Pubdate: Sun, 11 Sep 2005
Source: Peoria Journal Star (IL)
Copyright: 2005sPeoria Journal Star
Contact:  http://pjstar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/338
Author: Jerry Klein, Columnist, PJ Star

STRONG FAMILIES NEEDED TO HALT CITY VIOLENCE

No longer is our beautiful Peoria the unchallenged second city of 
Illinois. But in one respect, at least, it may have become the first 
city of Illinois, and that is in the number of homicides per capita.

There have been, so far, 13 killings by my reckoning, all of them by 
gunshot and the overwhelming majority consisting of young black males 
killing young black males. Gangs, drugs, sex or what is known as 
disrespect are the usual motives, but there is something more behind 
them. To pursue this further is not going to be politically correct 
and risks raising the cry of racism, but it cannot be brushed aside so easily.

For the sad reality is that the collapse of the family - the black 
family in particular - is behind so many of these senseless killings. 
Where is the father? I do not have the statistics to bear this out, 
but in too many cases, he is long gone. The kids are being raised by 
the single mother, who must work out of necessity. And she is 
probably not going to a high-profile job, but rather one in which the 
hours are long and the pay is meager.

So who is there when the kids get out of school? Who makes sure they 
do their homework? Who goes to the PTA meetings? Who makes sure there 
aren't any guns in the house? Who monitors TV? Who keeps track of the 
companions the kids are running with?

To be sure, there are many heroic single moms, but raising, feeding, 
providing for and watching over our young is not a one-person job. 
Kids need a father, a man who guards and guides them and loves them 
in a uniquely manly way. Take him away, and the gang fills the void, 
drugs take the place of fatherly love and violence becomes a 
substitute for affection. In the absence of discipline and social 
restraints, it becomes far too easy to pick up a gun and blow the problem away.

This disastrous epidemic of young men shooting young men will not go 
away as a result of more policemen on the beat or men in red berets 
patrolling the neighborhoods, but with a rejection of the rap 
mentality and a return to family values, which is to say the dad in the home.

People such as myself are not going to solve this problem, but rather 
black parents who insist that their sons, in particular, accept 
sexual responsibility and practice fidelity and who provide the 
example with their own lives. Many are doing this and are as 
frustrated as anyone over these killings. While it is not exclusively 
a black problem, it needs a black solution. It is not so much an 
economic solution that is needed as a cultural and a moral one. Stop 
the violence. Let's reaffirm the importance of the family in putting 
a stop to this killing environment.

We have enough black basketball players, rappers and hamburger 
flippers. What we need are more black attorneys, black priests, black 
newspaper editors, black fathers who have time for their wives and 
children and who are an example to us all.

On this anniversary of the 9-11 disaster, when hatred became real and 
dwelt among us, we have to counter what lies behind the rage with an 
awareness that life is precious, that kids need a mom and a dad, and 
that the only real answer to the madness of bombings in Iraq and 
shootings in Peoria lies in the enlightenment of education and the 
healing power of love. Unfortunately, the name of one gang pretty 
much says it all. It calls itself "No Luv."

Jerry Klein is a columnist with the Journal Star.