Atlanta's CBS 46 should win some type of award for this effort. Wendy Saltsman has been doggedly following this situation for several years and working to both bring awareness of this situation and hold someone accountable for the situation in which so many innocent Black people are being terrorized by the conditions in their community.
This news segment is one of the best examples that I have ever seen of how certain operatives are "Working ON BEHALF OF THE BLACKS" rather than working WITH THEM SO THEY MIGHT CHANGE and thus create a better situation.
The interview of the 2 Black mothers who live in fear was a good means of establishing a reference for the conditions within the area. The fact that it was so easy for Saltsman to find empty shell casings was a powerful indicator as well.
The City Council Member Blames The Police Chief
First on deck was Atlanta City Councilman Lamar Willis. Sadly he has real world evidence of the situation because his own mother was shot by a stray bullet. I recall this news event from a few years ago. Indeed he is an authority on the violent and unfavorable situation.
Councilman Willis blamed Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington for the situation. Since the area has been neglected by the Police the violence and threats continue.
This redirection got me thinking: Just as the 92 year old Carolyn Johnston was killed in the context of enhanced police presence within a crime ridden Black community in another area - this particular politician - a Black Democratic council member is similarly (or at least tacitly) demanding that the police set up an enhanced focus on this area and its criminals. Nearly without fail - the police become the targets of community scorn as the criminals receive the "Justice Thurgood Marshall Justice" treatment after some aggressive action by the police. The police are in a "no-win" situation.
The Mayor Blames Gun Laws
Next up was Mayor Shirley Frankly of Atlanta. I was watching a recording of this newscast at 2 am. The comments of Ms. Mayor caused me to scream, nearly waking the kids. I have to give Franklin credit as a politician.
She held the empty shells that were given to her by Saltsman and Shirley Franklin got the mileage that she wanted to out of the situation. She blamed the violent situation on "LAX GUN LAWS"!!!!!!
This requires analysis. These state gun laws are present around the entire state. We could walk the entire state of Georgia looking for both empty shells and terrorized people. Indeed we might find many shells in Georgia. They will more than likely be present in the wilderness, left behind by deer and wild turkey hunters. Instead of terrorized "humans" there will be terrorized wildlife around where these shells are found.
The question that must be asked of Shirley Franklin and her shift upon the gun laws is "Why, Ms Franklin, are there not empty shells and terrorized residents in most of the other zipcodes in your city and most other densely populated areas of the state? " Sorry Ms Mayor this argument simply does not hold up. You did a good job in punting the issue and throwing a bone to those individuals who are previously inclined to agree with you about Gun Control. I am not biting.
The Community Actor-vists Who Were Not Interviewed For The Segment
Wendy Saltsman failed to capture the voice of one faction that frequently appears on her station's broadcasts - the Community Actorvists. These are operatives such as "The Concerned Black Clergy of Metro Atlanta", the SCLC, the Atlanta chapter of "Rainbow PUSH", the anti-police harrassment activist group "10/10" and the local Black media (WAOK AM, V-103 FM, Atlanta Voice, Dekalb Crossroads and several others).
When Black folks are terrorized - they are usually first on the protest line demanding ACTION. It is clear right now to see that IT IS NOT "terrorized Black folks" that proves to be their trigger into action.
They are more interested in fighting against the ASSAILANT which is terrorizing the Black community BUT this assailant must be:
- A law enforcement authority such as the Police or DEA
- A judicial authority such as a District Attorney or Judge
- A Republican
- A White Conservative
- A Black Conservative
Now you might see these groups argue that the reason why these Black Assailants are attacking other Blacks and terrorizing the community is because of the "long length of the slavemaster's whip" which still beats upon us today. Even though the gun man was born in 1990......his actions are grandfathered in to the veil of coverage for the treatment done to his great-great-great-grand father.
The present day weakness of the Community Actor-vist forces is that truly the changed circumstances within which these authority figures listed above operate in - has given them far fewer "exploitable surfaces" to operate upon as their mission. They "WON" the battle to bring these forces into order via the body of law that is present. Today they are left to manage the EXCEPTIONS which violate the law while being neutralized as they don't have a body of work built up on how to deal with the KEY ASSAILANT upon the Black community today - OTHER MEMBERS OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY.
