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So when I read about the Broad Ripple Neighborhood Association citing that "outsiders" were the culprits I get a little scared. What do you consider an outsider? A black person? A non-white? When News Feed responses (of the News Media Posts) generalize certain clothing styles, hairdos, tire/rim sizes, and shades of skin as "thugs", I am petrified at how you would like my nephew to present himself as he rides his bike. When we as a community (predominantly Caucasian) feed into the fear instead of working towards educational, social, and professional solutions I start to wonder about what to tell my nephew about why. Why do we get looks in public? Why can't I wear my hair a certain way? Why can't I go out past dark? Why?
I don't condone this violence. I won't begin to understand why you need to bring a gun to go dancing or meet girls. I used to fight with my fists and that served me just fine. There are reasons. There are explanations. The music didn't do it. Can't blame it on the alcohol. Maybe it was gang related. I don't know. How are we going to respond as a community to ensure our fear doesn't turn into misguided, ignorant, complacent, generalizing, racism? I said it. Far be it from me to have an answer today, but hopefully this produces a glimpse of clarity and reduces your fear to sympathetic concern for the community as a whole. If I'm living in Indianapolis, I'm living in Broad Ripple. I fear that these types of incidents change our perceptions in drastic ways. So when you see a young, black teenager blazing down Broad Ripple Avenue on his bike I hope you don't see a thug, or an outsider, or a gangsta. I hope you see a kid whose uncle just kicked him off Xbox, and needed to feel the air in his face on his way to BRICS to grab a scoop and muster up the courage to launch his beautiful smile at a pretty girl.
S. Cooley
Who are the ones committing these kind of crimes? You need not look any further than that fact alone. They are genocidal maniacs. Until they can uprise like they did during slavery and during the civil rights movement, nothing will change. They will continue to kill each other because there is no unity and no sense of self amongst other things. So, since that's the case, why would Broad Ripple Neighborhood Associations or any other sane individuals want these heathens around? You just better hope your nephew doesn't decide to sneak out of the house one night at the request of one of his friends to hang out on the strip because he just might get hit by a stray bullet. Maybe then you'll understand what I am saying to you.
ReplyDeleteand that's why people such as yourself and Arianna Cercie need to stay at home behind closed door because we don't need people like you in our society. That mans post NEVER once pointed the finger at any specific race yet there is always someone in the crowd that has to bring that into it. It's not about race it's about our community and the way we raise our kids!
DeleteI agree and like the way you think, cristo.
ReplyDeleteCristo and Arianna. As a Broad Ripple parent, a Broad Ripple business owner and as a Broad Ripple homeowner, I do not approve of the crime, violence or your racist sweaping generalizations. You two are great examples of why racism still holds on in this society. I wish you nothing but the best. S. Cooley, I appreciate the dialogue.
ReplyDeleteThe largest forced slavery known to man kind was from genocidal heathens. This incident is nothing compared to that CountofMonteCristo. Choose your words wisely buddy.
ReplyDeleteCristo and Arianna. To answer your question as to who commits “these kind of crimes”, the answer is EVERYONE. The crime committed Saturday night was ONE person deciding to shoot another person and their stupidity has now affected several others who were present. One person’s actions, does not mean an entire group of people or a specific culture should now be blamed. Males commit crimes at a rate 9x that of females and make up 90% of incarceration inmates in Indiana (according to the Indiana Dept. of Corrections, 2014). Furthermore, Caucasian males represent over 60% of the incarcerated population in Indiana. Caucasian males commit over 90% of all mass school shootings and over 95% of serial killers in the U.S. are Caucasian males. Date rape is an issue that occurs regularly in broadripple and guess who commits the majority of those offenses......? I think you know where I am going with this.
ReplyDeleteGenocide, according to Webster’s Dictionary, is defined as the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation. In the U.S. what specific groups of people have the most history of committing mass genocides? Caucasians males. The truth is, in the U.S. we are more likely to be a victim of any crime at the hands of a Caucasian male than any other group. Does this mean we now ban them from areas and classify them as “thugs and outsiders”? Just like getting rid of guns will not eliminate murder, banning or ridding an area of a certain group or culture of people will not end crimes because ALL people commit crimes not only a specific group of people. Let’s all educate our self before spreading inaccurate and harmful rhetoric.
This.
DeleteGreat article, S. Cooley. I completely agree. I've had a hard time articulating this sentiment, but this definitely captured it.
ReplyDeleteNice wording for a difficult issue. Uh, Cristo, Alexander Dumas was a Black man. There is no escape into worlds of us and you, at this point. As difficult as it may be from time to time we have to work together, and even see one another during social outings. Believe it or not anyone can learn to accept the humanity of the other humans who populate this earth if they so desire. I suggest you begin by studying history; the era of your namesake is a good place to start.
ReplyDeleteCrime can be sometimes shocking, but fear is contagious. Each and every one of you have a responsibility to your community. If you want it to be a better place, then I suggest you make it happen.
ReplyDeleteI guess my question is what should the appropriate response be? Do I see your nephew riding his bike and think he may shoot me? Absolutely not. But when the news is plastered with stories of violence and the culprits tend to dress the same, have the same hair do's, and a certain size of rims it's natural to generalize. And by generalize I don't mean black, I mean anyone dressed like that and standing on the corner of Broad Ripple Ave at 1 am. If all the violence reported on the news was caused by the "Bridge Kids" then society would have the same reaction when they saw people dressed that way.
ReplyDelete