New Pet Peeve

Since I am on a New Orleans kick today, I think there are probably two more blogs that I will write. The first of these is about my new pet peeve. It really started when Guy died, and I actually read some of the comments that people leave on the blog articles about stories about crime in the city. People who do not know the person begin to talk bad about them (usually) or complain about the city, violence, police department, mayor, parents, etc. I have subscribed to the RSS feed for the newspaper so that I receive articles when they come out (in case I know the victim ... or the shooter ... and it is weird to type that), so I often see the article fairly quickly after it is posted.

Most of the people who write on the blog complain because it is the same story written again. The person shot must have been a drug dealing, drug using teenager/young adult whose family is going to say that he was a good kid and that he "did nuthin to nobody" and in no way deserved to die. The commenter usually says something about how it is time that the government step up and take control of the streets and change these kids, etc. Unfortunately, most of the comments are right about the type of person that was shot (not in Darryl's case though), and you can sense the frustration.

Here is why this is my new pet peeve. All of these people griping and complaining think it is someone else's job to do something about it. Let government take care of it. Let the parents take care of it. Just do not ask me to do anything about it. These commenters can sit back and safely comment from the privacy of their homes and point out all that is wrong in the world, but they are not willing to accept that they are part of the problem. Very few are trying to do something about it. Very few are investing time in the lives of these kids trying to show them the right path. The very few that are have a hard time because they are spread so thin. Very few in the churches in New Orleans are stepping up to invest in the lives of those that need it most. Instead, people are complaining that the government should be doing something about it.

I guess that I am the type of person that if you see a problem, you should not complain unless you are willing to try to fix it. I do not always take that view (I am really bad about passing the responsibility at work), but I think that we have no right to complain unless we are willing to be part of the solution. Part of me screams that they do not have a right to say those things about the victim, even if they are true, because they do not know him. They do not know that victim's family. Every time one of these boys is shot and killed, it is a sign that we are losing this generation of young black men. Every time one of these boys is shot and killed, there is a family and a community that hurts. It does not matter what kind of life that person lived, it hurts just the same.

I guess that is enough of this rant for right now. Just because I feel this way does not mean that I like everything that the government, police department, mayor, etc. are doing. I do think that it is probable that they could be doing more. I just think that I have to do my part instead of waiting for someone else to step up. I just wish that there were more that felt the same way, especially in the church.