Note:
In January of 2012, I was at home in Philadelphia for winter break. As refreshing as it was to be around family and friends, I also had my memory refreshed as to the harsh realities of the city. By this time, I had already spent nearly five years in the quiet college town of Edinboro, PA, and I almost forgot about the deep rooted social ills which existed in "The City of Brotherly Love".
Violent crime, unemployment and inadequate education were still major problems within the city. I thought to myself, "There are major institutional and structural problems with the city of Philadelphia." Yet, to my surprise, a great deal of the outrage and discontent of many Philadelphians was directed toward the youth of Philadelphia's inner city... or what rapper Tupac Shakur referred to as the "outer city" because of belief that inner city youth are being "left out" of the progression of American society as a whole.
I thought, how can we hate the ones who are merely the product of the life we gave them?
This editorial which I sent to the Philadelphia Daily News, was my reaction to this atmosphere of disdain that I saw toward the youth of Philadelphia.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Published in The Philadelphia Daily News
January 11, 2012
Every day I hear more
and more talk about the problems of Philadelphia's inner-city youth, from the
summer's violent, rowdy "flash mobs" to more serious crimes. It seems as if,
increasingly, the most common focus of negative media coverage and criticism
when it comes to Philly's problems is our youth. Let it be known, I use the
word "youth" loosely as a term to encompass anyone under the age of
30 who hasn't necessarily reached full maturity.
Now, don't get me wrong - some of this criticism
is well-deserved because, quite frankly, many our youth exhibit horrendous
behavior.
Yet, what baffles me is
how people talk about the youth as if they were savages, as if their problems
are not rooted in our own. What many people fail to understand are the many
societal factors that play a major role in Philly's inner-city youth problems.
Many of these troubled
youths come from dysfunctional homes, where there is minimal parental guidance
in their households. This lack of family role models plays a tremendous part in
a young person's development.
Then, in their
communities there isn't exactly an abundance of role models, either, and many
of the people who become role models are often products of these broken homes
as well.
On top of that, one of
the main problems in Philadelphia that affect the youth is that there is a lack
of community. Many people don't have enough of a bond with the people who live
in their neighborhoods, nor do they care to help these people; consequently,
the youth suffers.
Too often people go on
and on about how we need stricter laws and more police presence to
"help" the youth.
However, what they really need are people who care enough to understand them.
However, what they really need are people who care enough to understand them.
Too often, people will
put so much energy into criticizing and looking down on the youth but put no
energy into making steps to actually help them up.
But, as Philadelphia's
own Benjamin Franklin once said, "Any fool can criticize, condemn and
complain, and most fools do."
We don't need any more
people sitting around talking about how "crazy" or how much of a
"disgrace" the youth are - that's unproductive. What Philadelphia
needs are people who care and are willing to put time and effort into helping
our communities.
This means that we need
our parents, our coaches, our teachers, our clergy, our college students to
step up and help our communities. We have more power than we think, and
together we could change this city for the better.
Most importantly, our
youth need love. As the esteemed scholar Dr. Cornel West once stated, "You
can't lead the people if you don't love the people. You can't save the people
if you don't serve the people."
Our inner-city youth are
talented and full of promise. The only problem is that many of them have yet to
realize that. They just need people to help them to cultivate their potential
and discover the greatness in themselves.
How do I know this?
Well, I am
Philadelphia's youth.
I was born and raised in
Philadelphia and I was a product of both the public- and parochial-school
systems.
Today, I'm a 21-year-old
graduate student at Edinboro University, in Pennsylvania, and my successes are
largely due not only to the guidance of my parents, but the countless people in
my community who helped to push me in the right direction.
I love Philadelphia and
I love the people who live here, and I want to make this city better because it
is inevitably a part of me. I hope that I'm not the only one who feels this
way.
I mean, since we are the
"City of Brotherly Love," let's try living up to the name.
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