>>Once again the community activists come out when a black person is shot by the >police. But why aren't they over here off of Lowry? Why aren't they telling the >black kids to get off the street corners and clean up the neighborhood they live in? >I see more people sitting on the stoop of their house with beer cans and bottles in >the front yard. What's up with that? I just would like to see these activists facing >up to the real problems on a day to day basis her on the northside.<<<
To begin with, the more appropriate question would be why aren't you asking ALL of the kids to get off of the street corners and help clean up the neighborhood? First off, it's your neighborhood and as such the responsibility first lies with you to make the attempt, second it's disturbing that you targeting only the Black kids to get off the corner. Are you saying that only the Black kids should have the responsibility of cleaning up the neighborhood, or only the Black kids are trouble makers? More to the point, perhaps you haven't been paying attention to the works of organizations such as The City, Inc., the Urban League, Men of MARCH, etc. but they are working everyday with youth of ALL colors to help them see responsibility and options. But it's also up to every person living in a neighborhood, every citizen in a city, and more importantly every adult in a community with youth to make that step. I'm a little old-fashioned in that when I was growing up, if Mrs. Johnson caught you doing wrong, she would at very least tell you to stop (might spank your behind too) send you home, call your parents and then there would be punishment waiting there too. Times change, but the reaction must remain the same. Next time you see youth on the corner, go and talk to them. Explain why you have a problem, go and talk to their parents, talk with your other neighbors and work together on it. Make an effort besides complaining about what you think activists should be doing. Rosalind already addresses the main point, but to add to it, community activist come out when there is an injustice not just when a Black person is shot. It doesn't matter the color, it matters as to what happened. There have been an overwhelming number of Blacks inappropriately shot and killed by police officers over the years, so a reaction to shootings is not misplaced. Police have historically abused power against people of color, especially Blacks. We are all fortunate that that has changed a lot in the last 20-30 years, but it isn't totally gone. There are a lot of good police officers out there, I've worked with a number of them including Melissa Schmidt, but there are a lot of bad people in the world, and some of them are in uniform, some are on street corners. The bottom line is that there needs to be better relations between the police and the community as a whole. And neighbors can support this by getting to know one another and doing more community policing as well as outreach to the people in their neighborhood. Before you call 911 on that "group of Black kids" on the corner, try talking to them and finding out why they're there and what is going on in their heads. The answers might surprise you. Jonathan Palmer Stevens Square-Loring Heights in transition to Victory _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
