Real Justice for Travyon, Rep. Bass, and all Black Youth

National protests are demanding “Justice for Trayvon”. Instead of picketing in the public square, Congresswoman Karen Bass (D-Culver City) has posted a picture of young Travyon in a red shirt on her Twitter Account.  If the people want to leave a better, instead of a bitter legacy for this boy, and all African-American youth, they can start by leaving the case alone and letting the tragic memory of Trayvon Martin rest in peace.

 Next, African-American leaders like Congresswoman Karen Bass must expose and explain the rampant pathologies in many African-American communities. Drugs, violence, gang-banging, broken families define the childhood of too many black youths, and Trayvon Martin was no exception to this sad yet lingering legacy. Instead of demanding justice for Trayvon in a court of law, black leaders need to demand a better culture and upbringing for black youth today in all courts: whether in the home, or at school, or in the greater world.

Let’s consider the home life of Trayvon and many other black youth. The young Florida resident was born into an illegitimate family, where the parents were not married. If Rep. Bass wants to promote justice for young black youth, she should start by investigating the break-down of the black family in the United States. Why are there so many black children born out of wedlock? Home come must young boys do not even know who their father is? Congresswoman Bass, can you explain to your constituents why more than half of black children are born in single-parent homes?

Then there’s the schooling that most black youth endure. Rep. Bass, would you like to explain why so many children suffer in substandard schools in your Los Angeles/Culver City district? Perhaps you would also like to explain to your voters, and the rest of the residents in Southern California, why you and your party resist school vouchers, school choice, and a better education for all youth. The first step towards improvement in this life must focus on a good education. For most black youth, they do not feel safe, let alone certain about the education they hope to get in the inner-city schools. Instead of standing up to young children who already lack discipline, structure and character because of their broken home life, school officials enable minority youth’s sense of victimhood and entitlement with feel-good history which does them no good at all. Public standardized testing is an insult students’ potential, as well as their skills, and instead of a healthy dose of critical thinking, schools embrace multiculturalism, feeding empty self-esteem pabulum to children instead of loving them and holding them to a higher standard.

When will Rep. Karen Bass support
reforms like school choice?

Then there are the failures that minority youth face in the world at large. How many youngsters drop out of school rather than suffer through the substandard, unsafe, and unreal education of their local schools? The life of drugs and gang-banging offers excitement and easy money, much more than barely getting by with a diploma which means next to nothing. Without fathers, without role models, black youth enter the world with little idea of what to expect, and much to fear. Having no identity or security, they try to create both on their own in their beaten-down and crime-infested neighborhoods.

Instead of coddling feelings and enhancing a race-based sense of grievance and entitlement, Rep. Bass, why don’t you provide the black youth in your district proper African-American role models? Tell them about Frederick Douglass, who demanded that  the government allow the black man to stand on his own. Tell them about Booker T. Washington, who refused to cave in to racism mired with intellectual grievance. He went from share-cropper to University Trustee, without a smidgen of guilt or entitlement.

Educate young black children about Edward Brooke, the first popularly elected African-American US Senator. Yes, he was a Republican, and to this day he is not ashamed to say so. He never ran for office based on his color, but always on his character. “You can believe in Brooke” was his campaign slogan for the US Senate. Reflecting on his life, he offered the following advice to young black children: “Get a work ethic.” Not gang-banging, not hustling, not a life based on casual sex and improvident choices, but working. “There are not easy paths to success,” Brooke then shared. He also told them to be brave: “Your place is anywhere you want it to be. You make that decision. It’s left up to you.”

Justice for Trayvon starts with cultural changes
Not protests and public agitation

If Trayvon Martin had followed Sen. Brooke’s advice, he would not have gotten suspended from school for ten days. He would not have been smoking pot, wandering around in a dark, unknown neighborhood. Instead of a violent death (one all too common for black youth), he would have grown into a strong man, making his way in the world, choosing his place.

If you want “Justice for Trayvon”, Rep. Bass, stop playing the race card of grievance and victimhood, all too common in the black community. Promote policies which strengthen the black family, improve their education, and help all black youth make it in this world.