lives of the accused after they’ve served their time?
Will they return to what they were, or will they be reformed?
Some may say, “Who cares what will happen to those thugs.” But I suggest we should care; we should be circumspect for nothing is unique - there will always be another generation of misdirected youths. Who will guide them?
What some in these communities, neighboring communities and families of the victims and the villains often fail to realize is, these instances aren’t isolated.
What happens to one, affects the other, whether directly or indirectly.
There is a domino effect. I reminisce and ask, “What happened to the days when disputes were handled and you were alive to talk about it the next day?” Questions will eventually lead to answers, but not quick enough to save the lives of the attacked and the attacker.
How many victims does it take to successfully combat this gang pandemic? Is the problem bigger than the solution?
Let’s hope not.
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