Headline: EASY
STREET: ST. LOUIS FOR A KLANSMAN
Reporter: By Gregory Freeman
Publication: ST.
LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Last Printed: Fri., Aug. 2, 1991
Section: WAR PAGE, Page: 1C, Edition: FIVE STAR
IF I WERE a member
of the Ku Klux Klan, I'm sure that I would enjoy what is going on among many
black people in the city today.
The
skyrocketing number of black-on-black homicides is the sort of thing that would
probably make an ''imperial wizard'' of the Klan smile. Why worry about lifting
a finger about black people in St. Louis? I'd ask. Instead, I'll just let them
kill each other off.
The thought is a bit harsh, perhaps, but no more harsh
than anything else we're seeing during this long, hot summer. I'm sure that
I'm not the only person weary of picking up the newspaper or turning on the
news only to learn of yet another shooting. I don't know if it's the heat, the
frustration because of the high unemployment among black youths or simply the
easy availability of weapons, but black-on-black crimes - especially homicides
and assaults - are rising faster than St. Louis temperatures during the summer.
But perhaps as
bad - or maybe even worse - is the paralysis that seems to have overtaken people
here who may be in the position to do something about it.
Where
are the politicians, the ones who scream and cry bloody murder if they believe
that they are in danger of losing any of their turf? We always hear from aldermen
and committeemen and committeewomen when anything else is going on. But they
seem to be mute when it comes to human life.
What
about the church? In black communities, the church is an institution, a traditional
point of coming together, a place that has been used over the years to solve
many of the problems faced by African-Americans. Many black leaders have come
from the church. Why aren't we hearing more of an outcry about this?
When
it comes to the increasing number of homicides, blacks in the city are scrambling
for leadership.
Organizations
like the NAACP and the Urban League may be the ones that will have to step in
and work on this problem. Those groups carry clout and have access to funds
and other resources.
The bottom line
is this: the time has come for black St. Louisans - individually and collectively
- to declare a war on homicides that are devastating an already distressed community.
It's
easy for all of us to throw up our hands and insist that there's nothing that
we can do about this problem. But that's the easy way out.
In Kansas City, a grass-roots effort has begun to make August a ''murder-free month.'' A campaign is under way urging Kansas Citians to come up with other ways to resolve conflict than blowing one another away. Kansas City Mayor Emanuel Cleaver has joined in the effort with public service spots urging people there to keep their guns under control.
So what can we
do here? A comprehensive assault on the problem is what's called for, a challenge
to every responsible St. Louisan to take action. A few ideas:
Any
approach should include the St. Louis Police Department. Chief Robert Scheetz
has already expressed serious concern about the problem and has proposed having
the Police Department offer to buy as many guns as possible in an effort to
keep them off the streets. The chief would surely be willing to involve himself
in tackling the problem.
Meetings
with young people at various sites around the city where the issue is dealt
with frankly - and where gang members and other youngsters who are involved
in gun-related crimes are specifically invited - would be a way to get messages
across to young people who rarely hear them, as well as a way to hear what those
youths have to say.
Whatever
effort is chosen should involve parents. Part of the problem here is a lack
of supervision and a failure to instill in youngsters certain morals and values
that point out the value of life. A serious effort has got to begin in the home.
And additional programs to train people how to be parents would go a long way.
Making a baby doesn't make a person a parent. And, face it, many people who
become mothers or fathers at a young age know nothing about being parents, about
nurturing children, about teaching them the difference between right and wrong.
There are some
blacks who believe that American society is guilty of genocide - an effort to
kill off African-Americans or make them virtually worthless.
I
contend that instead of genocide, something far worse is going on - a race of
people slowly but surely committing suicide. It's time to stop shrugging our
shoulders about the problems and instead offer our hands to resolve them.
Right now, if
I were that Klansman I referred to earlier, I wouldn't waste energy burning
crosses on the lawns of black people.
I
think I'd just make sure that every young black person had a handgun. Then I'd
sit back and wait for the shooting to begin.
COPYRIGHT © 1991, ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Daniel Schesch - Webweaver