I have been trying to keep silent about the recent devastation that has plagued our city government, resulting in indictments of the mayor and his bodyguards. I convinced myself that I did not have an opinion and that the situation would work itself out eventually.
However, I can't keep quiet anymore. My grandmother taught me never to do things halfway no matter the difficulty of the task. I keep wondering if anyone ever told our city officials the same thing.
Take the new ordinance to demolish "crack houses." It doesn't sit well with me. I strongly believe that if a problem is addressed, it should be solved in a timely manner. The ordinance seems to be a political effort for officials to look like they're fixing the drug problem in Jackson, but it leaves too many questions unanswered. It leaves the problem unsolved.
First, the quality of living in the inner city is not the same as the quality of living in North Jackson. I am concerned that houses will be targeted for the wrong reasons, as the Ridgeway Street house may have been—and the law is so vague that we have good reason to worry about false accusations. Some people cannot afford to make a weekend trip to the Home Depot in an effort to make the outside of a house meet the standards of eyes looking for the signs of a "crack house."
While some people focus their attention on drug-addicted patrons and their suppliers, the average citizen is ignored. Where is the community outcry when an old man's roof falls in, and he doesn't have the money or the strength to fix it? Where is the community outcry when landlords accept hundreds of dollars a month for property that isn't worth living in?
Will there be a community outcry when the lots of these houses become overgrown and infested with rodents—after they're torn down? Will city officials come clean up the rodents that then infest the surrounding houses after the bulldozers leave?
The beautification of the city is important, but it doesn't fix problems, especially drug problems. I am concerned that as a community, we are so desperate for help that we are willing to relinquish our rights as American citizens for half a solution to a major problem.
Simplistically trying to make the owner of houses pay fines because others think that the property may be a haven for crack has too many loopholes. The landlords are not the people suspected of being crack addicts.
This brings me to my biggest point (hold on to your seat; it's really big). People who are addicted to crack, marijuana and other controlled substances will support their habits anywhere.
After the city forces people out of their homes because they are addicted to drugs, these people will probably do a short stint in county jail, and then they'll be right back on the streets, doing drugs. Tearing down the house where they live does not change the fact that this city has a problem with people who have drug addictions. Don't just throw the book at the landlord and convict the user; track down the supplier.
There are more questions that should be addressed in the near future in order for us to engage ourselves in a full-fledged war against drugs in our neighborhoods. Beautification will only give drug addicts a pretty place to get a hit. However, rehabilitation (beyond a few months in jail) gives people a chance to live a better life.
This problem is bigger than the City Council and the mayor. Now that we've decided to address this problem, we cannot do it halfheartedly. If this new ordinance is executed as written, then there will be many blighted lots within our communities. There are too many people in this city who can't afford a place to live for us to tear down houses and not rebuild them. I was under the impression that the city of Jackson was on its way forward. I now feel that this new ordinance is a backward attempt to fix—or hide—our city's drug problem.
Fellow Jacksonians, if you truly care about the future of this city, look past the political fiasco, contact your neighborhood association president and organize a community meeting. While in the meeting, forget whose side you're on and really address the problems of the community. If we are to move forward, we have to do it ourselves. We have to become more hands-on, and we have to hold the right people responsible when problems go unattended. Let's show our elected officials that we are concerned about the well-being of our community by playing a role in making it better.
JFP intern Melishia Grayson is a sophomore at Jackson State studying journalism.
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