Any serious attempt to solve inner-city gun violence is going to take an all-out, sustained, indeed, an unremitting effort, as well as money. How much money? That’s an easy question: Enough to get the job done.
The plain and simple truth is America has become the richest nation the world has ever known due primarily to the centuries of free labor provided by those it had enslaved. I’m talking about trillions and trillions of dollars worth of forced, free labor.
So yes, we blacks are owed some form of reparations. But instead of attempting to determine how much each person or family is owed for their ancestors’ work and then cutting them a check, I’d much rather the funds be spent solving the problems created by systematic, historic, and persistent racism, such as gun violence.
Government at various levels created the pernicious laws that robbed blacks of their freedom, their rights, their labor and a lot more. So therefore the primary responsibility for funding programs that eliminate violence and repair communities should fall to government. If the federal government built one less battleship (at $13 billion a pop), we could utilize those funds to begin to solve virtually all of the problems plaguing both the white and the black underclasses in this country. It’s all a matter of political will.
However, the philanthropic and corporate communities — if they ever seriously become dedicated to helping to solve the problem of gun violence (which is a big “if”) — can help to establish and finance the programs I’ve outlined in part two of this series. And the fact is the number of black and brown youth that would necessitate relocating and intense mentoring is relatively small. In a city the size of Cleveland we’re not talking about thousands of youth, but more likely hundreds.
The responsible, mature and caring black males recruited to serve as full-time, live-in mentors to these potentially wayward youth should be paid a decent salary for their services — and this is critical. No poverty pimps will be hired, only dedicated grown men. But I personally know of enough qualified black males that would jump at the chance to make a difference in the lives of these young, needy brothers.
The facilities, food and clothing allowances would have to be provided in sufficient amounts to allow such a program to work effectively. And I guarantee you the cost of creating such a safe environment would be substantially lower per year than the $27,000 it currently takes to house an individual in prison for 12 months. Again, it’s only a matter of will.
Addendum:
To begin to curtail the impunity with which young gangbangers operate in neighborhoods, a permanent gun buy-back program (not run out of a police precinct) should be instituted. Billboards would go up in certain communities that ask, DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR BOYFRIEND HIDES HIS GUN? WE’LL GIVE YOU $1000 FOR IT, NO QUESTIONS ASKED. CALL 216 — —-. Make the program easy. Meet those willing to help get guns off the street at a place of their choosing, and then take them to the bank to cash the check.
Additionally, an effectively run witness protection program should be established, one that pays witnesses well and moves them out of town if necessary for their safety. The reason no such program presently exists is because black lives are devalued by the majority culture. If such a program did exist thugs would begin to think twice about perpetrating violence in our neighborhoods.
Such initiatives could be financed via philanthropic and corporate funding and could make Cleveland a leader in solving the problem of urban violence. But do I seriously think these very wealthy entities are going to step up to the plate and put less than one-tenth of one percent of their wealth toward solving these systemic problems? Of course I don’t, but at least now these blowhards who talk a good game won’t be able to throw their hands up and state, “Gee, we’d like to help but we don’t know what to do.”
No, I just explained what needs to be done; it’s up to you to do it.
One Response to “MANSFIELD: The Answer to Inner-City Gun Violence, Part Three”
Kelvin Anderson
Yessir you are on thee right track to be honest I really dont believe they wanna stop gun violence