Mo's Real Neighborhood
A few weeks ago a kid came by my house and saw me washing my car. He told me his birthday was coming up and that he wanted to earn some money to buy stuff for his birthday. Since then, he's been coming by every Sunday to wash my Honda Civic. He's not allowed to touch the Vette yet. :-) He's a good kid, but in the process of helping him earn some cash I began to realize what kind of neighborhood I had moved in to.
I suspect there's a lot of drug activity going on in three specific houses, but in dealing with this issue I'm presented with a couple of ethical dilemmas. I've met a couple of the guys who are probably dealing, and they actually seem kinda cool. Very respectful. Some are probably even related to my little car-washing buddy.
The first dilemma is this. When I was a young kid growing up, my father would occasionally sell a little of this, and a little of that to help put food on the table. Where most people see drug-dealers in black neighborhoods as the worst kind of criminals, I can't help but associate it with providing for family.
Don't get me wrong. I don't sell drugs ... never have, never will. I don't allow them in my home. I rarely even allow alcohol in my house, and don't even think about lighting a cigarette up anywhere near me unless your name is E-Dog. I don't condone the use of drugs or their sale. However, what people choose to do with their own time is their business until it interferes with the well-being of myself, my family, my friends, and my neighbors. As long as they're all okay, I'm okay. The way I see it, it's not for me to pass judgement on other people's personal habits, or the people that support them.
To be frank, I have a much bigger issue with the abuse of power in law enforcement and government, which brings me to my second dilemma. Most of the people doing this type of thing in my area are young black men who have pretty much given up on the possibility of making an honest living doing reputable work. Knowing what I know about racial bias in corporate America, who am I to pass judgement on them, and turn them over to people who are even more corrupt?
Based on my experience with racial bias in corporate cultures, I can't really blame them for not seeing the nine-to-five direction as a realistic alternative. They'd have a better chance at winning the lottery or becoming an NBA All Star than becoming a CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Not because they lack the talent and ambition, but because the folks in power simply won't let it easily happen.
There's nothing worse than having the delicate illusion of freedom stripped away by mediocre superiors who are well aware of the dependence we worker bees have on our salaries. Even still there are ways to fight back against idiots like this, but in the long run, its just a waste of everyone's time. If I've learned anything from all my years of martial arts, if you have to be in a fight, you're already screwed, because the animosity takes forever to go away.
On the flip side, at least with a steady job, young black men wouldn't die so early. Here I sit with entrepreneurship as the only answer, but they've already taken that route. Damn. I guess all I can do is help my little friend earn some honest cash and hope for the best for him ... and for the rest of us.
I suspect there's a lot of drug activity going on in three specific houses, but in dealing with this issue I'm presented with a couple of ethical dilemmas. I've met a couple of the guys who are probably dealing, and they actually seem kinda cool. Very respectful. Some are probably even related to my little car-washing buddy.
The first dilemma is this. When I was a young kid growing up, my father would occasionally sell a little of this, and a little of that to help put food on the table. Where most people see drug-dealers in black neighborhoods as the worst kind of criminals, I can't help but associate it with providing for family.
Don't get me wrong. I don't sell drugs ... never have, never will. I don't allow them in my home. I rarely even allow alcohol in my house, and don't even think about lighting a cigarette up anywhere near me unless your name is E-Dog. I don't condone the use of drugs or their sale. However, what people choose to do with their own time is their business until it interferes with the well-being of myself, my family, my friends, and my neighbors. As long as they're all okay, I'm okay. The way I see it, it's not for me to pass judgement on other people's personal habits, or the people that support them.
To be frank, I have a much bigger issue with the abuse of power in law enforcement and government, which brings me to my second dilemma. Most of the people doing this type of thing in my area are young black men who have pretty much given up on the possibility of making an honest living doing reputable work. Knowing what I know about racial bias in corporate America, who am I to pass judgement on them, and turn them over to people who are even more corrupt?
Based on my experience with racial bias in corporate cultures, I can't really blame them for not seeing the nine-to-five direction as a realistic alternative. They'd have a better chance at winning the lottery or becoming an NBA All Star than becoming a CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Not because they lack the talent and ambition, but because the folks in power simply won't let it easily happen.
There's nothing worse than having the delicate illusion of freedom stripped away by mediocre superiors who are well aware of the dependence we worker bees have on our salaries. Even still there are ways to fight back against idiots like this, but in the long run, its just a waste of everyone's time. If I've learned anything from all my years of martial arts, if you have to be in a fight, you're already screwed, because the animosity takes forever to go away.
On the flip side, at least with a steady job, young black men wouldn't die so early. Here I sit with entrepreneurship as the only answer, but they've already taken that route. Damn. I guess all I can do is help my little friend earn some honest cash and hope for the best for him ... and for the rest of us.
posted by moluv at 10:25 PM
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