A 16 year old died a few weeks ago because he crashed a car he stole. His life was valuable. All lives are valuable, but I wonder if he didn’t see the value in his life.
We all have made some dumb decisions, but his dumb decisions shouldn’t equate to him loosing his life.
Why didn’t he realize his life was valuable, valuable enough to protect it? I don’t know this young man but I see this trend, and have heard similar stories from many Black youth growing up in poor areas of the city. Why wouldn’t a person realize they have worth?
I don’t have answers, but I have questions.
When we label an area “bad” are we saying that the kids there are bad too?
When we avoid places, are we saying that the kids in those areas should be avoided?
When we say a place is “scary” does that mean that the kids there are scary?
When an entire zip code’s property is devalued, does that mean that kids are also not valuable there?
Alex and I talk about shared responsibility versus personal responsibility a lot on our podcast. While ultimately the results of a person’s actions are more the responsibility of the doer, I can’t help but think WE are all in some way contributing members to the problem.
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