Different Points of View

I had an opportunity to hang out with some Cameron Elementary School students this weekend to help them celebrate the completion of another year in the Read & Lead Program.  We had an ice cream and cake party and we presented them with books to help them with their summer reading.

We had some ice cream and cake left so we visited the Carver Library on E.Commerce and provided some of the kids and their parents cake and ice cream.

I met a particularly bright young man.  He knew what he wanted, he was confident and will probably become a great leader in his community one day.  He was a third grader, but had lots of energy and was not afraid to ask for help.  As he entered the room to get his ice cream and cake, he seemed very excited that we were there.  When asked what type cake he would like, he responded "I want chocolate and vanilla cake.  I want them on two different plates and I want my ice cream in a separate cup".  I thought to myself, here's a young man that knows what he wants.  He went on to say "I need help carrying my cake and ice cream, so can you grab one of the plates for me".  I helped him because he asked.

I met another young man that asked if he could take some ice cream and cake to his aunt because she liked ice cream and cake.  Of course I told him yes.  He was a third grader too.

Now these two third grade boys, African American boys I might add, were very polite, weren't afraid to ask for what they want and appeared to have a lot of potential to me.

As I walked around the library inviting others to join the ice cream and cake party, I ran into a gentleman that I have known since childhood.  We discussed education and he stated that he would be calling a community meeting and have a big pow wow conversation about education.  I asked him what the discussion would focus on.  He started talking about how the system is unfair to young African American men and how we needed to change the system.  He went on to give me statistics about how black boys are being killed in record numbers.  I agreed that there have been some deaths that are probably unwarranted, and that I would rather tackle raising our young men to have more self respect, focus on their education and obeying simple rules that can protect from harms way.

He felt that helping our young men change their behavior was not the answer.  I disagree.  I think it is part of the answer. Where I do believe that a lot of these murders have been unwarranted, I also believe that we have to take responsibility for our own lives and actions.

What I do feel very strongly about is that murder is not the answer and police officers should be punished severely for taking a life out of anger.  It is their job to uphold the law, protect and serve, and basically help resolve conflict or make an arrest; not to kill someone because of race or because they make you mad.

Anyway, I cut off the conversation with the gentleman because we were just going back and forth with no resolve.  I went back to the ice cream and cake party and to watch the smiles on the young children's faces.

This same gentlemen found me in the library to say good bye, when he spotted the same two young boys that I had spoken so highly of earlier in my blog.  He looked at them and said "those two boys are bad" and when I defended them, he told me that I was wrong and that I didn't know if they were bad because I wasn't a man.  I turned my back on him and walked away after telling him that I do not listen to people that call children bad.

Now here is a black man that feels that we need to change the system and defend black boys, yet he is bad mouthing the young boys himself.  He is basically doing the same thing that the system he is trying to change is doing.  He says that he is an ex-police officer and he knows a bad kid when he sees one.

I asked him when the last time he's been inside of a school and if he had ever worked with young boys and his answer was that he hadn't really been inside a school since he graduated from high school.

This man is well in his sixties.

I saw promise in the two young boys and the gentleman saw doom.  The gentleman wasted more of his days, is bitter and as a result, it's hard for him to see promise in young children.  I feel sorry for him.  These young boys do not have to be him.  Help me and all the other community leaders that see value in our young boys.  Help us guide them down the path to a brighter future.