A fifteen year old male in San Bernadino, California was shot in the head in front of 100 people while coming out of a chicken joint. And yet not one witness has come forward to share information with the police.
At fifteen I was worried about the cute guy who I wanted to call me, but I wasn't worried about being shot straight in the head.
At fifteen, I got into he say/she say arguments with girls that were more than likely motivated by pettiness and jealousy, but none of those arguments lead to a bullet straight in the head.
At fifteen, I tried to hang with my brother's friends who were two years older than me, I was often in more mature situations than I could process, but I never thought about being shot straight in the head.
I would tell you the race of this fifteen year old. But what difference does it make? Any fifteen year old-white, black or brown- with good sense will tell you he's not ready die. Anybody person older than fifteen-white, black or brown- with good sense will tell you that they are not ready to die either. In fact, a 50 year old American will tell you that at 50, they're just getting started.
When we hear that a senseless act of violence involved a black teen, some of us unconsciously say to ourselves, "He probably deserved it." When we hear of a brown child involved in a senseless act of violence, some of us say to ourselves, "They're just like that." But when we hear of a white child involved in a senseless act of violence, we are most likely to say, "Oh, poor thing." We will even get outraged because whatever the case, we believe because he was white that he didn't deserve to become a victim of violence.
But at 15, no matter the color, bullets should not end your life. It doesn't matter if you live in the projects or in a Manhattan hi-rise, 15 years of age, is too young to die. When are we going to start getting outraged for all teens who are dying too young because of senseless violence. Are we truly so unevolved that we can't see the importance of life through race and economics?
At fifteen I was worried about the cute guy who I wanted to call me, but I wasn't worried about being shot straight in the head.
At fifteen, I got into he say/she say arguments with girls that were more than likely motivated by pettiness and jealousy, but none of those arguments lead to a bullet straight in the head.
At fifteen, I tried to hang with my brother's friends who were two years older than me, I was often in more mature situations than I could process, but I never thought about being shot straight in the head.
I would tell you the race of this fifteen year old. But what difference does it make? Any fifteen year old-white, black or brown- with good sense will tell you he's not ready die. Anybody person older than fifteen-white, black or brown- with good sense will tell you that they are not ready to die either. In fact, a 50 year old American will tell you that at 50, they're just getting started.
When we hear that a senseless act of violence involved a black teen, some of us unconsciously say to ourselves, "He probably deserved it." When we hear of a brown child involved in a senseless act of violence, some of us say to ourselves, "They're just like that." But when we hear of a white child involved in a senseless act of violence, we are most likely to say, "Oh, poor thing." We will even get outraged because whatever the case, we believe because he was white that he didn't deserve to become a victim of violence.
But at 15, no matter the color, bullets should not end your life. It doesn't matter if you live in the projects or in a Manhattan hi-rise, 15 years of age, is too young to die. When are we going to start getting outraged for all teens who are dying too young because of senseless violence. Are we truly so unevolved that we can't see the importance of life through race and economics?
1 comment:
wow. It's so eerie how perceptive you are to the things going on in society with young people writing this a day before VA Tech. And you're so right that race shouldnt matter because with VA you know the fact that he is Asian is already coming into play.
100 folks though? That's so disheartening . ..and as a journalist reminds me of the importance to get the story out there. This is the first I heard of the shooting.
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