"He did a whole lot of wrong stuff," said William Harris, a retired construction foreman who has lived on 81st Street for more than 40 years. "But this murder stuff really surprised me…If the accusations are true, Harris may be left wondering not just what that says about his neighbor but what it says about the moral compass of his neighborhood.” - Sandy Banks
Dear friends,
In our efforts to develop loving and prosperous communities, it is easy to point fingers at people who behave in unthinkable ways. Yet, what does that say about us as individuals, in any particular neighborhood, if we live and associate with the same people who we denounce, without taking pro-active, positive steps to help create an environment where we live that encourages social interactions between members of the community that are based upon respect, trust, kindness, and honesty?
Still, from random killings to domestic violence to sexual harassment of all kinds - to various forms of robbery, assault, and deception - to forced prostitution, violence against females - regardless of their ages, skin colors, or social statuses - is the world’s biggest problem. Period! It, literally, affects not only half of the population in the US, but, as well, an equal amount of humankind worldwide. Moreover, it is the most immediate threat to our survival as a species than even the suicidal “nuclear proliferation” of all developed countries combined, or the current so-called “world economic crisis”.
In any case, on the link below, a few years ago, Sandy Banks of the Los Angeles Times delivered, in her usual thought-provoking manner, a piece that, aqt least to me, entices us to confront our own inadequacies and insecurities about being good neighbors. Cheers!
G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-banks-20100710,0,5099090,full.column
2 comments:
The saying "Good fences make good neighbors" is true to a degree. And "live and let live" and "mind your own business" are great axioms to live by within reason. This community took it too far.
Sometimes you have to be in your neighbors' business. In this case he was involved in all manner of criminal and possibly deviant behaviors (operating a chop shop, buying stolen property from drug addicts, providing drugs for nude picture posses, etc.). Community intervention was required, but not applied because some apparently saw no impact on them.
One neighbor said "He seemed like such a nice guy," while another said "He did a whole lot of wrong stuff, but this murder stuff really surprised me." The only surprise was they let their neighborhood deteriorate because, as a community, certain behaviors were accepted without challenge.
While the community became desensitized to criminal and aberrant behaviors, it slowly descended into one comfortable with indecency and impropriety.
Also, apparently, some of the neighbors were involved with, if not directly benefiting from the drug thing.
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