Jackson Free Press

Everyone seems to be an expert on crime these days. Sit around any barbershop or bar, and you'll hear all the "pundits" explain how they would handle crime. How they'd wipe it out—fast. Everyone's got an opinion on it, its causes and solutions. Read The Clarion-Ledger's blogs, and you'd think you'd just fallen smack dab into the middle of a criminal-justice convention. Oh, the intelligent banter that goes on in those forums. How could any crime fighter worth his weight not take advice from those seasoned detectives? The C-L's editors never shy away from a chance to chime in. Ironically, some of them don't even live "in" Jackson so I don't quite know if there's a frame of reference there. At any rate, opinions on crime in Jackson are just like drunk uncles: Most everybody has one.

Sad thing is, no one really knows the answers. We know there's more than one, but we don't know exactly who's right and who's, well ... stupid.

Before the judge can even slide his/her robe on to swear in the new mayor, speculation abounds as to how he will handle the rampant, out-of-control chaos that is crime in Jackson. Mayor-elect Harvey Johnson Jr. has been saddled with a heavy burden because Jackson has a savior complex. That's a condition where citizens look for a hero, a knight in shining armor to sweep in and handle all of their problems, mainly so they won't actually have to do anything themselves.

Problem is, no one man can solve these problems. And it's pretentious to assume that only one man can. That belief got us Frank Melton. Hell, that belief, whether good or bad, got us Barack Obama. Regardless of who is the mayor, chief of police, prosecutor, sheriff or dogcatcher, crime is an age-old problem of cities our size. And if Jackson is on its way to becoming a big city, then we will have "big city problems." Those problems will continue as long as we don't treat the symptoms.

One thing I've found is that in most cases, the ones doing the yelling and screaming about crime: (a) Don't live in Jackson; (b) are middle class and above; or (c) are easily influenced by what they see or read. The cradle-to-prison pipeline is real. If not taken seriously we are in danger of losing a whole generation of young people to the streets. Contrary to what most "pundits" think, young males, particularly young black males, don't arbitrarily get up every morning with thoughts of mayhem on their minds. In most cases, those I speak with would much rather be earning an honest living than selling dope or robbing homes. But lines get blurred when you are hungry. Lines get blurred when your kids are hungry. Lines get blurred when even after your best efforts, you can't find work and the lights are about to be cut off.

Most of the "pundits" don't know what that's like—never have, never will. Dare I say that their forked tongues would not be so quick to condemn if they were put in those shoes. It's easy to criticize from a safe place of comfort.

Sure there are plenty of shiftless, lazy, do-nothings in every community. But there are indeed some who still can't find work. And we all know creditors, bill collectors and hungry kids don't care about effort. What would you do under those circumstances?

Either we start dealing with some societal problems in Jackson or we continue to gripe about how crime is our "No. 1 issue." I'd love to conduct a real life social experiment like the one from the movie "Trading Places."

And that's the truth ... sho-nuff.

Previous Commentsshow

I agree kaze.

NewJackson

Jun 25 2009

I can say I do not live in Jackson and do not plan to, but that does not bar me from having an opinion. My family shops, goes out, and drives through Jackson all of the time. I have to take issue with parts of your article because even though I understand, there are no excuses for crime, especially when there are alternatives. We should not make excuses for people that have access to alternatives. I did not grow up a thug, but I definately grew up familiar with the streets. A lot of what goes on are choices. Not life or death situations. People choose to do what is easy with the biggest immediate reward as opposed to what is hard that may require a long term plan. The majority of the people committing murders, car jacking and selling drugs are not doing so because they are starving. They are doing so because they chose to do that over what seemed to be less rewarding and less gratifying. I personally lay most of the blame on the Christian community of which I am a member of. IF people knew without a shadow of a doubt that the Lord would provide for them regardless of how bad things got, they would not have to result to crime. If crime was isolated to grocery stores, fruit stands, etc., we could say that it was driven by a desire to support ones family. But in most cases, crime is driven by greed and a lack of direction.

Goldenae

Jun 25 2009

Why did you come here goldenae to throw rocks.

NewJackson

Jun 25 2009

Goldenae, i think you missed the point. i don't think that kaze was at all saying there are excuses for the crimes. But, certainly there are reasons, and our society, as should every society, take note of those reasons in an intelligent manner and try to address them. We are dealing with human beings and we are all imperfect. Yes, the Christian/Religious community deserves some "blame," as you say. But, we don't need to talk blame. Let's talk responsibility, whether it's your "Christian" responsibility or you responsibility as a citizen in a democratic society such as ours. To not attempt to address these problems in a dispassionate and logical manner is simply foolhardy and even self-destructive. Don't ever forget that desperate people do desperate things. And, that's when innocent people are hurt. Kaze, thanks for the good points.

