Saturday, January 07, 2006

Villages Don’t Raise Children, Families Do

 
Elbert Lewis Jr.Bill Keezer is home from the hospital. And like any dedicatedcompulsive blogger, he put up a post a few days ago from his hospital bed. It’s a good one, too. He features Elbert Lewis, Jr. — a retired engineer, an ex-Marine who served in Vietnam, an artist, and a science fiction writer. All these experiences and talents give Mr. Ellis the scope to address his issue in the Cincinnati Enquirer. And his issue is the asinine treatment by the blowhards in the black community re the execution of “Tookie” Williams.

In the conflicted and strait-jacketed journalistic world, it is Mr. Lewis’ black heritage which allows him to speak, though no doubt he is roundly criticized for daring to state the facts behind the mess this putative “village” makes:
     If it takes a Village to raise a child, what happens when the Village fails?
When the Village fails, the execution of Stanley "Tookie" Williams is not used to send a resounding message to our black youth that this is where you end up when you fail to educate yourself, follow the law and conduct yourself as a productive citizen.
Instead, members of the Village, from the Rev. Jesse Jackson to callers to the local urban radio talk shows, idolized a murderer who organized a street gang that still terrorizes many urban communities and is responsible for hundreds if not thousands of deaths, rampant drug dealing and other criminal activities. They portrayed Williams as a victim of a racist system, and some even vowed to give him a funeral worthy of a statesman. How asinine.
As you can see, Mr. Lewis and I agree on the Tookie Williams situation: “asinine.” Well, actually I stole the descriptive from him, but I’m giving him credit here. The whole, stupid mess is asinine.

Last month on Baldilocks’ blog, a white student from the College of William and Mary got on the comments and railed against those who took exception to the (at the time) coming execution of Williams. His comment was so ignorant, so lacking in syntax or sense, I was embarrassed for the College. It is, after all, the alma mater of several generations of the Baron’s family, including his Boy, who is currently a junior. To get the full flavor, here’s Jeremy’s comment:
    how come you all seem to be picking on tookie. about his impending execution when no one that has posted anything on this page was not in the court room when his trial took place you didn't here the evidence. so dont comment about it. As for his impending execution I hope Gov. Arnold gives him clemency because even if tookie did those murders. I believe and so do thousands around the world believe that stanley ‘tookie’ williams has done more good then bad. It is possible that he commited those murders and killed four people. But he has saved thousands check that millions from making those same mistakes that he made and probable has saved many lives in the process. Oh and another thing people talking about killing tookie because he may be a murderer. How about we kill the actual murderers like charles manson and stop protecting him behind laws. Oh yeah he's white.
from a 19 year old white william and mary student
Putting aside the fact that this child’s utterances demonstrate that he obviously doesn’t belong in college, let us use them to make Mr. Lewis’ point about the failed “village” metaphor:
     When the Village fails, an atmosphere of “anti-academic excellence” prevails where only the strongest black students overcome the peer pressure not to excel. As a result, more young black men go to prison than to college. Fifty percent of the current generation is allowed to drop out before finishing high school, the boot camp of life, thereby relegating themselves to the lowest rung of the employment ladder.
When the Village fails, black families do not produce enough police officers and firemen to protect their community; enough teachers, doctors, engineers and other professionals to serve their needs or enough entrepreneurs to maintain a viable economic base.
When the Village fails, an anti-white attitude predominates to the point where fratricide is preferable to assisting in effective law enforcement administered by the white majority. Young black kids are forced to join gangs out of self-preservation, and the elderly huddle in fear of home invasion and dare not venture out after dark.
But, as Jeremy proves, when the village metaphor fails in real life, it can still grab the fantasy of marginal people and rabble rousers. What on God’s green earth is there to admire about a killer? The metaphor is simply a way to get the spotlight, to defraud the very people it is supposed to help, and to intimidate those people, black (Bill Cosby) or white (Arnold Schwarzenegger) who refuse to follow the Pied Piper of the mandarins in academia and the MSM.

