Kingston Drug Sweep: An URGENT Situation
You may have heard that last week, URGENT ended an 8-month investigation which culminated in a drug sweep, with the arrests of at least 17 people. The majority of those arrested are suspected gang members. A few were already in jail on unrelated charges. One of them was charged previously with a misdemeanor count of hindering prosecution in the Charles King Jr. murder case. Two of them were classmates of mine.It's got me wondering...how did we turn out so differently? We grew up in the same neighborhoods, attended the same schools. We've had similar family issues, worked the same minimum-wage paying jobs. There's a very thin line between where they stand, and where I stand. I think it all comes down to respect.
Kingston NY Residents and Respect
I respect myself enough to want to live to my fullest potential. This is why I went to college even though I was "too poor" to. This is why I got my master's degree, even though I had to work full time at the same time in order to support myself. I respect my neighbors and my community. This is why I got involved in the first place. I know there are good people in Kingston who want to live safely. We all deserve to be able to relax in our homes, without the fear that we'll somehow end up in the midst of some sort of crossfire.I understand the nature of addiction. Despite this being a drug bust, it isn't about that. In fact, most dealers aren't junkies. They're people who rely on others' weaknesses. Again, it comes down to respect.Think about any crime. I guarantee that you'll find the one glaring thing lacking from any of those situations is respect. Respect for self, for others, and for the law.
I'm glad that those involved in this drug activity have been arrested and charged. I'm grateful for the efforts of the local police and URGENT. I'm proud of the role the Kingston NY Neighborhood Watch played in this situation. This is proof that we can make a difference by watching and reporting any suspicious or illegal activity.I think we need to take it one step further, though.
Kingston NY Neighborhood Watch: Issuing a Challenge
We need to step outside of our front doors and do something completely revolutionary. We need to be polite. Yeah, I said it. We need to be nice and respectful. There was a time not so long ago when people would walk down the street and say hello to one another. Now, we're afraid to look one another in the eye. If we give in to fear, and all anyone hears about is the chaos, the crime, and the disrespect, we're letting the negativity take over. It's great to be proactive. If you're going to do it, why not REALLY do it? Get involved in your community. Know your neighbors. Go for walks. Say hello. Help someone out when the opportunity presents itself. Volunteer some time in the community. The hard work is worth it, and at the end of the day, you've got your neighbors to celebrate with!
5 comments:
I thank you. I think that really needed to be said and is brilliant: we need to be polite. That says so very very much about us, about the people we meet, and about what our intentions are. And of course, having given respect, having been polite, we have every reason to expect the same in return, absolutely.
Respect. Polite. Civil. A smile, a nod.
It is quite amazing, but I am certain you will find that when you are polite to another person, they simply cannot help being polite in return. And not just to you: they'll carry your respect to the next person they meet, it'll get passed on and on and in a short time, it'll come right back to you. Maybe it's the same one you started.
Like Louis Armstrong sings:
I see people on the street
Sayin how do you do
They're really saying
I love you....
And I say to myself... what a wonderful world
Sounds good to me, but.... What about the older male teaching a child, "don't let them dis you. Demand respect with your fists."? What about holding a door for someone and they just barge past without a simple, "thank you"?
Respect? It has to start with SELF-respect. You may have grown up poor and managed to get several degrees, but you did it NOT because of respect from others, you did it because of self-respect.
Respect and civility? They have to be taught in the home. Not learned on the street.
Allison,
I agree with what you wrote about respect and how it can change the way a person treats others.
(DO ON TO OTHERS WHAT YOU WOULD LIKE DONE TO YOU)
I also believe that self respect starts at home but if a child learns about respect from a neighbor it is better then nothing.
Lastly I think one should not demand respect or recogintion from others for what they have done. This type of behavior is counter productive.
We understand.
here's the difference: you had cultural inputs that told you that the substance of life was important - self-development, work for pay, sound relationships with others - and that respect, for self and others, is an -effect- of practicing those things. Those inputs also told you how to do those things.
Used to be that the stereotype of the urban poor was that in addition to tangible socioeconomic deprivation, their culture didn't provide those inputs, that there was no concept in multiple generations of a family of sound relationships, care for self, earning a legal income, etc. I'm sure in some cases that is still so. But society has changed, and among other things the universalization of culture by the media, and access to the internet, has blurred the lines of cultural division between demographic groupings, and also provided access to those cultural inputs which show how to live functionally.
So that at that point, the question of how someone who went to the same school as you but made other choices (or rather, failed to make any choices) becomes more legitimate. Surely some did not have the advantages of someone growing up in your personal cultural environment; surely others did. Today, the point becomes even sharper - children in public school have the whole body of human knowledge immediately accessible to them via the internet. We know that broadly those involved in crime have that access since they maintain webpages relating their 'gangsta' activities. At that point, generations of socioeconomic inequity aren't a justification, they're an excuse.
So: your reference to 'respect' is absolutely correct. I'd broaden it to 'civility', which is that understanding of the simple skills needed to voluntarily get along in shared space, and make a free, civil society. (Police states are also civil society but because the civility is coerced at gunpoint they're not free.) At that point, we're talking about a problem that is universal across all demographics in the US - just go to the mall or drive your car somewhere to see how big of a problem it is; frequently the more advantaged the person, the less they manifest civil behavior, as though they thought they didn't need to.
And there we arrive back at the starting point: if you are a person of substance (and the rudeness of the advantaged demonstrates that substance does not mean wealth) then you will care for yourself and care for others, in an understanding that you and they both have a right to exist, and you both have to do it in the same shared space. When that happens, respect flows naturally.
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