FriendsofJackson

Jun 25 2009

Poverty doesn't cause crime and neither does atheism. A feeling of hopelessness does. How do you solve that problem? I have no idea. I have never been hopeless, but I am the eternal optimist.

WMartin

Jun 25 2009

Once again Goldenae, you are golden in your comments. I agree with you as someone who has walked that path without turning to crime and all kinds of immoral and illegal acts. I wonder if most people are like I am or you. Given we live in a different time now. All I know is that my relatives believed in raising and socialization, and would give a manish boy some socialization and raising at the drop of a hat, at any place and time. Plus, I was ashamed to be connected to unnecessary immorality, crime and ugliness. After I got caught stealing a watermelon from the neighbor's patch and listening to them tell everybody at school, I said I won't take anything else that didn't belong to me. As best I can recall, I stopped stealing cookies, apples and oranges from relatives who had them for me to take upon asking and approval. We have got to do better. No one can help us better than us. Otherwise, a good column, Kaze.

Walt

Jun 25 2009

Goldenae, Thanks for sharing your amusing perspective. It's a perfect example of the barbershop crime-fighting punditry Kaze is talking about. Until you have the experience of walking in your impoverished brother's and sister's shoes, don't attempt to speak for them as if you've got a clue. You don't.

Ronni_Mott

Jun 25 2009

I don't know the answers. I agree that we have got to do better, everywhere--Jackson and the burbs, e.g., news this week about apprehending the young men who set fire to the school in Madison. Walt, your shame at taking the Watermelon reminds me of my shame at taking a piece of chalk from the school when I was a kid. I prayed I wouldn't die before I could get back the next day and return it. Someone had taught both of us, Walt, that taking something that belonged to someone else was not the thing to do. What people around us-family, friends, peers--expect of us helps determine what we expect of ourselves, what we do, what we don't do. E.g., in the schools where kids knock the top out academically, the culture infects kids with the belief that learning is cool--"cool" being used to indicate "in, terrific." If between our Jacksonian ears we believe that crime is out of place in Jackson and we believe living in Jackson is cool and having a business in Jackson is cool, we will create that reality here. We won't be able to stop it. It will happen, for we will live in such a way that the reality is created. What is between our ears will show up within our city limits. Peace.

J.T.

Jun 25 2009

Ronni- I have read Godenae's post 4 or 5 times trying to figure out where he was trying to speak for anyone, couldn'tfind. I have to agree with him, there are people who do commit murders, robberies, carjacking, because that's how the live has nothing do with them be impoverished, they made that choice to live that life. There is no excuse for them. Yes there people who have to steal and rob feed their families, hell of place to be but if that's what they have to do it's the only choice they can make. If came to robbing someone to feed my family or not, I would have no problem robbing someone. Have you ever lived in impoverished conditions? Have you walked in their shoes? Just want to know if you have a clue?

BubbaT

Jun 25 2009

I've sure as hell been poor by white trash standards, Bubba, but I'm not offering my psycho-babble, high-falutin' crime-fightin' solutions, either. Goldenae makes a number of assumptions in his (her?) post, including that of choice. He writes: "People choose to do what is easy with the biggest immediate reward as opposed to what is hard that may require a long term plan." Really? So he's studied that pathology and can make that statement with certainty? First, it's human nature to do the easy thing. Someone (or something) has to teach you to love the hard choice and make the long-term plans. And without knowing that you have a choice, no choice exists. "The majority of the people committing murders, car jacking and selling drugs are not doing so because they are starving. They are doing so because they chose to do that over what seemed to be less rewarding and less gratifying." and, "in most cases, crime is driven by greed and a lack of direction." So THAT's why they do it. Gee, why did I think of that! It's just generalized pontificating amounting to absolutely nothing. But here's the one that *really* got me: "IF people knew without a shadow of a doubt that the Lord would provide for them regardless of how bad things got, they would not have to result to crime." Really? How bad does it have to get before the Lord steps in? Look, I don't want to set off a theological debate here, but it seems to me that if that were really true, 5 million people wouldn't starve to death every year. If that were true, people wouldn't die horrifically painful, lingering deaths. Like WMartin said: "Poverty doesn't cause crime and neither does atheism." And no, Bubba. I'm not an atheist. I just don't subscribe to the "man in the cloud who listens to our babbling personally" theory.

