A football coach in Chicago has been arrested for arranging the beating of a student. Cassius Chambers of Fenger High School has turned himself in to police and been charged with simple assault. The charges were brought forth after Chambers allegedly helped over 20 football players come to the home of 16-year-old Darion Jones, where they proceeded to beat him mercilessly right in front of his mother.
Jones had been accused of stealing Nike flip flops, and another assistant coach for the team watched it all go down without doing anything to intervene. In the fight, Jones' prosthetic eye was damaged and his tooth was knocked out. Fenger High School is also notorious for the beating death of 16-year-old Derrion Albert in 2009.
When I read about this beating, my stomach turned. I'm not sure if Darion stole the flip flops or not, but the idea that this kind of vigilante justice was endorsed by members of the coaching staff is beyond shameful. The incident speaks to the fact that Fenger, as well as other schools around the country, are unable to provide adequate protection for young black children who are regular targets of this form of bullying.
Scores of black children die in Chicago every year, yet there is very little national discussion of these tragedies. In South Central Los Angeles, thousands of youth grow up with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after wondering if their walk to school is going to be interrupted by an AK-47. All the while, most of the conversation about bullying tends to focus on gay kids in the suburbs. Yes, all plights are worthy of discussion, but one has to wonder if black youth were factored into our nation's sudden decision to begin discussing this problem (I don't recall seeing any black kids on the AC360 discussion on bullying, nor have I seen the issue of urban bullying featured on any national media outlet).
It must be made clear that Darion and millions of other children in urban communities across America are regular victims of a type of bullying that is rarely seen in the suburbs. His mother has already lost a child to gun violence, and the fact that we've come to accept this as a normal part of "growing up in the hood" should sadden us all. The national discussion on bullying should bring forth specific conversations and action plans for children in urban communities, so that they can feel as safe as the middle class kids whose coaches DON'T arrange for them to be beaten in front of their moms.
The kids in the suburbs don't have gun shops and liquor stores on every corner, conjoined with massive unemployment and low educational quality to accelerate the chances that they might find themselves being beaten or shot by a bully who's not even in school anymore. A well-known example might be the scene in the famous film, Boyz in the Hood, where one of the teen characters is murdered in an alley after getting into an altercation with a 27-year-old man. This story is played out repeatedly all over the country, yet some seem to believe that for young black men in America, dying is simply a part of life.
Kids like Darion Jones need help. They need our protection and they need to feel safe. Additionally, getting rid of the guns, improving educational quality and reducing the massive black teen unemployment rate (regularly over 40 percent) might be a step in the right direction. So, not only should bullies be confronted for their behavior, we should also stop turning urban neighborhoods into "bully incubators" that create the destructive characters who end up slaughtering and traumatizing our children.
For every Darion Jones whose story makes the national news, there are a thousand other black youth whose stories are never told. Many of these kids are left with the difficult choice of being judged by 12 members of a jury or being carried by six pallbearers at their own funeral. We must give good kids better options, better policies, and signals to show that their lives are just as valuable as the kids who have a little money. Being picked on is obviously depressing, sad and hurtful, but our kids are the ones who are being regularly beaten and shot.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Professor at Syracuse University and founder of the Your BlackWorld Coalition. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.
Follow Dr. Boyce Watkins on Twitter: www.twitter.com/DrBoyceWatkins1
Marcia Sirota: How to Deal With Bullies
Fed anti-bullying campaign falls short for black kids
Teens Arrested for Brutal Bullying of 13-Year-Old Kid: 'Tossed in a ...
Study Shows Bullying's Negative Effect On Smart Black Students ...
During that time, I along with the kids from the base, were sent to mostly pathetic schools and were collectively minorities being from the base and for those of us who of us "white" (I hate the term white but anyway) life was esp. fun. The African American, Asian, and Hispanic kids from the base most usually were enforcers in the schools in regards to keeping the peace and laying down violence when necessary. The majority of the school I went to were violent.
The predatory and gang menatlity in the schools at that time were beyond rough. Both African American and Mexican-Chicano in Denver. Poverty, ignorance, whatever the excuse, just a nightmare and from the looks of it, things have not improved much. These bullys learn their trade from a number of sources but uninvolved parents also play their role. It is really sad to see that the African American community has been unable to pull it togeather. Seeing coaches involved in a beating is beyond excuse and sd. get years in jail and entire team disbanded but doubt either will happen.
Racism is not exclusive to one race.
A dynamic that some are unware of or do not understand about military culture and kids that attended public school from the base was/is that we were a cohesive/unified group and all experienced that same sort of prejudice due to being "base kids" and the dreaded term, "brats." As a result, when whites would go after blacks or asians or mexican kids form the base, "white" kids would go after them and the same with the black kids going after white kids. Those who attended public schools in the 70s/80s know that the method of dealing with "bullies" was much more direct and usually involved violence. It was that simple.
Another aspect of living on base was that most of use dated other races than our own and as a result were exposed to other cultures and races than our own. As a result, I have dated black women, asians, and mexican. Not only were my peers of all races but some of the best friends I have had were not of my own skin color. On more than one occasion, a black friend saved my ass from being beat by groups of black kids who went after me simply because of my skin color.
Believe it or not, all races have experience various degree of racism and violence.
I also agree with the poster who said that the mentality of our community is partly responsible. We are taught mostly to handle bullying issues ourselves and not to look to authority figures for support. That has to change. Asking for help because you are being bullied should not be seen as a sign of weakness, but so many teachers and parents are quick to not give these issues the importance they deserve.
That is why you are taught to handle it yourself.
There are certain teachers that have a decent connection with the students who could make a difference, but there are many teachers who have no idea what it means to be a kid at all, and a result, will have no ability to improve things for the kid whose asking for help.
EVERY child should grow up feeling safe. They should feel COMPLETELY safe at home and at school, and they should feel completely safe with any teacher or member of a school staff.
Teens are most certainly targeted by others because of anything that makes them different, be it sexual preference, race, weight, or even dress. Bullying is not a 'normal' part of growing up. It's time that everyone stopped with the - I got through it and they can too - chorus, and got to work fixing this deadly problem.
And that chorus is completely valid.
I was picked on when I was in grade school, yet now I am funding 2 expansion projects that are multiplying my investment by a factor of 6 or 7.
And I am only in my mid 20's.