> > >Steve Wash wrote: >"To all those who say: 'Let's get these homegrown drug >dealers off the street,' I'm saying let's look at >what's creating all these dope dealers," said Steve > >Wash, a south Minneapolis housing advocate. "It's the >only viable economic opportunity for many of these >young men. People don't want to hear that, but the >true problem is a solvable economic one." ></snip> > I have to disagree in part with my neighbor Steve Wash--a not uncommon event. Yes, drug dealing seems "the only viable economic opportunity" only if one insists that lots of money right away is the only solution. Much more than economics involved. There are other pieces to this puzzle which are far more intractable than economics. There is the belief that education is a "white thing" which is used every day against African American kids who are struggling to learn and used to keep them from learning. True enough, the situation under which they learn is racist. It is also sexist and classist, anti-intelectual, and etc. but the job, for any kid, is to learn and keep learning. Many of the drug dealers I run across are very bright but abysmally ignorant of so, so many common skills.
There is an overflowing well of rage and resentment (justifiable), yet not much of a clue how to manage that power to go forth rather than to self-destruct. No matter the cause, once one's 18, adulthood is learning to contend. It's a heavy burden, but none of those who suffer under the onus of race, class, nationality, gender, and whatever other silly s**t we subject each other to, we still have to overcome it ourselves, in company with a few good pals to buck us up in the down times when it all seems too much. If we gave every African American male between 18 and 21 from a poor family $1,700 a month (that's what I make, so it's my litmus for how much it costs to keep body and soul together) to live on, it would not solve the problem because in giving it we simultaneously take something precious away. I don't have a term for, but it involves a positive self-love and dignity. Work, for adults, is what organizes our lives. I would contend that no male or female or undecided person 18 to 21 years of age can contend with him/herself 24-7. Work gives one a boss who organizes some of that time. School gives a way to organize that time. I think we need to dispell some of the destructive myths that poor African American kids, and consequently adults, operate from. As my dad repeated often, "money won't bring you happiness, but it will give you some classy misery." WizardMarks, Central > >_______________________________________ >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 > _______________________________________ 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
