mental health

Part one of two

Subject a “man-child” to unremitting mental and physical abuse, and chances are he will grow up to abuse those around him, including his children.

There are few who would disagree with that prospect.

Observers would also postulate that African American males raised in the Culture of Poverty, where they are defined by morals and values far outside the traditional community and societal norm, will act out their anger and confusion in socially disruptive ways.

Add to that “handicap” his being enrolled in government schools where there are low-to-no expectations for academic achievement, a larger community that fears and thereby treats him with open hostility, and a police force that seeks to contain him through harassment and intimidation.

The cherry on the top is his mental health.

What is needed to spark the brain waves of this new urban Frankenstein Monster consists of a combination of self-hatred and a daily diet of environmental despair and violence—both subliminal and overt.

And don’t forget the impact of lead in the drinking water absorbed by the child. In 10 years or so, a study is going to reveal Milwaukee’s lead problem caused developmental harm to thousands of Black children. That fact is evident to some of us now, but is hidden from public view.

The question to be answered is not where and who created this monster/thug (I’m not even dealing with the thugettes), but why so many stakeholders are surprised at the upswing of violence in the Black community, a score of senseless murders and assaults that have included several innocent bystanders, including children, shot while watching television, sitting in their parent’s car, or walking down the street.

It is almost beyond comprehension that so few are even willing to look at the creation process through the eyes of the monster or accept responsibility for our contributions to this mad science.

We—parents and parent, government, the media and corporate America—have produced an individual who is both violence’s victim and executor of anarchy; an actual product of his environment, a caricature of the Black urban thug—modeled after our worse fears.

Someone who satisfies their cultural thirst through acts of domination and sometimes terrorism. An atheist who doesn’t share our values and mores, a robot whose god is a gangsta rapper found only in X-rated videos because the monster can’t read or write, conceptualize a future, or even life beyond the ghetto walls of apartheid.

In cooperation with those who wish to maintain the status quo for personal gain, we have produced a time bomb waiting to explode, a self-fulfilling prophecy, a fulfillment of the promise of the Great Rapture.

I don’t want to get into a biblical debate, but I can quote biblical scripture that defines where we are, how we got here, and what happens next.

But I (cautiously) reject that theory and instead suggest this is karma, and we need to look no further than the “Culture of Poverty,” and the boys in the lab who wrote the formula for this reality show as a prelude to assembling the monster.

In my mind’s eye, the tsunami of violence that has sparked outrage in every corner of our society of late—deadly road rage outcomes, murder (first or second degree), domestic and child abuse—is explainable beyond the so-called bad seed or cultural pathology theory.

Instead, the “perpetrators” are the byproducts of what we germinated in a garden of weeds “awarded” us by new plantation owners.

Indeed, this is taken from a script rather than ordained.

Do you honestly think if you raised the average Black child in a loving two-parent household, provide him with the same educational opportunities as the kids in the suburbs, and feed them wholesome food, that they wouldn’t emerge as educated, spiritually attuned, contributing members of society?

The truth is, this scenario is by design.

Sure, we may be subliminally unwilling participants, but the truth is neither political party or some white knight of the realm have the wherewithal or willingness to remedy our plight.

Why?

Republicans want the poor to purchase all of their goods from the Rent-a-Centers they own.

Democrats want to satisfy their base—poverty pimps and missionaries—who are employed because of our misery.

And there are other “special interests” that seek to maintain the status quo, and I’m not talking about the prison industrial workforce.

As the country faces a new world of automation and technology, the number of jobs for those at the bottom—specifically African Americans—will soon dry up.

I mentioned in a column months ago that one of the winners of the 2019 technology awards is an inexpensive robot that can not only replace a manual labor worker but can assemble duplicates of itself.

Robotics and the shift of jobs to Asia and elsewhere, means there will be fewer jobs, and those that are created—including at Foxconn—will require skills not provided to the poor, a large percentage of whom are “trapped” in failing schools.

Rich and middle-class families want to ensure their children will have techno jobs through better educational education and options.

And the employees of government schools want to keep our children trapped to ensure their employment, and the employment of social service workers and poverty pimp organizations—most of whom are staffed by missionaries.

