The Rise and Fall of the African American Part 8

Issues Under Fire: The Rise and Fall of the African American Part 8 

The Fall: The Occupation Expands 

As the thug wars raged on, the crackdown began to look more like a lockdown. Helicopters were flying overhead all night long. Search lights were bleeding through bedroom windows, with cops conducting major operations to capture or kill suspected "Bad Guys". Considering any African American males from the age of eight to eighty were deemed "Bad Guys", the police stood to rack up a lot of overtime.

Law enforcement's message to the residents was unmistakable. The police were now in complete control and if you didn't want to get shot, arrested or both, you'd be wise to stay out of the way. With nightly news reports of how badly conditions were getting in the occupied territories, the last African Americans that could get out, did so, no matter what it took.  

While these stragglers meant well and were desperately trying to do the right thing, they'd made one huge mistake. They didn't get out soon enough. By the time they'd saved up enough money and gumption to bust that move, many of their kids had already been infected with the Gangsta bug.

Some had no idea little Jamal was a gang banger in the making. With longer commutes to and from work, these hardworking African-American parents had far less time to keep little Jamal in line and on the straight and narrow. As the saying goes, you can take the African-American out of "The Hood", but you can't always take "The Hood" out of the African-American.  

These parents had mortgages to pay to keep a roof over the families head and cars to keep running, to get them back and forth to work. These parents were tired when they came home. Thinking a better school district would make a difference, they relaxed and prayed for the best. But by now, you should know, few prayers are answered in the African American community, so it was no surprise when the move to a better and safer life had unexpected consequences.

Socially, economically and educationally ill prepared to integrate into their new and sometime hostile environments, the African-American kid felt like an outsider. The African-American kid didn't speak the same language. They may have been fluent in Ebonics and Unbanese, but didn't couldn't speak a lick of the Kings English. They didn't listen to the same music and didn't read the same books. And if they did, it wasn't at the same grade levels.

Quickly falling behind in their classes, the African-American kids felt even more out of place and began to form small clicks of their own. Some of these clicks soon turned to gang sets. And before anyone realized it, Nigga Nation had outposts popping everywhere. 

Since smart Black people had already migrated to the suburbs years earlier, when the African-American arrived, initially it was all good. It seemed as though overnight, Black people had others in the neighborhood they could relate to. This was a good thing for awhile, but it didn't last. The African-America kid was starting to get into trouble, starting to cutting classes, starting to sell drugs and worst of all, starting to mess around with White girls.

While White kids were engaging in the same activities, it was the African-American kids that was getting all the attention. When race-related issues began to erupt in classrooms, on school busses, in local malls and other social spaces, the existing peaceful coexistence began to fray.  

These were problems Black people didn't need. These were problems White people wasn't going to tolerate. After being neighbors with Whites for years, having birthday parties and play-dates together, eventually Whites and Blacks began to look at one another in differently.

Please don't misunderstand, Whites and Blacks were not exactly friends, but they found a way to be friendly. And to the give credit where credit is due, some of those White people were impressed with the accomplishments Black people had made. Those White people gave Black people the only thing Black people demanded; respect. Remember, acceptance was never a requirement. 

Unfortunately, as time went on, White people were less welcoming, Blacks people were embarrassed and African-Americans remained clueless. What the African-American didn't understand and Black people saw coming instinctively, was White people were beginning to cast all people of color in the same dark light. Eventually, all people of color were seen to be of dubious character. All people of color became a suspect and thus, no person of of color could be trusted. Therefore, all people of color should watched and watched carefully.  

When people of color are driving their cars, shopping in stores, eating in restaurants or taking vacations, they were now subjected to the same degree of suspicion and surveillance as the African-American depicted on television was. When a person of color is seen driving an expensive car, it has to be stolen. When a person of color pays for goods and services with a major credit card, it has to be checked and double checked.  

If a person of color has a good job, it had to be a result of Affirmative Action, if a person of color had a thriving business, it could have been to be financed with illicit  gains. If a person of color is noticed in neighborhoods people of color aren't known to live in and were clearly not wanted, he or she will be stopped questioned and searched for weapons, alcohol and drugs.  

The occupation was no longer limited to "The Hood". The occupation had spread from sea to shinning sea. The occupation eventually spread into the darkest recesses of the mind. If you are a person of color in America, you feel occupied no matter where you are.

24 hours a day, 365 days of the year, the occupiers are watching and waiting for an opportunity to engage. When said opportunities present themselves, the engagement is documented, the person of color is ticketed and or arrested for the slightest offense, violation or infraction. 

With a flood of funding from the federal government, the occupiers had all the resources they needed to respond to such opportunities and respond with force. When the opportunities to engage didn't present themselves, the occupiers would create their own opportunities. Welcome Broken Windows.