A PUZZLING DILEMMA

What's next? Operation 'hood freedom (Min. Paul Scott, San Francisco Bay View, 4/30/2003)

Last night, I dreamt that George Bush sent in the troops to liberate "tha hood." Lines of women and children cheered as soldiers threw bootlegged 50 Cent CD’s into the crowd. I was cheering myself until I was thrown in the back of the paddy wagon with the rest of the Brothas.

While many people are debating where Round 3 of the great War on Terror will go down, there is a great possibility that it could take place on the streets of LA instead of the streets of some foreign land.

If a country like Iraq can be attacked, despite a low approval rating, how much more readily can Black men in the so called inner cities be bombed when the masses of people have been duped into believing that they are all gangstas, thugs and gold toothed drug dealers.... And who will lead the protest to stop the attack on tha hood? Mr. Johnson down the street, who lost his only son in a drive by last week, or Ms. Lucille, who is scared to come outside after dark because of drug deals going down on her front steps?...

Also problematic is the fact that when the "big sweep" comes - i.e., the "final solution" to deal with Black men - and I am chillin' on the block in my Afrocentric red, black and green gear next to a Brotha dressed in all blue, are the cops really going to take the time to find out which one of us is involved in a "criminal" gang? And since anyone who stands against the status quo can be considered a "criminal," will it even make a difference if they did?...

So the Black community is caught in the middle - gang bangers on the right and agents of White Supremacy on the left - having to choose between being victimized by the "problem" (drugs, Black-on-Black crime etc.) or annihilated by the "solution" (the preservation of White Supremacy by any means necessary). The catch 22 facing the Afrikan community is how do we make our communities safe without ... aiding and abetting a racist program ...

The answer is this. We tell the TRUTH....

Then we can begin to develop an African-centered spiritual solution to the problems facing Afrikans in America.

It is truly distressing that California's Afrikans community is threatened simultaneously by drug-dealing gangs and the battle-hardened 3rd Armored Division. Mr. Scott's recommended course is surely the right solution. However, in the remote chance that truth-telling and spirituality don't work, perhaps he should consider the solution of Rio das Pedras. Posted by Paul Jaminet at May 7, 2003 9:05 AM