The city of Baltimore has had curfew laws on the books since 1978. Recently the city police have again begun to reinforce the laws in an effort to get city youth off the streets after certain hours. The new version of the program allows for the police to take the kids to an elementary school, where the kids are interviewed, records are checked for past criminal violations, and they are fed before their parents are called.
The reality of the inner city is that many of the kids are fending for themselves at very young ages. Many succumb to the peer pressure, and in very simple cases in the summer, the youth's homes aren't equipped with air conditioning and they seek refuge in the outside night air.
Although I disagreed with the Rev. Jesse Jackson's statement this week regarding Barack Obama, this is the reality that Obama really hasn't addressed in the black community. Let's face it, there really are two worlds in our community: the world of the middle class where many have escaped to the suburban lifestyle out of the desire to live a better life; the other side, which still dominates our reality is the real underclass, which this Baltimore Sun article addresses regarding curfews.
Barack Obama touts his experience as a community organizer in Chicago, so surely he is aware of the black underclass. If he's elected our next president, and doesn't address the black underclass, then perhaps all of the hype would've been for nothing.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment