Pubdate: Mon, 21 May 2007 Source: Florida Today (Melbourne, FL) Copyright: 2007 Florida Today Contact: http://www.flatoday.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/532 Author: Kevin L. Fain BLACK CHURCHES ARE FAILING IN CRIME FIGHT As I attended the recent community meeting in Cocoa on fighting crime in the black community, I wondered, "When did the black community lose its bravery?" There was a time when unarmed black people stood up to billy clubs, water hoses, police, and people with hooded heads. Did brave black people take those beatings, lynchings and jailings only for their neighborhoods to now be run by their criminal, dope-dealing young? I never thought I'd live to see the day when fear was reversed, for now it is the older folks who fear their young. Since the black community has morphed into what it now is, I ask the next influential element, the churches, "Where are you?" After years of tithing and support for "teach and preach," I ask , "Where is your 'reach'?" And I ask, "Have the churches done enough?" Because, despite the numerous churches that dot black communities, there never seems to be a unified, continuous effort on the churches' part to go where the problems lie. Churches can't mentor to the plagues of the black community by expecting the "sinners" to be on a pew on Sunday. The black community needs you now, not more police. Kevin L. Fain, Sr. Palm Bay - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman