Is it Alright Sometimes for Black Folks to be Criminals?

[Sumyr]

Soy Negra, interesting post. To answer the question: Is it Alright Sometimes for Black Folks to be Criminals? I would have to answer like this. In my area, they are building more prisons, and "correctional facilities" but won't let major businesses (Nissan Distribution Plant or other major distributers) come into this community. A new Correctional Facility just opened two weeks ago and plans are to build more.

Over 70% (guesstimate) of the prison population is black. Because of this, women are left knowingly sharing men because there is a shortage of good men. Children are growing up fatherless.

When these criminals do enter back into society, most are not productive and often find themselves back into the prison system for a more heinous crime. Most have lost there right to even vote in an election - for life. They often have to continue to pay restitution for their crimes long after they are released. So, that minimum wage job that they land when they get out hardly covers living expenses. Thus they become frustrated and often revert back to their criminal ways.

I could go on all day, but I wont. So based on this information I have listed, I would have to answer "NO" it "ISN'T" alright for black folks to be criminals sometimes - unless you can entertainment me with some pertinent facts as to why it is so beneficial for blacks to be criminals.

[Soy Negra]

This is the point I was trying to make (assuming you all read the article on Frank Lucas).

Oftentimes, I find that my desire for Black people to overcome the white power structure interferes with my being a 'good citizen', my ‘love for humanity’ or my ‘morals’. And I’m honest about it. I try not to take the moral highground which is why I said sometimes I believe I’m jacked.

Yes, incarceration of Black men is skyrocketing as are all the attendant ills. And yes, it’s horrible for anyone to be a criminal, glorify criminality or desire a criminal life. And I like to think I'm above the ignorance of watching another gangster movie just because it's 'gangster' and has guns, drugs and blood in it. Or just because Denzel's in it. In fact, I wonder why he chose to do it after all the backlash he got from Training Day. Is he selling out? Is there a message he wants to put across to black folks?

But anyway..., the point I intended but obviously failed to make is: When does one’s love for one’s race interfere with one’s love for the larger world especially when so much in the world is against black people? That is my point. Not whether it's great for black people to go out and just cause mayhem...

I wasn’t trying to be simplistic or bait myself with my initial post on this thread. I was looking at the larger picture.

It’s interesting for me to read the replies here, because most of you appear to be taking the moral high ground (which is all alright...).

But what’s the difference between what Frank Lucas did selling millions in dope to our community, getting arrested and bringing down the SIU (which was racist and part of the white power structure), and a kid on the street selling a few hundred dollars worth of crack - the same kid that so often we overlook maybe because we're too scared to call the cops because he and his posse might get back at us?
If we saw either Lucas or our neighborhood hustler on the street, how many of us would rush home and call the police? If there are youngsters in your neighborhood up to no good, who do you blame? The system for not providing opportunities for them (jobs etc), parents for not raising them well, television, the media, slavery, racism…?

When you see the police stop and search them, do you get mad? And if so why? Are you happy if these young men get away when the police are after them? If not, why?

Why did so many of us jump up and cheer when OJ was acquitted? Was he guilty or innocent or didn’t it matter? Did we jump because we were happy that a judicial system historically biased towards black men failed to nail OJ or were we happy because we believed he was innocent? Or when MJ was acquited?

I was trying to get at whether or not race-consciousness, race-love whatever you wanna call it - especially given black people's history - is more important than the law, love for humanity and everybody of every color just getting along.

That was my point. Not glorifying criminality or being ignorant.

[Babydoll]

I dont think thet believing it's wrong to commit crimes is "taking the moral high ground". Of course everything should be taken in context. When blacks sat down at lunch counters and on public buses they were crimes and had to be committed to force change. But, selling drugs in the community and murdering your wouldn't even compare.

So, when used the example of drug selling, I think anyone's first reaction would be..NO! There's no justification for that and it's not something we can turn around and be proud of because of the number of lives it destroys.

[AfroIdealist]

No, because either way its still hurt Black people. The White drug lords were not part of the community and they weren't going to be plagued by the aftereffects. Now if the guy had overtaken the territory of the white clientele that would have been impressive (but still morally wrong).

[Samoon]

Let me give you some "food for thought" my brotha:

"When Amerikka gets a cold? Black folks get the Flu."

As stated in the quote section on the AC: "When you look for justice? That is what you will find--JUST US!" Starting to get it now? All we have IS each other. Be well. :)

[matrixone05]

Originally Posted by Soy Negra

This is the point I was trying to make (assuming you all read the article on Frank Lucas).

I was trying to get at whether or not race-consciousness, race-love whatever you wanna call it - especially given black people's history - is more important than the law, love for humanity and everybody of every color just getting along.

That was my point. Not glorifying criminality or being ignorant.

A criminal is a criminal, I don't care what race you are. Should I love/respect the person(s) that kills our young people while they are working in the fast food restaurant because they were black. I THINK NOT.

I have no love for anyone of any race that commits crimes against anyone. I have even less love for a black person that commits crimes against their own people. If I love my race, then how do I love the person that assists in the disintegration of my people especially if they are one of us.

This is more than about taking the high road morally. It is about saying its not ok to destroy our people, our families and our communities just because the Destroyer is black and got over on some white people while he did it.

This is not just about Frank Lucas, it is about the Domino Effect he and people like him have on all of us and the negativity it causes in our lives.

[MadameX]

Originally Posted by Samoon

Let me give you some "food for thought" my brotha:

"When Amerikka gets a cold? Black folks get the Flu."

As stated in the quote section on the AC: "When you look for justice? That is what you will find--JUST US!" Starting to get it now? All we have IS each other. Be well. :)

There it is!