Another American Tragedy

PHOTO: Jennifer Hudson's mother, Darnell Donerson; nephew, Julian King; and

brother, Jason Hudson (not shown)... three recent victims of senseless violence.

I just finished writing a short story in which one of my characters shoots and kills another character. The narrator of the story said that the police were willing to believe a story that is somewhat suspect because, "It is just a case of black people killing other black people. There would be no public outcry... they were just glad to have a cleared case." I wrote this story the day after I heard the tragic news about actress-singer, Jennifer Hudson, who lost her mother, brother, and now I'm afraid, her 7 year old nephew to a shocking act of violence.

They were black and I'm sure when the perpetrator is captured, the person will turn out to be black too. I especially wrote that part of the story to demonstrate that black life is cheap. White people say it and know it... and black people, just in the way we treat each other, know it and believe it too. We are always so quick to pull a gun on each other, pull a knife on each other, or go to blows with each other... but, afraid to vote and to stand up for each other!

This wasn't really meant to be a post about the Jennifer Hudson tragedy... that's just one more instance in a series of black-on-black violence. Tragic as it is, this same scene was probably played out in New York, Detroit, Philly, Atlanta, DC, Baltimore, and several other American cities in somebody else's family over the weekend. I also heard an unconfirmed story that the murders in Jennifer's family were the result of a domestic dispute over a car. Whether it's true or not, black folks kill each other at alarming numbers over just about anything now of days.

As much as I loved the TV series "The Wire", I was always saddened at how cheap black life was, how many of the young black males on the show met their deaths tragically, and how killers like Wee Bey, Omar, and Chris Partlow were elevated to the status of "folk heroes" amongst some of my friends who watched the show. Some of them argued that Tony Soprano & Crew ended just as many white lives on "The Sopranos" as did the guys on the Wire but, I disagree. The body count was never as high as it was on shows like "Oz" and "The Wire". TV shows they may be but, in many ways they are a mirror of the very real violence that is so pervasive in America in general and, in particular, Black America.

At a time like this, when we could be on the verge of electing our first black president, we as a people and as individuals have still not evolved beyond our fears and mistrust of each other that dates back to slavery. We should be past this but, the self-hatred and self-loathing instilled in us after centuries of institutional racism has created fearful and mistrustful "little monsters" that actually embrace picking up the gun rather than seeking a non-violent or intelligent way to resolve a problem. In fact, to some people, what I'm saying here is just out of the question.

This is the mentality that is the root cause for Jennifer Hudson's family members' being killed. There is no justifiable reason you can give me for whatever happened in that house on Friday. And, there is certainly nothing anybody can tell me that would make me want to cut the perpetrator some slack for killing a 7 year old child. I don't want to hear that the person was "scared, in a panic, and just didn't think" or was "angry and one thing led to another". I'm just not in the mood to hear anymore excuses for senseless black-on-black violence.

I don't even know what I could say to Jennifer Hudson if I knew her personally because I can't imagine how I could deal with that kind of loss. I shouldn't have to imagine how I should deal with it... neither should she... and neither should any of you. So, I ask you... where is the love? Where is the love?