Recently, when Arnold’s home town in Austria took him to task for the execution of a cold-blooded murderer, he upped the ante and closed the conversation:
     In a letter that began “Dear Mister Mayor,” Schwarzenegger said he decided to spare the Graz city council “further concern” should he be forced to make other clemency decisions while he’s governor. Another inmate is scheduled to be executed in California Jan. 17.
“In all likelihood, during my term as governor, I will have to make similar and equally difficult decisions,” Schwarzenegger said in the letter. “To spare the responsible politicians of the city of Graz further concern, I withdraw from them as of this day the right to use my name in association with the Liebenauer Stadium.”
[…]
Schwarzenegger also said he would no longer permit the use of his name ‘to advertise or promote the city of Graz in any way’ and would return the city’s ‘ring of honor.’
Arnold and Mr. Lewis and Bill Cosby are putting the lie to that asinine idea of some mythical village raising our children. Scratch that canard and peel back the painted layer and all you’ve got is collectivism under another name.

I dare Hillary to mention it in her primary speeches. Bring it on, Madam.

5 comments:

airforcewife said...

To the extent that the villages we choose to associate with interact with our children, I think they do help to raise them. Children cannot help but be influenced by those around them. But it is something that responsible parents absolutely control and should exercise such control responsibly.

One of the reasons I adore living on base and being a military family is that it is one of the few places where a parent faces the consequences for their minor child's behavior. If one of mine were to shoplift at the BX, hubby would find himself without a commission in short shrift.

And having responsibility for our children is as it should be.

Mil-brats do have their problems, but no one's is putting up graffiti on base anywhere - one of the first signs of out of control kids.

Wally Ballou said...

As for the white liberals lionizing this thug, there's certainly nothing new there. Reminds me of the old National Lampoon song which I wouldn't play even inside my fallout shelter today, it's so politically incorrect - a Joan Baez parody

Pull the Triggers, N_____s,
We're with you all the way
Just across the Bay



I can't find the lyrics, since I trashed my old LPs (it was on "Lemmings") and this particualr song has been dropped from later NL compilations. I remember ot was very funny.

Unknown said...

I don't know, Dymphna, but I think I agree that “it takes a village to raise a child”. The problem is the Department of Child and Family Services is no village.

Dymphna said...

I disagree that a village is necessary. It certainly isn't sufficient if the family doesn't take care of its own first. Without strong families "villages" are not safe places to be.

Villages run 5th behind:

1. A mother and father who are sober and of whom at least one works.

2. An extended family

3. The mother and father's close friends.

4. Voluntary associations like churches, scouts, etc.

5. And then, maybe the neighborhood.

But the neighborhood/village isn't going to send you to school or clothe you or get up in the night when you have an earache or celebrate your birthday or fix breakfast for you.

As for Social Services -- I worked there and I quit. It's a corrupt, money-sucking bureacracy. In fact, I'll wager if it didn't exist there might be less child abuse because people would be more willing to step in, knowing there was no one going to call "the social worker."

So, yes, the neighborhood beats The Agency by a mile, but it doesn't keep a child straight or nourish its body, soul or spirit.

At any rate, "villages" are the most expendable item on that list.

I put "it takes a village" right up there with the woman who coined the term.

newc said...

I put "Village" right onto the platform of the family. Family is responsible for a child to a point. Child rearing was the historical high of this nation once. Nutured, sheltered, and taught respect for elders they were.

The loss becomes when the transformative process of government thinking government has a right to nuture children. And we all know what happens when Government steps in to become the "loving nature of family".

There was a time, not so long ago, when we took care of eachothers families. Visitations and shared experience was common place. There was always a backup family.

Until offered was the income for child paid welfare state exist for all of those who cared less for their kids than their federal payroll. God rot their souls. They are the most horrid scar upon Liberty that has ever been in a free society. The welfare mother who holds up a baby while living in the ghetto and saying "What are you going to do about this".

It is like blackmail to tug on heart strings to make the Public as an entireity take care of a child reared solely for the purpose of payment. Is this a bribe?
Just what is it of family you have forgotten? At what point does the populace wake up and stop making 5% of the problem 100% of the issue?
I digress.

I would like to hear much much more from people like Elbert Lewis, Jr. His Mother did not raise a fool. Decency is smeared all over this thinking. It could do a lot of good to many people.

On another note, Home schooling is not a bad idea when unions and government want to force your kids to eat something that is ethically challenging.

There was respect and dignity in this nation once and I believe it may be restored, but not through government intervention.

Thank you Gates of Vienna for a very long discussion on all that is true, good, and correct. And bringing to light also what may be bad.

You are truely loved.