50 Years Forward: Montgomery Swept By “Tsunami of (Black) Violence”

Alabama

As the City of Montgomery celebrates its 20th homicide of 2013, the Montgomery Advertiser in a rare example of candor has admitted that Montgomery is being swept by a “tsunami of violence,” which it says is the prerogative of the Black Undertow, and that city leaders have no solution to the problem:

“As she sat on the front porch of her Gibbs Village home last week, Jamie Allen laughed and cracked jokes. She yelled over to neighbors and talked with family members sitting around her. Across the public housing community, folks young and old milled about, enjoying what would have been a beautiful, sunny spring afternoon in Montgomery.

If not for the police cars.

A little more than an hour earlier, in the front yard of a home a few places down from the front porch where Allen sat with Kwatasian Kelly and Devon Hill, an argument started between a young man and woman. The subject matter, as Kelly put it, was “petty” — something to do with a disagreement between their two kids, elementary schoolchildren. But before the argument could be resolved, the man, who is still being sought by police, allegedly shot the woman in the chest, just narrowly avoiding killing her.

“There was no sense in it,” Allen said. “But it ain’t no stoppin’ it now. These folks are shooting each other everywhere around here now.”

The numbers seem to support her assessment. ..

Pause.

Kwatasian and Devon … in the background, gunshots echo in the distance in the Gibbs Village public housing complex, and a woman collapses sucking air from a non-fatal gunshot wound. Jiamante and Deshunquez … first degree robbery.

“From a mix of some or all of those ingredients, there has been a fairly consistent outcome: Young black males are shooting and killing each other at an alarming rate.

“When we have politicians say that we have a problem down here and it’s young men shooting each other, I really would rather them say it’s black men, and they’re young, and they’re shooting each other,” said Dr. Earnest Blackshear, a licensed psychologist and Alabama State University professor. Blackshear has partnered, free of charge, with the city in an attempt to provide officials with some psychological understanding of what’s driving the violence. …”

In Montgomery Prays To Change (Black) Culture, we saw that ASU Professor Earnest Blackshear described parts of west Montgomery as being “like a third world,” and pointed his finger squarely at the real domestic terrorists who are making it that way:

“I’ve shared with (police and city leaders) my theory that the code of the streets is this subcultural belief and value system that is reinforced by gangster rap and hip-hop and the clothes — they tell you what to drink, what to eat, how to dress, what to do, how to get money,” Blackshear said. “The images are about having guns, not valuing life. Getting respect from disrespect and the objectification of women. This is playing a large role in the crime that we’re seeing. And it’s happening most often within the black community.”

Police statistics show that of the city’s 18 homicide victims, 15 were black and 13 were under the age of 30. Of the 22 people arrested in those murders, 19 are black and 17 are younger than 30.

If 19 out of 22 homicide arrests in Montgomery in 2013 have involved African-Americans, it means that black people are responsible for 86% of the homicide that has occurred in Montgomery so far this year.

“It might seem like an odd notion to an outsider — that something as petty as a neighborhood boundary line could provoke deadly violence. But Montgomery’s inner-city neighborhoods are extremely territorial, to the point that nearly every neighborhood or community has a loosely organized gang. And each gang usually has a standing “beef” with at least one other neighborhood gang.

But while something as simple as wearing the wrong colors in the wrong neighborhood can spark a fight that might end in gun play, the same kids who are so quick to pick up a weapon or start fighting will come together for parties and some illegal activities.”

It’s a phenomenon that has confounded police.

“We don’t have the traditional kind of gangs, when you think of Crips, Bloods, etc.,” Murphy said. “But what we do have are these neighborhood (groups), and they’ll call themselves a gang. And they’ll identify themselves with clothing and signs. But then you’ll see them get together and make a dope deal. They’re very fluid.”

In the controversial new song “Accidental Racist,” LL Cool J raps:

“Dear Mr. White Man, I wish you understood
What the world is really like when you’re livin’ in the hood
Just because my pants are saggin’ doesn’t mean I’m up to no good
You should try to get to know me, I really wish you would
Now my chains are gold but I’m still misunderstood
I wasn’t there when Sherman’s March turned the south into firewood
I want you to get paid but be a slave I never could
Feel like a new fangled Django, dodgin’ invisible white hoods
So when I see that white cowboy hat, I’m thinkin’ it’s not all good
I guess we’re both guilty of judgin’ the cover not the book
I’d love to buy you a beer, conversate and clear the air
But I see that red flag and I think you wish I wasn’t here.”

Sorry LL Cool J, we’re not guilty of “judgin’ the cover not the book.”

According to Earnest Blackshear and Montgomery Chief of Police Kevin Murphy, the clothes these budding Djangos are wearing, the manner in which they carry themselves, and especially the violent music they are listening to is actually a highly predictive indicator of the content of their character.

Wearing the wrong clothes in the wrong hood in Montgomery in 2013 … that can get a nigga shot a few miles from the SPLC.