I want to thank Richard Schaefer for his very insightful letter. When I read it, I felt as though I was reading some of my own thoughts!
A few weeks ago a friend of mine emailed an article by a Nashville-based writer and activist, Tim Wise (who can be reached at tjwise@mindspring.com). He was commenting on the recent shootings by teens and his opinions are shared by me. I would like to quote some of his article:
“I said this after Columbine and no one listened so I’ll say it again — white people live in an utter state of self-delusion. We think danger is black, brown and poor, and if we can just move far enough away from ‘those people’ in the cities we’ll be safe. If we can just find an ‘all-American’ town, life will be better, because ‘things like this just don’t happen here.’
“I’ll tell you what went wrong and it’s not TV, rap music, video games or a lack of prayer in school. What went wrong is that white Americans decided to ignore dysfunction and violence when it only affected other communities, and thereby blinded themselves to the inevitable creeping of chaos which never remains isolated too long. What affects the urban ‘ghetto’ today will be coming to a Wal-Mart near you tomorrow, and unless you address the emptiness, pain, isolation and lack of hope felt by children of color and the poor, then don’t be shocked when the support systems aren’t there for your kids either.
“Listen up, my fellow white Americans. Your children are no better, no nicer, no more moral, no more decent than anyone else. Dysfunction is all around you whether you choose to recognize it or not. …”
When I look around at this beautiful paradise called Malibu, I also see the graffiti on the reflector poles, and hear the “get out of my way bitch” as high school kids speed 50 miles an hour up a blind curve street marked 15 miles per hour (not caring if they kill wildlife) So nothing is perfect — not even Malibu/paradise. But perhaps as more awareness reaches the “not my kid” populace, more will be done to encourage true communication in the family and a respect for life. I admire journalists such as Tim Wise and people like Mr. Schaefer who seem to at least care!
Alessandra DeClario