No one has yet to answer my question. Was it it the rage of the NWA era? The peace and love of the 60's? Or the "YEEAAH" era of Lil John at the turn of the millennium. The question...
Where did it all go wrong?!
Every time I sit and ponder this question I am drawn to the question asked by Cora Daniels in her provocative book, Ghetto Nation: Why does ghetto have so much pull?
In search of the answer, I have been led to sit and watch (yes, I do a lot of sitting). I observe my students, randoms on the street, the Christians at my church and everyone that crosses my path. All of this sitting and watching has led me to 2 conclusions. 1) I am getting big from this lack of movement and 2) laziness is the answer.
In order to answer Cora's question, we would first have to answer my question: why does laziness have so much pull?
Almost every problem in our current existence can be attributed to laziness. Every time that YOU have ever sat and wondered, can be summed up in this one word. For example, dirty streets are due to people being too lazy to pick up something. Sagging pants can be attributed to young men being too lazy to reach all the way down to pick up their pants (and the laziness of reading tags that tell you that the pants are a 42' waist while you where a 36'). The greatest form of laziness that has left many a people sitting and wondering are the "creative" new names and spellings of names. This too is due to laziness. There are many parents that are too lazy to grab a dictionary or phonics book to realize that a letter, like a R or T, cannot be silent just because you want it to!
Now that I have gotten one step closer to figuring out the solution to my initial problem, I am left sitting and thinking about finding the solution. So as I sit...wait a minute. There maybe something that I am missing and so is everyone else. As we sit and think we too are guilty of the crime of laziness.
The solution: GET UP AND DO SOMETHING!
If the street is dirty, clean it up! If a young man's pants are hanging low, maybe no one has told him that he looks foolish. If creative spellings are a problem, become a mentor with a reading and phonics program.
The answer lies in us! Get up people! What is wrong with us? We, the gifted, have gotten lazy. With all that being said, I am (literally) getting up to talk to my students and maybe the gym later....maybe.
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While I do agree that laziness has become the root of many problems in the African-American community, I do not feel like it is the root cause of the ghetto having so much pull. As a black man I am sad to say that I believe it is the absence of a father figure in homes and in family structures overall that has caused this tragedy. There are too many mothers, grandmothers, and big brothers doing what fathers should be doing. Men are supposed to love their families, be there to teach their sons how to be a real man, and provide for their families. If children see their their mothers' struggling to provide for them, at some point they are going to set out to provide for themselves. But how have they seen their mothers and grandmothers provide for them?...backbreaking work that requires long hours because of low pay... Would you want to take that path for yourself?...or would you look over at 23 year old Ray-Ray in his 7-Series parked at his own apartment, getting money the fast way and chillin' all day long. We need to do better because improving the black man will be a major step in improving the black community.
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