I took a couple of days to mull this over, as I wanted to think about the previous posts I had written about the increase in gun violence in Toronto. Maybe I will come off being a hypocrite, as my view has altered a bit.
As a blogger, in theory I can write what I damn well please. As a freelance writer I write to the audience for the publication the article is geared towards. So why the hesitancy?
Sometimes what you write can turn around and bite you in the ass. But since we don’t live in a fair and just society, what the hell?
First, I was not really shocked about the shootings on Yonge Street in Toronto, in which six people where injured and one girl was killed. Apparently there was a beef between two groups of teenagers which escalated into a shootout on one of the busiest shopping days of the year. For non-Torontonians, Yonge Street is the major (and longest) street in Toronto and where the shooting happened (Yonge & Dundas) is probably one of the busiest intersections in the city. A daytime shootout is bound to involve the injuries and deaths of a large amount of innocent people on any day, regardless of the time of year.
I’m not shocked, I’m disgusted for a number of reasons.
This has been a shit year for black folk around the world. People are getting angry and people like myself who tried to remain unbiased and see the escalade of violence among our black youth as a factor of the disintegration of social policies and systemic discrimination, are getting frustrated at trying to defend those who apparently do not care about anyone but themselves. For a couple of days, in my mind I wanted to blame the parents for the ignorant behavior of youth, even though I had previously defended them. I wanted to blame the government, who have not put back the funding for social programs (in which benefited the lower-income and visible minority communities) that were cut by our former Premier. But I find myself just thinking that a bunch of stupid motherfuckers just fucked up the lives of several people who did not ask to be involved in their senseless violence.
It’s just fucking stupid, all this mess. On the news yesterday they showed this DVD made by some dumbass that went into a public housing area and filmed a bunch of teenage men who were ‘gangstas,’ freestyling about how tough they were. Actually, there are a couple of DVD floating around Toronto(and sold in “urban” clothing stores) that glorify the gangs in the city. These guys don’t have there faces covered, and apparently as soon as the DVD’s hit the street, the Cops picked up a copy. So now they are using one particular DVD to find the suspects in the shoot out.
Just like the ‘Stop Snitching” T-shirts, it’s like us black folks are just shooting ourselves in the foot. Apparently, two gangs have taken on the Blood / Crips persona, wearing red and blue handkerchiefs. There is no formal tie between the notorious LA gangs and Toronto – these guys just think it is cool.
There is an organization called the Black Youth Coalition Against Violence, and luckily their members have been in the media recently, giving their opinion. Kofi Hope, a young brother said in a press conference that the “cynicism, alienation and apathy that leads to low self-esteem and bad choices” lead to incidences like we had on Boxing Day, a sentiment in which is the most on-point I have heard from anyone in the pubic eye.
And I certainly agree. But what are we going to do about it?
Well, every black Minister in Torontois busy making television appearances, saying that the lack of faith and the absence of religion in schools are partly responsible for the problem. But as a practicing agnostic, I wonder where God was when the Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina hit, nevermind the countless number of hurricanes and tornados this year. I wonder where God is when Bush, who is a born-again Christian conveniently ignored the poor in New Orleans for days after the Hurricane hit, and then treated them like unruly animals. If we really believe in the teachings of Christianity, why did thousands perish in Pakistan because of an earthquake?
While I am glad to hear that a coalition of black youth has organized themselves to start a group to combat youth violence, will politicians take their concerns to heart? I am a bit doubtful about this. No one cares about a community that is not economically viable. And while I might get screamed at saying this, part of the outrage over the shootings in the downtown core stems from the fear that white people can get shot, too. While this was a black-on –black crime, people don’t really care until non blacks get shot. Then people start getting upset. And while I am terribly sorry for the family of the 15 year-old white student who was killed during the shoot out, I wonder if we would see the same influx of media reports if she was black. The police would probably say she was one of the teenagers who incited the gun battle. Sorry, I’m too old and have seen too much bullshit in my life to think otherwise.
The fact is, no one really gives a shit. So the black community needs to put aside our differences, create a political platform that addresses concerns based on race and racism. We need to keep the church out of this and base our needs on reality. We need to understand that systemic discrimination is poisoning our communities. How can black parents be better parents if they are dealing with lack of viable opportunities in the workplace? How can our children get a good education in a society that thinks we only deserve service jobs? We have teachers that push children of colour not to attend post-secondary education, thinking that they are not smart enough to handle it. TRUST ME. I’ve been there.
Most importantly, we need to get off our high horses as Canadians and acknowledge that we are more similar to the United States than we think. Our media outlets are inundated with U.S issues, from entertainment to politics. Canada’s multiculturalism policy sucks. Instead of ‘tolerating’ people from various cultural backgrounds, we need to be educated on them, instead of having to conform to what the majority thinks – which usually is not beneficial to visible minorities. I have always thought that at least in the States, racism is in your face. In Canada, we hide behind double-speak and subtle racist rhetoric, which is more insidious and more psychologically damaging. But people are people, and just because we hide behind the stereotype of Canadians being “polite” and “nicer” than Americans, doesn’t mean we think differently. We just know how to conceal our feelings better.
A friend told me recently that I spend more time worrying about others when I should be worrying about myself. But I look at it like this: I am worried because I want to adopt black kids one day and I don’t want to raise them in an environment in which they would ever consider looking within a group of thugs in order to find their self-worth. I am worried because I have a 13 year-old nephew who is easily swayed and does not have the capacity to make important decisions about how he wants to live his life. I am worried because I care about my people and what they do, mostly negative, affects how the rest of us are perceived and treated. But I tell you, I am at the end of my rope.