Ronni_Mott

Jun 25 2009

Goldenae, Lack of direction definitely. Greed? Really greed? Hmmmm..trying to figure out how someone who's never really had anything(or very little)be "greedy"

Kamikaze

Jun 25 2009

I agree with whoever posted the "walk in another fellow's moccasins" theory. But the switching shoes goes both ways; it's a bit defeating of the switching shoes concept if both people don't put on the other's shoes. To think that one or the other is in a lower or lesser position and we could learn about them by wearing their shoes is arrogant. To think that we could both understand each other better if we switched places (like Kaze was mentioning) makes sense. That is part of the beginning of a journey that takes us somewhere. Though I, too, get a perception of crime as being committed by the disadvantaged, not all crime is committed by people who have never really had anything. Bernie Madoff comes to mind. Greed. Yeah. I don't agree, Goldenae, with your idea that if we knew God would take care of us, we wouldn't commit crimes. [Forgive me, Ronni, I'm inserting some spirituality here.] The God I know uses us, His/Her creation as His/Her arms and legs and voice and passion. And, if we play dead and wait, we abdicate our reason for being created, in my way of understanding. And, we aren't really alive. It's like the man who refused 3 separate boaters who tried to rescue him off the roof of his house in a flood, who said he was waiting on God to save him. He died. Got to heaven. Q'd why God didn't show. God said, "I sent three boats." I paraphrase. But, Goldenae, though we don't agree, I love having the chance to blog with you. I scrounged around to find a quote of the day from last week that I had jotted on a sticky: Einstein said: "Laws alone can not secure freedom of expression; in order that every man present his views without penalty there must be a spirit of tolerance in the entire population." I vote for tolerance.

J.T.

Jun 25 2009

J.T., please, don't apologize to me for voicing your opinion. I really like what you said. The "three boats" story is one of my all time favorites, since it points out that you never know how grace will appear, and you certainly can't dictate the terms. The point I was trying to make about "walking in another's shoes" is that to make decisions about how things are from a lofty distance is easy, but rarely effective. I'm not making any value judgments about who is better or worse, I'm simply saying you can't measure the depth of the water two miles from shore. I'm glad you brought up all the crime -- the really big time stuff -- that isn't committed by the disadvantaged. Add Madoff to Ebbers, Stanford and Lay, then add corrupt politicians, arms dealers and diamond merchants. Yikes! Now there's a witch's brew. As curmudgeonly as I might be sounding on this thread, J.T., I really am a "live and let live" type. We live in a society of laws, though, to protect ourselves from those whose idea of "living" means taking our stuff (or our lives). Tolerance shouldn't mean tolerating anything and everything just for the sake of tolerance. We shouldn't tolerate ignorance, for example, or bigotry, any more than we should tolerate lying, stealing or murder.

Ronni_Mott

Jun 25 2009

Well I have to say I believe God will take care of you. Been there, no money wondering how I was going to feed my family,pay the rent, buy my cancer meds. My wife kept telling me, God will take care of us, don't worry. Walked out to the mailbox to get the next month of bills, I could not pay and there is an envolope with just my name on it, no stamp, no post mark, full of money, enough to get us through months not just days. I have no idea who or where it came from. Sure I know God didn't put it there, but someone did, wasn't our families and they were the only ones who knew how things were and didn't have that kinda money to be giving away. He must have led someone to help us. Money and my health have steadily gotten better. I believe!

BubbaT

Jun 25 2009

Oh, dear, Ronni, I have no intention to, nor do I suggest tolerating ignorance, bigotry, lying, stealing, murder. Surely you know me better than that. My tolerance quote was pointed at the importance of tolerance of all of our "opinions" on this blog. In deference to your earlier mention of not setting "off a theological debate" here on the blog, I apologized er I speak about my spiritual beliefs in response to a blogger's. Your "psyco-babble, high-falutin crime-fightin' solutions" comment appropriately indicts all of us here on this particular blog. But, truth be told, most all blogging is "psycho-babble." Peace, Dear Ronni, from one who has received numerous curmudgeon awards of which she is most proud and knows only the "live and let live" Ronni. You go, girl.

J.T.

