At the end of March 2008, I spent the day with a 17-year-old Black male who shared with me why he carries a gun now and has carried one in the past. He lives in an urban area. His parents are middle class. He is a bright student. But he is America's fasting growing statistic - he has carried guns, he has been shot, he has shot at other people, he has been arrested and he is now back in jail - all at the young age of 17 years old.
I asked him, "Why do y'all carry guns?" It was a rhetorical question since we both grew up and live in the same area. Nevertheless, I did not want to be like my contemporary know-it-alls in social development. I wanted to hear it straight from someone who lives it every day. I continued, "You know what I'm saying? You know what I'm saying."
I let him answer and did not interrupt him. It was a rare moment in social youth development that I wanted to savor. The first rule: When young people speak, adults shut up! So he went on to tell me why he and his friends, who are known gang members of a Blood set, carry guns.
At first it's just something you do because everybody is doing it. It's like wearing clothes or sneakers. Then you become addicted. Carrying a gun is an addiction. You feel a new sense of power and being powerful. When you carry a gun you feel strong - invincible. It becomes a high like a drug. You start saying anything to other dudes you would normally not say. And you start doing things like bullying because you know that you got a "burner." The girls find out that you carry a gun and you become an instance urban celebrity. They start telling other girls and the word gets around and you get instant overnight success. Dudes want really "step to you." Girls want to have sex with you. Your boys want to help "rep with you." It's an amazing feeling and at the time you don't want to do anything but carry that gun.
Now this young Black male has been arrested in the past and has several years pending on felony probation. So he has been in and out of jail over the past three years while carrying guns and being shot.
His response about the down side of carrying a gun:
It's blazing at first. Then, after you go to jail, "you see all of the other guy from the hood in there doing "mad time" for carrying guns and shooting other dudes, you realize that this is real! Carrying a gun is no joke. When you are in jail you realize that it's a dead-end life. Not like nowhere to go, but like your world - the 'hood is so messed up that you know once you are back on the block you will need to carry that gun in order to survive. Other people, normal people won't understand - they will never understand. But, where we come from carrying a gun is not optional, it's mandatory to your daily life. "Yo. Dudes put on guns like they put on sneakers. It's part of our urban gear! And until the politicians, police, teachers, people with money and the big wigs start giving dudes in the 'hood some real chances at success, carrying a gun is what we will do best!"
As he spoke, I could hear the pain in his voice, the split emotions that pulled morality to fantasy. I have worked with the same demographic of youth since 1985 and their life is an emotion rooted in mortality. In 1992, I was working as a Behavioral Technician for Area Cooperative Educational Services in Hamden, Connecticut. The population I served consisted of approximately 80+ young Black males, 15 to 19 years old. The vast majority had violent offenses, many gun violations. I recall that one of the administrative staff (second in charge) asked me "Why in the hell would some body want to carry a gun?" Well, it was 1992, the height of the "American Drug Trade" - why wouldn't anyone carry a gun?
I have been a law enforcement officer working in the urban sector for over 12 years. I spent over six of these years as a cop on a walking beat in the most dangerous neighborhoods in the city. I have walked with a partner and I have walked alone. I have lived in the inner city all my life and still do. I have worked with youth from the inner city for over 20 years. I have worked with some of the most socially, economically and educationally challenged youth in the New England area. And from all of this, I have derived that there is no one answer to the question "why do our children carry guns?" However, there are social systems and economic elements that will dictate who is more likely to carry a gun.
As just a brief explanation, young people in America don't feel safe. They don't feel safe at home because of domestic violence. They don't feel safe at school because the educational system does not build self esteem for most youth. They don't feel safe on the street - many feel pursued by predatory police officers in addition to being hunted by conglomerate urban-based street gangs. They don't feel safe with their spirituality because morality has been replaced with materialization and religion with Capitalism. They don't feel safe sexually because they are still murdered, kidnapped, raped, shot, starved to death, poor, and neglected - more than any other population of individuals on the face of the planet. And these are not opinion, these are real facts.
The interesting thing about social development is that the smart people tend to take a statistical approach to problem solving. However, often the solutions are all symptomatic to systems of inequality. Our children in America are living in apathetic social, economic, medical and educational conditions. I'm not talking a racial-based condition. I'm talking about the fact that our children's needs are always placed on the back burner. After health and education, most states' next largest spending is for incarceration. And I can tell you that incarceration is not rehabilitation - it's social annihilation. Why, in 2008, are we not spending more money on youth violence prevention and social development? Gun violence is the number one cause of death in the United States among our youth. Gun violence by homicide is the number one cause of death for Black males in America. Where is the outrage? Where is the new public policy? The thousands of young people whom I have spoken with say "no one cares!"
Medical institutions are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on sickle cell research for African Americans. Yet, every year hundreds of Black males are deposited into their state-of-the-art trauma centers bearing State Rebate gun shot wounds. No hundreds of thousands of dollars are being spent to find out why. Just a community overlooked to die. So, why do our children carry guns? Educational institutions flooded with achievement stress and standardize drama. Students are arrested for carrying butter knifes, lighters and fingernail files all on the name of "school security." But many of our urban young people don't see security in their education. For most young urban males, their chances of not getting caught with a gun are better than their chances of graduating from high school. Their chances of not getting caught for shooting another urban male are greater than the possibility of their getting a job with medical benefits. Their chances of not getting caught selling guns and drugs are better than their ability to relocate to a better neighborhood where they could enjoy the "American Dream."
So, this is partly why our children carry guns. For them, the end justifies the means!
Shafiq Abdussabur is an active law enforcement officer in the State of Connecticut with over 11 years of Community Base Police training and experience. He has been working with Inner City Youth since 1985. He is native of New Haven, Connecticut having grown up in various sections of the urban sectors of New Haven. He is a nationally recognized artist (BOLDMINDS Cultural Arts) and author.
In 2002, he founded CTRIBAT Institute for Social Development which services 210 young males and Females ages 9 yrs. old to 17 yrs. old. CTRIBAT offers students "life skill" workshops that focus on parent/student participation. The summer pilot called the "Leadership Retreat" focuses on fostering leadership skills in young people who reside in an Urban Environment (At-Risk Youth). The CTRIBAT 2006 Summer Pilot posted an impressive 400% reduction in firearm related violence in the neighborhood of operation. The CTRIBAT runs 12 months year. The program focuses on improving the relationship of law enforcement and the members of the urban sector.
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