This post came to my mind just a couple hours ago. A friend of mine informed me that her brother was charged with burglary. The sad thing is that her brother JUST got out of prison less than a month ago.
I've never been a person that really understood, much less empathized, with the criminal mindset. I never hated on it either. It was what it was. But instances like the one I just spoke on are becoming more and more common. So I started wondering why. When I say why what I mean is looking into the mind of someone that is more or less a career criminal. I'm not gonna discuss WHY people do crimes. We know the social and economic reasons already.
One thing I've noticed, especially in the black community, going to jail is damn near revered. As recently as when I was a child being a nigga that went to jail made you a pariah. Now? Ya girl takes care of you and half the hood is waiting to throw you a party when you come back. I'm not saying that ex cons should be outcasts...but when you remove that negative stigma AND replace it with rewards its only natural for a person to find the act easier to cope with. Also when you look at some of the people that are involved in the never ending whirlwind of prison, they are people that aren't rewarded for much else EXCEPT surviving multiple jail terms.
Something else I noticed is the overly sympathetic view towards criminals. I'm aware that as black people we have a severe distrust of law enforcement and the judicial system, and rightfully so. But every nigga in jail isn't Huey Newton. Actually MOST of the dudes there deserve to be there. We have to get it out of our minds that "they" are always out to get "us". That's an archaic belief that we have to let go of. Yeah the law isn't on our side most of the time, but that doesn't mean make us all political prisoners. Because honestly that is enabling and in some cases motivating people to be criminals.
After examining these very rudimentary elements of criminal mindsets, I asked myself how does it stop. Quite frankly it doesn't. Crime will always be there. There will always be people that see that as their only option. We have to stop cosigning ignorance though. I know people make mistakes and should be forgiven. But to keep banging your head on the same wall? I can't ride with that. A lot of black men were never taught responsibility. What is more irresponsible than crime? So they inevitably put themselves in a position where they don't have to be responsible for anything. Its cyclical behavior. Plain and simple. We have to stop providing emotional, physical, and economic crutches for people that purposely cripple themselves.
I'm out
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Amen...
ReplyDeleteI often wonder myself about the motivation of some criminals. Everything ain't for everybody...and by and large, it would be hard to find many people who haven't made some sort of mistake...the difference now is, since the advent of the "9/11 era" things that usually might be swept under the rug, or politely slapped on the wrist and chalked up to youthful learning experiences, are not duly noted and filed away under that person's number for life...causing a mark that is carried with that person for a lifetime.
Even still, that can be overcome. I know that I am extremely fortunate, being a convicted felon to have the career and opportunities I have now...yet, it was my hard work and knowledge that even made it possible...had I not kept my foot in many worlds trying to compete, I might not be here today...had I chosen to take my foot out of that one world, maybe I don't learn those lessons...maybe I get farther...who knows...what I do know is that, right now, I have NO desire to resume my former profession, and even if I had to work at McDonalds, nothing could ever drag me back to the hellhole that is prison. As much as people joke around about Big Bubba and the other scary homo thugs in prisons, the honest truth is, those niggas ain't nothin' to be afraid of. It's the actual institution itself that is rotten.
But I digress.
Even as I see friends and associates of mine in the continuous cycle of hustle, jail, come home, work your way back up, hustle, reset...I have moved past judging them, and moved on to bettering myself. What better way to show people than by my actual actions? I talk to dudes til I'm blue in the face, to no avail...they insist on not seeing another way of reaching their goals. So what can you do?
I definitely agree that jail is a form of escape for many of our young black men. Besot with the responsibility of children, bills, maintaining a home and vehicle, keeping a job...I guess on one level you can say the absent fathers aren't showing them how to do it...and maybe that's part of it...but I think at some level...at some point in time, we gotta grow up...Some things in this world may be beyond understanding...but that level of life isn't. Add to that the fact that people would ridicule 'squares' who work 9 to 5's...well...it's just difficult to have & maintain that empathetic outlook for these guys. Some niggas BELONG in jail, point blank. And if they aren't going to at least make an honest effort at trying to get themselves together, join the rest of us in the real world, and stop wasting oxygen, then certainly, we need to stop babying these self destructive assholes and not hold their hands as we continue to enable their foolish behavior.
Good topic Steezo.
100.
I agree with you and Monsta. We need to stop rewarding and having "going away" or "welcome back" parties when someone goes/come home from prison.
ReplyDeleteI use to feel like a felon doesn't stand a chance after being released from prison. B/c you know..he/she is a felon. But as Monsta proved, a felon can make it without doing things that landed them in prison in the first place.