To Save Young Black Men Do We Treat Them Like Animals – Yes

Commentary by Y. Lattimore, Editor DryerBuzz.com

Before you get mad, keep in mind we live in a country where an animal’s life is valued at twice that of a human. Now go ahead and get mad, get angry.  The step beyond anger is action.  In an issue oriented society, hopefully this has become an issue for the reader.  Unbeknown to man, there is a very simple solution to saving young black males.  At the rate we are going, we need to save young black women as well.  For the next fifty years, our prison systems are counting on failed implementation.  And that “Obama” factor of seeing someone of similar image in leadership will be slow to take effect.  Beside someone has to be there, within arms length, to drive the point home.  We say at “arms length” because you have to apply a hug at various points.

Seriously,  I’ve been screaming about an experiment which took place some time ago.  It resonated with me back in the day as what I saw on the screen during a documentary resembled something I saw taking place on the streets with humans.  To documentary disappeared for a minute and perhaps some re-writes have taken place, but even in its current form, the message is still there.

Now here this… To save young black men, do we treat them like animals? The answer is a resounding yes. Yes.  Which animal in particular?  Juvenile elephants.  The story of the juvenile elephants today, some references tell it a little different from what I remember.  We know how government experiments go.  So when you find references to the story, the solution is still there, plain and simple.  It appears simple at least to me. To implement, you’ll here that you need funding, years of study, a major movement,  a board, a march on Washington, a senate hearing  – all the red tape.

Or you can take it upon yourself and just be there for somebody.  Perhaps the one where one out of 11 African Americans are in the corrections system, either in prison, on probation or on parole, according to a comprehensive study where major accounting of African Americans is reported in various Pew Reports put out by the Pew Center on the States and other Pew this and Pew that.

I know you’re NOT keeping up with family these days, but one out of eleven means that somebody is not around right now.  With a larger family, 2 or 3 people might not be around.  But let’s flip the script.  That would mean ten (10) out of eleven is not in the system.  We could go back to the stats to find out who’s working, not working, how many kids, how much education, income, wealth, zip code etc.  However, we are seeing negative juvenile behavior coming across the board. Today working and being away from a child can have almost the same societal impact and influences on a child as a parent that does not have a clue and has never worked a day in their life. I’ve talked to inmates in federal prison and they tell me an idle mind gets the same amount of idle time – behind bars.

Back to elephants.  Let me share one of the references that’s still possible to find online.  Click here to read from Boys and girls learn differently: a guide for teachers and parents By Michael Gurian, Patricia Henley, Terry Trueman, but don’t read too much. Just read the first part about the elephants from the section “When In Doubt, Be An Alpha.” It gives a quick summation of what happened when the bull elephant was reintroduced to the juvenile elephants.  After that part it goes into a concept of middle school which is a whole other beast and this blog is getting a bit long.  Found source online with Google book search, because like I said earlier, references to the actual experiment are becoming difficult to find – probably because there in lies a solution.

We also found a few other sources making reference to juvenile elephants and their testosterone. Even basic reading about the elephant hierarchy and how elders are decided and leadership is formulated can give great insight to the drastic issues we have with our young males.  We definitely have some issues and we need to be ready to try what works. The animal kingdom has by far, done a better job than humans over the time.

Does it work?  YES.  How do I know?  Been there done that and made an impact. It works. It stops young men from going to prison.  It stops them from disrespecting women and themselves.  Young men who witness a positive bull or alpha male don’t walk around with their pants at their knees.  They don’t come upon some body’s property and decide they will take their stuff or their life.  Their brain and their conscience works when they have the right bull male to emulate, father or not.

Lastly and I’ll let you go.  Borrowing from the juvenile elephants, we’ve got to reintroduce the bull male, but in a concept of volunteering.  Oh goodness, I lost you.  Let me try a word we used back in the day.  Forget volunteering.  I forget that four million black men marched on Washington but disappeared when it came time to volunteer. We’ve got to become stakeholders for the future.  A stakeholder cultivates and doesn’t just drop seeds and walk away. The bull elephant demands respect, teaches, protects and keeps order with respect of the hierarchy.  You can’t just be up in his herd and not pull your weight and you will know your place.  If you step to him to challenge, you better win and be willing to do all that he does.  In the end, he then passes the torch. He doesn’t leave anyone to fend for themselves.

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