Cities, Crime, and Honoring Thugs
No, I am not a big fan of cities, and anybody who knows me can tell you this. I am probably a rarity these days, but I prefer small town (<40,000 people) life to big city life any day. You can make fun of me for living in a non-diverse area with little "culture," and while I lament the lack of these things in my smaller town, I still will stick to just visiting the city, thank you. Crime, inflated prices, corruption, smog, high taxes, and so forth, are all reasons why the urban life is not for me. I remember when I was getting ready to live in Atlanta looking for housing. The prices were very high, even in bad neighborhoods. A friend of mine was paying 900+ dollars a month for an apartment in an unsafe neighborhood. They moved after someone was robbed at gunpoint in the laundry area of their apartment. They moved to the suburbs, paying even more for rent.
Today though, I want to focus on crime, and the "blame the victim" mentality we often see. Crime is rising in many cities, and many people live in fear. Yesterday, I was reading a news article about a man who defended himself in Cleveland, a city I visit, but one where I would never live. I admit that reading the stories about this case has gotten me a little hot under the collar, so excuse this rant. What happened: An African-American man named Damon Wells shot a teen, Arthur "Ace Boogie" Buford, who trespassed on his property. The fifteen year old, on probation for armed robbery, and an accomplice, approached Wells, pointing a gun at him. Now, tragically, a teen is dead. The prosecutors are not going to charge Wells.
I agree this is a tragedy all around, and that Jesus' adage is still true, that if you live by the sword, you die by the sword, but the media doesn't seem to get it, nor do many of those in Wells' neighborhood. The first article from the Plain Dealer about this mentioned this will cause debate about guns and concealed carry permits. Actually, this man was on his own property, so legally he didn't need a permit, but secondly, where is the debate exactly? Concealed Carry was legalized for reasons just like this. Either way, there doesn’t seem to be much “debate” on the comments thread at the Plain Dealer. Around 95% of commenters agree that they are sick and tired of punks terrorizing certain neighborhoods, hindering peaceful citizens from living freely and safely.
What gets me upset about this is how so many, including some media elites, are now blaming the victim. Damon Wells, with no criminal record, was minding his own business, and was terrorized by a couple punks with criminal records. It is easy for us to sit in judgment while pontificating from our good neighborhoods, but when you live in a neighborhood where you can’t walk out during most times of the day for fear of your life, reality is a little different. Perhaps the academics, reporters, and politicians might be a little more realistic about all issues if they had to live outside their good neighborhoods with quick police response time for even a day. We don’t know how we would react in this situation, with a gun pointed at us, possibly leading to our own death or that of our family. Many elites would simply let their armed bodyguards take care of it, a luxury most of us lack.
Now we are seeing vigils on behalf of the late Arthur Buford spring up, and a community is angry that Wells got off without charges. Buford’s cousin is upset and blames Wells. Ace Boogie’s friends believe he did nothing wrong. Notes left at a makeshift memorial say, “God gave me a new angel man . . . Why Da Good Die Young . . . I’ll see you in eternity . . . You are with the Lord and we happy for that.” In good thug fashion, Damon Wells is being harassed, and his house has been vandalized. Goodness…where to begin with this! I have no problem having a vigil for Buford. It is a work of mercy to bury the dead. He was a human being, a precious life with basic dignity, but his actions in life show that he did not behave virtuously, or responsibly. However, instead of defending Buford’s actions, why not have a vigil in his name as a way to make sure that children do not turn into the next Arthur Buford? Why not use this death to look at the cultural and social problems that turn an innocent child into an armed robber by age 15? The family should be outraged, not at Wells, but at themselves, their neighborhood, and primarily at their departed relative. They should be outraged that a freshman could get to the point where he was on probation for armed robbery, and that he was illegally carrying a weapon, and harassing neighbors, apparently unsupervised. If I were Buford’s relative, I would meet with Wells and apologize for the actions of Buford, and then work with Wells to reduce crime in the neighborhood. Why not make it so when people think of Arthur Buford they think of a new future for America’s teens rather than using his name to glorify wrong behavior?
I do not think killing another person in self-defense is ever good, but if done unintentionally (i.e. you intended to defend, but not kill), from a Catholic perspective it is not a mortal sin. If you or your family are in mortal danger, it may be the lesser of two evils to shoot your attacker. Regardless, crime is out of control in many cities, and blaming the victim is not going to remedy the problem. Let’s let something positive come out of this, including allowing children to see how stupid being a thug actually is.
For a good piece on this tragedy, see No Sympathy for Thug Culture, written by Regina Brett of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
