Fear of being outed - great NYTimes story

Earlie Harrell, a high-ranking member of Sex Money Murder who goes by the street name Messiah and helped broker the truce after Tajahnique’s shooting, worked with local ministers and business owners to create Buy a Brother a Suit. One weekend last month, 13 members of the gang, including a 7-year-old boy, were picked up in a limousine, fitted for tailored suits, then honored at a church ceremony heralding the beginning of a nonviolent chapter of their lives.

This is reminiscent of the Everybody Gets a Trophy crowd.

You get picked up in a limo and honored for beginning a nonviolent chapter of your life! Hooray!

 

I see your point, Poin, but at the same time, putting people in jail doesn't seem to be working. In fact, jail time seems to only make gangs stronger as some offenders who weren't even in one before going to the clink join one on the inside.

Living in a horrible community, they're trying to do something, anything, to end the gang violence. If what they've been doing hasn't worked, it's time to try something new. If that means giving someone a suit even though they don't deserve it, well, that might be worth the price.

 

Honestly, would this problem be as bad as it is today if the gangster lifestyle was not shoved down these kids throats 24/7 on BET?

Whitlock is dead on about that.

Don't snitch Carmello.

 

How about a pair of work boots, and gloves, or a circular saw and tool box? No, a fucking limo ride and a suit. A suit, what's he going to do, walk in and start working at Goldman Sachs?

I'm sorry, its just beyond silly.

Great, you've taken your oath of nonviolence, and you got your limo ride, and suit. And honored at the church. Now what?

This is what its come to.. Churches honor young men when they take an oath not to shoot at each other.... We're doomed.

 

I'm not a regular BET watcher, but I wouldn't say it shoves "the gangster lifestyle" down anyone's throat.

 

Well, poin, to sway someone, you do have to kinda communicate with them in ways they understand. You're not going to get anywhere with Joe Clark walking around with a baseball bat.

 

I think the real problem with situations like this "oath of nonviolence" is the next day, and the one after that.

It's all well and good for a kid to be showered with praise and attention for making this promise, but he can't wear that suit forever. He can't spend the rest of his life in that church.

Eventually, he has to go back out into the world, and if he lives in an inner-city neighborhood, his world is probably pretty fucked up. And all the pretty promises and church ceremonies in the world aren't going to matter a bit.

 

Ironic that your pic is of who it is of considering what we are talking about here.

I honestly do not think an outsider to the black community will be able to solve this problem. Is has to happen from within.

 

My uncle and I talked about it in length over Easter about how quick the black community we live (city population around 66k) in get quiet when the police are trying to put the pieces together to find out what happen. The victim's family wants answers, but in certain cases, they will be several family members, close friends, and friends of friends who saw what happened, and not are willing to talk. Part of it is retaliation and part of it is mutual distrust of authorities.

That is one angle to the issue. I'm sure there are plenty more to this

 

I was going to mention in my original post that it's not like I'm an expert on inner-city life...I'm a small-town Southern guy. But by all accounts, what I've seen from watching the Wire is at least close to realistic.

 

I think this is the kind of thing 93Devil was referring to:

Sponsors drop BET's `Hot Ghetto Mess'

LOS ANGELES - At least two companies have pulled ads from the debut of BET's "Hot Ghetto Mess," a series that critics say puts black stereotypes on display but the channel calls "a blend of tough love and social commentary."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070711/ap_en_ot/tv_bet_hot_ghetto_mess_3

 

State Farm and Home Depot are racist companies.