Saturday, December 20, 2008

Death Needs To Take Another Holiday

Philadelphia Homicides


On May 19, 2008 I wrote a post called "Death Takes a Holiday". I was being a little humorous about a phenomenon in Philadelphia of major proportions... From Thursday of that week until early Monday morning not one (read this again)... not one citizen was murdered in this city. Three people got shot on Saturday night but, all three people lived. The last time something like that happened was... well, never.

It's a sad state of affairs that in our city, we lose an average of two people a day to handgun violence. Anytime our mayor or any well-meaning politician tries to lobby for handgun control, all of the gun nuts and moose hunters from the central and northern part of the states grab their Bibles and apple pies and storm the capitol pooh-poohing it.

Our 319th citizen lost his life today. The fact that it was an African-American male, probably killed by another African-American male, is beside the point. We had five policemen lose their lives this year (four of the five cops who died were white!!!) and you would think that would move our lawmakers to regulate these guns but, that didn't even move them.

I've come to the conclusion that this is not a race thing... it's a Philly thing. The rest of the state views Philadelphia (it's largest city) as the outsider, the big intrusive outsider that is "draining " all of the resources from them. If you think that is so Pennsylvania, try existing without this city. I dare you! But, I digress.

Something has got to be done but, nobody wants to do anything. Nobody wants to regulate handguns, write stricter gun laws or even allow Philadelphia to make it's own gun laws that differ from the rest of the state. Nobody can improve the school system. I've heard that we are strapped for cash right now. And nobody, black or white, is going to get out in the streets and engage some of these guys who do the shooting so, in effect, I'm screaming angrily in the wind again. Tomorrow, another person(s) is going to die... you can make book on that.

I theorized that the only reason we had that calm weekend in May was because all of the criminals heard about a weekend buffet special in Atlantic City, NJ so, they all got on the buses and went to AC. It's almost Christmas and it's very doubtful that they will be going anywhere this weekend. (There is a sale at Sears on Ginsu knives...but damn O.J. you can't make that.)

Something else that saddens me is that all of the killing isn't being done by drug dealers or "criminals", so to speak. Everybody's got a gun so on Christmas Day, don't touch the big piece of Turkey, especially if you're a guest at somebody else's house. Pop might pull out his pistol and blow you away. Don't look at Shaniqua's man too hard... she might go in her purse, pull out some "heat", and drop you where you stand. If you're in the malls, don't jump in front of anyone or push anybody. Again, they might "bring the noise", shoot you, and you won't be celebrating Christmas anymore. And, this is definitely not the time to be breaking up with your significant other... we might be going to two funerals... Watch your back. Don't stay in the bathroom too long after you've enjoyed that great Christmas meal... somebody might really, really have to go bad and shoot through the door and blow you into the bathtub. (Hey, they had to go.)

You may laugh but, these are actual cases of homicides that occurred in this city over the holiday season last year. None of the shooters were what you would call "criminals" but, they all had some things in common. For one thing, they all had an illegal handgun purchased on the street and they all had bad tempers that got the best of them. Oh yeah, except for the murder-suicide couple, they're all behind bars with the "criminals."

Nobody in our halls of government cares about this senseless loss of life so, one thing is for sure. Tomorrow, somebody else is going to lose their life in Philadelphia unless there is a Pre-Christmas Buffet special in Atlantic City this weekend.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

I can't believe that I am first..
This was hillarious, yet serious,because I understand your
point exactly about the guns and how little the powers that be care about the loss of life.

Anonymous said...

Oh Wow,I thought I was first...I was reading "Escapades"..Another excellent post...A good point made as always laced with your warped sense of humor.

Anonymous said...

LMAO @ You again Keith..You're on a roll this week, but this is a serious subject matter.

Anonymous said...

Good Post...I lost my brother to a shooting a few years ago..It was a case of mistaken identity..So this post resonates highly with me.

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad I started reading your blog again man...You are doin the damn thing over here.

Anonymous said...

I remember those few days this spring when nobody got slumped..it was incredible..I still didn't feel
completely safe...It was just so eerie....I couldn't put my finger on it..like we were waitin for the other shoe to drop.. Good post though.

Anonymous said...

Excellent Post Brother and funny as
all get up too.

Anonymous said...

I visit your blogs everyday and everyday you never cease to amaze me..How much stuff is on your mind..lololol..Keep up the good work for as long as you can.

Anonymous said...

Good Post man...That's some serious
s%$t goin on in these big cities with these guns.

Anonymous said...

Too many people have guns and like you said..people are now shooting and killing each other over the least little thing.

Anonymous said...

Good Post Keith,as usual you are informative and humorous..sign of a good journalist.

The F_Uitlist said...

I've always wondered why the gun laws were so loose in the city of Brotherly Love.

As usual great post

Anonymous said...

Why am I always the last person??
Somebody tell me-lololol...??
Good post. You make great points about the difference between the way Philadelphia thinks and the way the rest of the state of Pennsylvania views Philly and the utter hypocrisy behind it. A lot of this is fostered by opportunistic politicians from both parties, if it suits them.

Beautifully.Conjured.Up said...

When I hear of things like this, I think of what Chris Rock once said. Instead of having gun control, we should have bullet control by making the bullets very expensive. That way, random people wouldn't get shot because no one is going to waste a bullet on just anyone...if someone got shot, it was probably for a damn good reason.

No, seriously, there does need to be some sort of gun control. In Atlanta, people can now take their guns anywhere in public (except for the airport), and this is scary for me because I'm liable to get shot anywhere I go, children are liable to get shot anywhere they go, the elderly are liable to get shot anywhere they go.

Kofi Bofah said...

Keith:

Are you reading my mind?

This is a MUST read for you, Mister.

The Toughest Cities in America

Yup.

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Solo said...

Wow, This is a serious topic, however I love the way you make things funny. Great post.

12kyle said...

wow! i knew that it was bad in philly...but i didn't know that it was THAT bad!

Rich Fitzgerald said...

Good post. You need to put in for a side job with the local newspaper. You are a great read and on point with your research.

Keith said...

@Rich as always thank you. I kind of did want to be a journalist at one time..perhaps it's not too late. Who Knows?

Moanerplicity said...

Blending a serious and timely subject w/ a dash of humor is a gift, my Brotha. You clearly possess it. This post made me chuckle AND think.

Happy Holidays to You & Yours.

Snatch JOY!

One.




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