I wanted to post this. It is totally from the mouth of my friends mother. She is a retired school employee from Watts in California. She is also black and Puerto Rican.
They moved to Philadelphia about 15 years ago because of the violence in that area of Ca. They have since moved to my area because my friends of work. They are a great, caring family and just good people. He was one of my very good friends. We were both stationed at Camp Pendleton together. I lived in California for about 10 yrs while in the Marine Corps and saw the violence in the certain areas. Watts, Compton, East LA, ect.
Now this is not a racial thing, but I was shocked at what she said. She asked why, all of a sudden, there is this great cause and debate about gun control, especially "Army guns" as she calls the assault rifles. She started to ask why, for years, people in those bad areas of California, (not to mention the other tough cities in the US) were slaughtering each other, school shootings, gang violence, DRIVE BY's, and all the other crazy violence, and very few people even raised an eye brow over it? She also wanted to know why when a politician gets shot, a school of educated white kids gets shot and a quiet school in a small town get shot, that everyone stands up and notices. Yet she had to move across the country to get away from the violence in here neighborhood. A place were she had bars and cages on her own home doors for fear of being attacked and did not let her son go outside because of the drive by shootings that occurred on a regular basis. She said she actually had to buy a bullet proof vest for her son just so he could walk to school.
That's nuts!!!!!
Then she really went off about all the people who bought all of Tupacs albums (and other rappers) and got a kick out of his violent rap music. And the N.W.A favorite, "Fuck the Police" song. She said, "They were not making this shit up, it was real, everyday". And no one did anything about it. The police wouldn't even patrol the neighborhoods, or even go in them, unless there was a murder she told me. She also said that people were so scared, "...grown, tough ass men" would not even think about going into those neighborhoods, yet she raised 3 kids there. She challenged any of those,"... tough asses that talk a whole lot of smack and think they are the best" to walk in those places, alone. "Bet ya won't", she said.
I got lost in Oakland one time, with 10 other Marines, and the cops picked us up and took us out of there.
Now she is a smart lady. She doesn't like guns, but she understands peoples stance. She, however, feels like a whole lot of people have been pushed aside for years that are subjected to violence on a daily basis, but get no help. White, black, Hispanic, old, young, Why?
She said, "Why did it take so long for people to see the violence when it was rapped about on the radio all the time?" and "It was right there in the politicians faces and in their ears, but they didn't see it or listen to it. It was like being caught red handed. Why didn't they do anything then?"
Not to mention the popularity of these songs and movies. And I'm not pointing directly at rappers, but all the songs, movies, ect that have been published since the '80's about this violence. She's right. It was right there all along.
I think she made some very valid points and I think there has been a blind eye turned by our leaders and other people for years about violence. But I guess since it was in the poor neighborhoods, and didn't have anything to do with us, then it's ok to look away?