It is quite logical for them to do today what any organization who doesn't want to CHANGE after doing the needed INTROSPECTION to insure their relevancy - they EXPAND THE POLICE TAPE UPON THE ENTIRE NATION!!
They are able to avoid blame and accountablility for the continued assault upon the Black community DESPITE having the favorable array of people governing the key local instittuions upon which the Black community depends upon for our safety, education and economic interests. No fox guarding the hen house is going to turn over the surveilence tapes of his own actions........to HIMSELF for prosecution of HIMSELF......thus the most logical course of action for this Black Establishment that controls the Black community to do is to GO FOR THE LONG BALL!!! Go NATIONAL, seeking to scale up their control so that in the illusion of FORWARD PROGRESS in the POLITICAL domain is made to be forward progress in the Black Cultural and Community domain.
With so many Blacks being complicit in the matter......with so many Blacks thankful that the people who live in the zip code 30318 are not living in THEIR zip code - this forward march on behalf of the Progressives and the Democratic Machine has no particular consequence on their own livelihood. They are not inclined to demand that this machine actually DELIVER to 30318 that was promised when a favor city councilman, school board representative, mayor, city council majority, county commission representative, county commission majority, county commission chair, US Representative, State House Representative, State Senator were elected as a "Person of their OWN" in power, representing their BEST INTERESTS.........or so they were told.
The biggest irony that I face as I make my observations and then debate with other Blacks on these critical subjects is that the most difficult task of all is to get BLACK PEOPLE TO FOLLOW THROUGH AND DEMAND THAT THE PROMISES THAT WERE MADE TO THEM ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL BE ACUTALLY DELIVERED UPON BY THOSE THEY VOTED FOR.
It is clear to me that most Black people would rather debate about REPUBLICANS and CONSERVATIVES than they show any resolve in showing their DISTANCE between the political operatives that they have put into power and the PERMANENT INTERESTS that have yet to be delivered upon by these same operatives.
It appears that in making such demands there is a fear that the POWER will vacate the Black community because we have pissed them off and thus our long time adversaries might sweep back into power. Thus our community just sits back and allows it all to happen, hoping that the joy from the next election victory will cover the pain within.
The Solution To The Problem
It is important to listen to the prescriptions offered by people - especially the politicians. Note how much they talk about the operatives who are executing the situation which is problematic. Notice if these people are included in the solution. In this interview I heard these individuals - who are mostly young Black males - being referenced as "managed cattle" that need to be regulated rather than "responsible human beings" that need to be rationalized with.
Those individuals who are most inclined to see these young souls as "history's victims", direct decendants of Slaves, who's culture was stolen from them some time ago which has lead to their present dysfunction. In this scenario the fix for these people resides in someone else's outside actions to REPAIR them.
When I suggest that a change in their thinking will lead to their behavior I am not only talking about the need to do youth intervention such as "conflict resolution". You can hear this from nearly all of the community activists as they go to the government demanding funds on the front end lest this same government spend money jailing them on the back end.
The more comprehensive and enduring correction resides in THE PEOPLE WITHIN THE COMMUNITY who BUY INTO THE VALUE of:
- Having a safe community where they live in peace rather than fear
- Having young Black males who are net protectors of the entire community rather than the main threat to it
It is the politicians who most exploit this situation. Either they directly engage the people asking them to vote a certain way in support of this struggle for change OR in dealing with a group of detachted people who don't vote because they are decoupled from the process these same politicians will WORK ON BEHALF OF the people.
The politicians exploiting them and the community activists who rant on their behalf have some measure of assumed inferiority of these people. They are not looked to as the central human resource that is necessary to accept new terms of living so that they might prosper.
Those peddling RESENTMENT and RIGHTS need to be put aside.
In their place must come new MESSAGES and new MANAGEMENT SKILLS in which RESENTMENT is replaced by RESOLVE to do what is necessary as an individual to lift the community up. Where RIGHTS - derived from the external government is resplaced by RESPSECT for others within.
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