They aren't taking responsibility at all.
Taking responsibility would mean supporting the police efforts to arrest criminals.
Instead, Nicole Lee denies there are even gangs in Oakland.
Instead of organizing a Neighborhood Watch, they are throwing them parties.
Instead of dealing with her own city's problems, she's comparing it to Philadelphia and Chicago.
So, yes, this piece does qualify as Leftist Logic.
This is a perfectly good CONSERVATIVE initiative, one that is well worth Conservatives supporting.
Since when is it "Conservative" to have a barbecue for the local thugs?
You do not have to accept Crime in your neighborhood. But if you do nothing, then Crime is the default situation.
Agreed.
> They aren’t taking responsibility at all.
> Taking responsibility would mean supporting the police efforts to arrest criminals
Yeah, that’s a small part of it. What they are actually doing is no different to what we try to do as Guardian Angels — except they’ve missed out the “or else whup-ass-and-citizen’s-arrest” bit which we also do (if we must). That can come later. But, baby-steps-are-best, as they say.
It *is* “taking responsibility” by organizing block parties and getting to know your neighbors and their kids. In fact, it is a brilliant way to deter crime. Everyone get to know everyone. And if there is a crack house in the neighborhood, make sure everyone knows about it. How much easier will it be to send the cops to the right place if you know where the punk lives?
Neighborhood rebuilding: important first step because crime takes over where there is no sense of “neighborhood”: it becomes “turf”. So the neighborhood needs to be rebuilt. A Neighborhood Watch can grow from that. Or an unarmed Safety Patrol such as what we do as Guardian Angels.
But it is an excellent beginning. Much better than having people cowering behind their curtains at nite, afraid to go out in the dark.
> Since when is it “Conservative” to have a barbecue for the local thugs?
I’d say that’s pretty dam’n smart strategy. In what other setting can you (reasonably safely) get their names and where they live and who they hang out with? From an Intel viewpoint it’s bloody brilliant.
Done properly you could probably even get their photos. How? Well, they said they bring Rappers to these parties. Just make sure you invite a fairly famous Rapper, and have a camera ready. The rest takes care of itself.
On the basis of that barbecue alone you could produce a criminal road-map of the entire neighborhood, stretching out for many blocks. Maybe even with mug shots.
If other groups were doing similarly, then by sharing Intel you would have an amazingly valuable resource: something not even the cops would be likely to have.
And all it cost was a couple burgers.
If it’s Conservative to be “smart” then that’s definitely Conservative.