Second and Third Generation

Who pays for the mistakes of the past?

The Bible talks about the sins of fathers dooming their children to the second and third generation. Yet, it also discussed God's willingness to judge all of us individually, and bless us according to our own relationships with him.

I've been wondering about the generational quality of sin, as I watch violence and mayhem engulf my hometown.

I was talking to some older gentlemen the other day, and I ran down to them my own personal beliefs on why things seem so bad these days. First and foremost, there is the existence of more media outlets which serve to inform us about crime that normally would have flown below the radar, or been confined to local newspapers. This serves to create a bunker mentality among Americans who feel like they are constantly under siege, even if they live in relatively quiet and crime-free communities.

However, there is no denying that violence is real in some places. I recently read a story that compared homicide rates around the world to the homicide rate in Iraq, and it was very troubling to see American cities with violence rates higher than some cities in "third world" countries. (I hate using that term, but I don't know a better one.) We like to think that America is "beyond" certain societal ills, but the violence seems to have a stubborn resiliency in this country.

Anyway, after I told these older gentlemen about how the media makes things appear worse than they are, I then talked about the cycle of violence and poverty that is the cornerstone of many black communities. I used the word "cornerstone" because that's how ingrained violence and poverty are in some areas. The school system sucks, the job market sucks, parenting sucks, housing sucks, in fact, everything sucks except for the dope game.

The almighty dope game.

Everybody knows it's fool's gold, but young cats keep jumping off into it. They know they are going to die young or end up locked up. They know once they start getting arrested, it will be damn near impossible for them to ever move into legitimate business. Yet, everyday hundreds of young black men decide that the dope game is their best option.

See, white men may be more likely to use illegal drugs, but it's black men who are most likely to sell it. That ain't just a popular stereotype, that's a fact. But, instead of chalking that up to some innate evilness, I'm of the mindset that something is deeply wrong with the world these young cats inhabit if slanging rocks still seems like a viable option.

In my experience, people are people. Most folks are the same, it's not like there is a plethora of sociopaths in the ghettos. Nah, these cats aren't dark-skinned Charles Mansons, they are more like young idiots who made a series of bad decisions, and now have few options and even less hope.

Here's where I get back to my blog title. See, what I finally told these old cats is that the current state of the world can be directly tied back to the past state of the world. What's going on now in the black community isn't the result of some massive racist plot or some core inadequacy in black people. It's neither that simple, nor that complicated.

Sure, racism helped cause the current problems since the inequities in housing, education and jobs, helped create the depressed economic communities where crime thrives. And sure, black people have some bad traits like drunkenness, sexual immorality and violent tendencies, just to name a few.

But, it's not like there is a cabal of racists making the world jerk and twist like Geppeto. Nor is it true that black people have a monopoly on all the traits I just mentioned. Last time I checked, those things are common in everybody.

Nah, what happened is that the regular old humanity of black folks combined with the inhumane actions of some white folks and the willful ignorance of others to create a toxic mix. That mix encouraged and glorified the worst human traits of black folks, and created a cycle of failure that is reaching its apex in the young adults of today's generation. Whether it be the rampant violence or the declining overall morality, the current state of the world didn't just spring forth fully formed like Aphrodite.

It's been a gradual process where the failures and mistakes of all of our ancestors contributed to the chaos we see today. That doesn't absolve us from our personal responsibility. We still have the power to live our own lives. However, for me, it made it clear that today's problems aren't color-coded and neither are the solutions. There are no white, black, Asian or Latino problems. There are no third world, second world, or first world problems. There are human problems, created thanks to the actions of all human beings, and therefore the responsibility of all of us.

Unless we want to doom some more second and third generations.



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