Now, It's time for some real solutions
... and also a few words about a troubling indictment

Thankfully a few mainstream journalists have demonstrated they have attention spans longer than that of the average gerbil by staying with the important issue of violence in inner-city communities, its causations, and the search for some answers. As I’ve stated before they need to be commended for their commitment and, at the same instance forgiven for their sometimes lack of insights, occasional shallowness of thought, and tendency to — in a few instances — give credence to Black voices that spout off like local barroom drunks on a Saturday night rant. Some of these Black people are using the opportunity to simply vent — probably because they are embarrassed by the circumstances of the poorer and untutored members of our race. They are trying to come up with humane, workable solutions to the problems and are frustrated because they often don’t know of any. But they, nonetheless, usually mean well.

However, one idea, put forth by Powell Caesar last week in Regina Brett’s column that the problem can, to some degree, be impacted on by placing billboards in Black communities admonishing young residents not to engage in negative behaviors is beyond ridiculous.

It’s ludicrous, but it will make the Republican-owned billboard companies a bit richer... and that is what this suggestion is really all about, now isn’t it Powell? Ideas like this one do more harm than good because when they fail it affords people the chance to say, “See, we tried to help, but you know how those people are.”

Another example is a “solution” that was put forth in a Brett column by a concerned Black citizen who suggests that we “create a basketball camp with a citywide summer tournament.” This is an idea that sounds good at first blush — but, sorry, been there, done that. On my wall is a plaque given to me in 1995 for being a facilitator for the citywide Midnight Basketball Program. The theory was, if they (“they” being young Black thugs) were busy playing basketball at night they would not be out committing crimes. The only problem was they woke up the next day just as broke as the night before, albeit a bit more tired and perhaps in a bit better shape. The whole notion of “just give a young Black man a ball to play with and his problems are over,” is somehow demeaning of the young men in question ... and trivializes the depth and severity of the problem. A historical memory is helpful here.

Sure, everybody needs a little rec, but too much playing with balls instead of hitting the books is what got us in this mess in the first place. Hoop dreams of superstardom as a way out of poverty rocks too many Black boys to sleep at night. As one T-shirt says, “I’ve given up on reality ... and now am seeking a good fantasy to believe in.” We don’t want them giving up.

The next solution, offered in the same Brett column, was, however, headed in the right direction. It had to do with job training. There are probably over a thousand vacant or abandoned homes in Cleveland that are in need of rehabbing; there also are thousands of young people in those neighborhoods that are in need of skills and a way to earn a living; and there also are many struggling families that are desperately in need of housing that is not substandard and at a price they can afford. The three situations can be matches made in heaven — a true win-win-win — but it will take the White power structure to make this happen — Blacks don’t have control of the properties or the finances to get a program like this up and running.

The lending institutions that hold title to these eyesores have to be approached by a government entity or non-profit and asked to donate them — which, in most cases, they would be more than willing to do just to get them off of their books and gain the write-off. In other cases pressure has to be applied; and there are legal ways of applying such pressure. And then a program has to be established where skilled tradesmen take crews of novices under their wings and show them how to rehab the properties. Sounds simple and forthright enough, doesn’t it? Then why have I and others who have been trying to get such a program off the ground been stymied for years now at every turn? The answer is simple: No political will; no one in power seems to really care.

The mistake most Johnny-come-lately commentators on the Black inner-city condition make is to assume that we Black folks have been just sitting on our duffs doing nothing as our communities deteriorate. This is just not the case — some of us have been busting our butts ... and running headlong into brick walls of indifference. But we ain’t quitting — no way, no how. Quit and do what, move to Solon and beyond where Blacks are everyday discovering they have zero political clout? No, we’re going to stay right here and duke it out for our young people, our communities... and ourselves.

If people of good will and better intentions really want to help then they should find programs that can make a difference (like the housing rehab one) and stay the course. Don’t jump all over the place; find out what barriers (and who erects them) are preventing the implementation of such a program and work on overcoming those obstacles; name names. Use the PD to call out the White people who have been dragging their feet on this, just like Black leaders were called out for their so-called lack of attention to the problem.

A troubling indictment

On another matter entirely, County Prosecutor Bill Mason’s indictment last week of Timothy Halton Jr., the deranged paranoid- schizophrenic, who, while off his medication, in a totally unprovoked attack killed Cleveland Heights police officer Jason West (reportedly one of the finest men to ever don a uniform), actually does more harm than good. By attempting to fit the square peg of justifiable homicide into the round hole of what was clearly the act of deranged man simply for some kind of twisted retributive justice diverts our collective attention away from the real problem: Society’s refusal to address healthcare for the poor in general, and mental healthcare for the poor and others in particular.

If Halton is to be put in the dock for this crime rather than have his behavior addressed for what it was: The actions of a man with well-documented mental health issues, then why is he facing capital murder charges alone? Surely the officer that recommended Halton be let off of probation after serving only one year of a four-year sentence — and the judge that signed off on it— are just as much to blame for West’s death as the accused, aren’t they?

According to Halton’s mother, Jeannette Halton Tiggs, her son was thriving on probation due to the structure it provided for his life: He had someone in control to report to, he received his medication on a regular basis, and he was receiving mental health counseling from a trained and competent professional. His life, for the first time since gaining his majority and independence at age 18, was on track and he loved it. He actually felt that someone cared. But when his probation ended his life spiraled back out of control once again, and the killing of Officer West was the final tragic outcome.

So, why was Halton released from probation early? To save money; that’s the dirty little secret in all of this. Due to the exorbitant costs of his mediation (one visit to an emergency room for an injection of the antipsychotic drug Haldol costs his mother over $700) and counseling he was considered “a high maintenance client,” the kind court officials get rid of as soon as possible to save a buck — no matter the consequences to society and the public at-large. But in this case a terrible price was paid; a fine young police officer lost his life. But, instead of fixing the system so no other tragedies like this one occurs, we (yes, we — the prosecutor is acting in an official capacity for the people, for you and me) want to put to death a man that has a documented, 20-year history of severe mental illness.

Someone suggested to me that Mason’s motives in this case were racist: White officer killed by a Black man; but they are wrong. Mason is indicting Halton because he feels that the public requires that someone be held accountable... but he doesn’t want it to be any of his fellow members of our flawed criminal justice system. And he’s probably right, the probation officer and judge were only acting in the time-honored manner of public servants attempting to save a parsimonious electorate a few measly dollars; something we demand whenever we vote down social service and healthcare levies at the ballot box... Nor does the prosecutor want to piss of the legislators that refuse to change Ohio’s archaic laws concerning the treatment of the mentally ill — after all, he hopes to be governor one day. In other words, Mason is not about to indict the society that allowed Timothy Halton to roam the streets with a loaded gun. And there are other Timothy Halton’s out there — “off their meds” — and every police officer that has to patrol our increasingly mean and dangerous streets know it.

No. I know Bill Mason; in fact, I even personally like Bill Mason; and by no stretch of the imagination is he even remotely a racist; no, he’s far, far worse than a racist — Bill Mason is a politician. Time was, long ago, we had statesmen in elective office in America that would courageously stand up and tell the public things it did not want to hear, but now we only have weak-willed shills for corporate interests that shamelessly pander to the most recent public outcry, play to the lowest common denominator, and have, over the years, done more damage to society by their short-sighted, knee-jerk reactions and asinine legislation than all of the racists that have ever lived combined. God save us from ourselves.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Mansfield B. Frazier mansfieldfATgmail.com
(:divend:)