Jun 25 2009

The people that post on the Clarion-Ledger bashing Jackson are of a different breed. They're the ones that want to hate on Jackson so badly that anything remotely positive happening here, they find ways to shoot it down. You all may recall my post last year on why naysayers want to see Jackson fail. Those are the same people I'm constantly fighting against. I'm gonna stand up for my city because like Young Jeezy says, I put on for my city.

golden eagle

Jun 26 2009

Kaze: One can have absolutely nothing and be greedy. It is not a factor of what one has or has ever had, greed is a function of what one desires to obtain. Greed is the desire to have more than one needs or deserves. I have been knee deep in the lifestyle and know that it is mostly about greed. A drug user may be experiencing something that "drives" them to seek drugs because of the addiction, but the addition that the drug seller experiences is one for money. So, to the original point, I can have nothing and be greedy because greed is about what I desire.

Goldenae

Jun 26 2009

Ronnie M: When I speak on an issue, I generally have some personal knowledge of what I am commenting on. All spiritual talk aside, regardless of your situation, committing a crime is a choice. It is also a choice that the majority of people avoid regardless of what their situation is. Everyone has wanted more than they have, but we do not live in a Third World country where you can not get food. Let's not disrespect the people who are actually out there spinning their wheels that never get their heads above water and put them in the category of people that commit senseless crimes. I dare you to find a single drug dealer who could not have gotten a job at McDonalds or elsewhere that would have provided enough income to eat. We know this issue is not merely about sustaining life. I actually have seen all of this first hand, that is how I know that it is a choice. You all act as if we are talking about people that are stuck in dead in jobs or had to work instead of getting an education. We are talking about people that chose to sell drugs, car jack or commit other crimes as opposed to taking a minimum wage or low paying job. It is not even a judgemental perspective, it is just an admission of reality.

Goldenae

Jun 26 2009

I agree, Goldenae, that everything we do in life is a choice. I think the issue for those of us who are not criminals and want to help create and maintain an environment with as little crime in it as possible is questioning how can we best make choices ourselves, as individuals and members of various and diverse groups in our communities, that help deter crime. Kudos to Kaze for writing about this and to all of us who are blogging here on it for we are facing this question whether we are answering it or not. And when we focus on problem solving, something good can happen, even if it is not what we are looking for. We may simply live more consciously, which would be a huge thing if we all did it and in the very act of doing so, we might simply stump our toes on some answers. Though I agree with you that what we have or don't have may not solely determine whether we are greedy or not, I think that not having life's essentials certainly could exacerbate greediness. And, I think that not having food for children could drive a parent to do things otherwise unthinkable. Consequently, if we with plenty feed the hungry of body and soul and help them find ways to provide for themselves, we certainly could not go wrong.

J.T.

Jun 26 2009

Goldenae, with all due respect, if you got out of poverty on your own without any help, good for you, and I say that with all sincerity. It makes you exceptional. And you're right: If you're looking for reasons for crime, then yes, choice surely enters into the picture–certainly not in every case, but in many cases. My issue saying that, though, is that it doesn't seem to go anywhere or make any difference. It's like: OK, criminals have choices. Now what? IMHO–and at the risk of becoming stuck in my own "psycho-babble, high-falutin' crime-fightin' solutions"–if we want to make an impact on crime, don't we have to make some attempt at understanding *why* people choose crime? Here's an example: When you talk about domestic violence, the majority of batterers either grew up in violent households or were abused themselves. Most often these men (and it's usually men beating up women and children, though not always) grow up believing violence is a legitimate way to deal with anger and frustration. These people hit first and ask questions later. Can they "choose" another way to react? Maybe, but probably not without help. Here's another example: Drug and alcohol addiction is a major factor in crime. From the outside looking in, you might see junkies as having a choice in their behavior, but they don't. All they think about is getting the next fix, and if that means selling their bodies or jacking your car, it's all the same to them. An alcoholic doesn't know what he or she is doing during a blackout. And like I said, not realizing a choice, no choice exists. Someone or something has to intervene to make such a choice a reality. Those are just two circumstances where, regardless of the smorgasbord of available choices, people will turn to criminal behavior. There are many more, including outright ignorance, greed, envy and all the other nasty little human traits we're all capable of. I'm not excusing the behavior, but to say, "Criminals choose crime," and leave it at that is overly simplistic. Like Kaze said in his column, we have to address some of the societal problems in Jackson to make an impact on the "crime" problems.

Ronni_Mott

Jun 26 2009