Do you honestly think the teachers’ union opposes choice and charter schools because they can are “less accountable” as the head of the Southeastern Wisconsin Schools Alliance said in a Journal Sentinel article Wednesday upon hearing that over 42,000 children of middle and low-income parents have abandoned government schools for private and charter schools under the school choice program?

No, it is actually quite the opposite. The teachers’ union and government school associations are concerned about their jobs and pensions. And they have “dictated” to the Democratic Party that allowing children to escape for better opportunities cannot be tolerated.

The number of union members (10.5% of the workforce) has dwindled dramatically over the last decade, but their influence is still significant.

And even though Black Americans have more clout and impact on elections nationally, the unions and Democrats recognize we have no place else to go, and thus can ignore or simply appease our concerns.

In a nutshell, we all help influence and create the monster/thugs—parents, government, special interests, and whoever is truly orchestrating the music we all dance to.

From my seat (in front of a computer, which is a few decades removed from a typewriter and production room where five of us laid this paper out by hand) I pen predictions including my fear that total social anarchy may soon overwhelm us.

Indeed, should we not feel lucky—grateful—that the monster we jointly created has not come home to devour us? Yep, thank the Creator, you have not been victimized.

Yet.

I’m fearful that the next generation will surpass the level of violence and social chaos Milwaukeeans—Black and White—are complaining about today.

More and more studies posit that our luck, as well as our time, is running out. Unless we reverse this scenario, we are destined to face our greatest social challenge ever—our children.

Social indicators suggest the next generation will be more violent, more resentful, less patient, and armed with weapons of mass destruction, which will easily penetrate the shield composed of our religious beliefs and Africentric culture.

Ironically, that shield was dense enough to protect my contemporaries, several lifetimes removed from slavery, and one generation away from our participation in the civil rights movement.

That shield gave us protection while we fought institutional racism, discrimination at every turn, mobs of bigots, and even the government. We thought we crossed the mountain and were building new homes in the Promised Land.

Only of late have most of us realized the cultural and spiritual shield should never have been put into storage.

Moreover, the new “enemy” includes culturally and spiritually void terrorists who have been greatly influenced by the Culture of Poverty, and for whom the Ten Commandments may as well be written in Greek or some Chinese dialect, like Standard English.

The new “enemy” does not possess our survival skills or our moral compass.

Remarkably, only three out of ten Black boys today have a full-time father in their lives to serve as role models to help them navigate the nuances of manhood in a hostile environment.

Seventy percentages of Black households are headed by a single woman, most without a good education or family-supporting income. They are poor, and many define themselves in a negative light—they even refer to themselves as niggers (n-word) and bitches (b-word).

If that’s what they see in the mirror, is it hard to figure out how they view their offspring?

Even if they viewed themselves as queens, they cannot take their male children through the rites of passage, show them how to channel their youthful energies to benefit their God, family, and community.

A significant percentage learn the hard way that motherhood for a poor and uneducated woman is to be in survival mode 365.

Substandard housing, inferior foods, and not enough financial resources to keep up with bills add to her burden. Ironically, and despite the symbolism of a Barack Obama presidency, poverty went up during his administration.

Food stamp usage skyrocketed, and if you read your texts or newspapers, everybody and their mama’s sister are sponsoring clothing (coats) and food drives.

I don’t want to delve into the poor choices of many poor Black mothers, but suffice it to say most are in their predicament because of decisions they made as much as the environment and grip of American apartheid. Blame it on gangsta rap music, peer pressure, or the environment, but the ramifications in many cases are seen on the evening news.

The byproduct of this reality show drama is the cultural paradigm in which a significant number of Black males are being proselytized into a martial society. They have not only accepted violence as a community norm, but also anti-social behavior and terrorism as opportunities for personal growth.

And the most significant irony is that we (family members and distant cousins) now act surprised at the social chaos that confronts us.

The pendulum has swung the other way.

We have a president who speaks of the good ole days and supports White Supremacy, a police department that strikes fear into people of color, an educational system that fails far too many children, and a dysfunctional family structure.

And let’s not forget those who stand on the sideline, the radio revolutionaries, the cynics, the apathetic Black politicians, and those who do not practice what they preach.

We each took parts to the lab for use in creating this monster. Now the question is, can we collectively disassemble him? No, scratch that. Do we have the will to?

Hotep.