Give Black people a chance
30th January 2012 · 0 Comments
I have for more than two three years now been trying to get the attention of our mayor and city council. I believe that city officials are focusing too much of their attention on locking Black males up. I think the mayor and city council members need to focus their attention on education and job training.
Mayor Mitch Landrieu has said he wants to put 300 additional police officers in crime-ridden neighborhoods — this will cost the taxpayers an estimated $40 million, he said. However, there is no guarantee that additional cops on the streets will reduce crime.
I think that the $40 million can be best spent on creating jobs and opening a job0training facility for low-income Black men. Violence is a by-product of poverty, unemployment, a lack of education, drugs and job skills. As we already know, poverty is driving the violent crime in our city. Please leaders take a good look at my plan. My plan is simple: Give Black men marketable job skills and a GED, then observe how this city will change for the better.
The mayor needs to do more to ensure that every resident of this city has what he or she needs to survive and thrive. The police chief needs to guarantee that every resident can enjoy equal protection under the law. School officials need to ensure that all of the city;s children have equal access to quality education. Finally, the business community needs to stop treating the city’s undereducated, low wage-earning residents like indentured servants or throwaway people.
Both God and the United States Constitution say we deserve better.
– Rev. Raymond Brown
This article was originally published in the January 30, 2012 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper