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According to some reports, some of these kids are as young as eleven years old. It is hardly reasonable to believe that individuals of such a tender age would even be sufficiently aware of government activities for this to be a motive.
It is equally as difficult to believe that these individuals would single out whites merely because they (the perpetrators) are unemployed, although such a rationale is being used by many commentators here, perhaps emulating those in England trying to explain their even greater problem with even more violent flash mobs.
Although the pervasive unemployment of young people in America is a cause of considerable concern, I believe Mayor Nutter has hit the bulls-eye when he sees this racist violence as a cultural problem of profound consequences. If left unattended, this problem can result in circumstances similar to the riots that our nation confronted in the 1960s.
Instead of harassing urban police departments about “racial profiling” or police brutality, the Federal Justice Department should be seeking to help those departments in more effective policing techniques. And, President Obama should focus attention of the nation on what can be done to alter this culture of anti-social behavior.
For starters, we need to acknowledge the problem of criminal activity among some urban black youth. For too long our nation has either looked the other way when we see this problem, because of political correctness, or we have made excuses about it, or we have tried to throw money at it, as is now being done by Mayor Bloomberg in New York City.
In addition to using his bully pulpit, Mayor Nutter has imposed a 9:00 curfew for everyone under 18. He is focusing on the behavior of the offenders rather than making excuses for them. This is exactly right. And this is the message that should be repeated at a national level by President Obama, who is politically close to Nutter. The president should acknowledge the existence of the problem and crack down on it before it becomes uncontrollable. Instead of worrying about “profiling,” our nation needs to accept the reality that criminal activity is disproportionately found in certain neighborhoods and among certain demographic groups. Then, we need to crack down on the offenders. To do otherwise is to simply consign the problem to another time and another place.
Ward Connerly is a former chairman of the University of California Board of Regents.
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