Posted on 05/23/2004 4:44:12 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
As I sat down to write this column about the recent violence in Midtown, I wanted to show restraint in my manner of expression. After two failed drafts, I realized that I am too outraged to dress up idiocy, stupidity, self-destruction, brutality and wanton criminality.
Let me start with what bothers me most about the violence. As a black man living and working in St. Petersburg, I am angry that a mob of young blacks attacked the SUV in which Dr. Elinor Miranda, her husband, Dr. Frank Marsalisi, their three children and a family friend were driving on the night of May 12.
En route home after dinner, they were stopped at the traffic light at 34th Street S and 18th Avenue, when a concrete block shattered the windshield, terrifying everyone inside the vehicle. Then the other windows were broken. The members of the group (Dr. Miranda and her son were slightly injured) were innocent victims of yet another example of mob violence in south St. Petersburg.
The biggest irony of the attack is that Dr. Miranda, a pediatrician, is a true friend of African-Americans. She lives and practices in a neighborhood just south of violence-prone Midtown. Even more, she routinely donates diapers and formula to low-income families, and she often treats indigent black patients without charge.
And this is the kind of woman the mob wanted to hurt or kill?
After having her vehicle attacked, after being injured and after having the words "white bitch" screamed in her face during the attack, here is part of what Miranda told the St. Petersburg Times: "I have to say that my patients have been so gracious. A lot of families came by the office. I have received numerous cards and I have had families call me and apologize for other people's behavior....This is a very, very small minority because I know the bulk of the Afro-American community does not act that way. They've been very warm and embracing."
I admire Dr. Miranda for her generosity and her humanity. She is one of those rare people able to avoid painting all blacks as brutes because of the behavior of a tiny minority.
Although I have not met Dr. Miranda, I apologize for the attack. I apologize for the misguided young people who saw Dr. Miranda and her family and friend as nothing more than objects to hurt. I apologize for all foolish adults, black and white, who make excuses for such criminal behavior, who rationalize assaulting innocent strangers on a public street.
And now, I must say the following: Living in St. Petersburg during the past 10 years has made me ashamed of being African-American.
Never have I been around so many irrational, immature, irresponsible, do-nothing black adults - clergy and secular - who pawn themselves off as "leaders." NAACP president Darryl Rouson is an exception.
Never have I seen such a high percentage of black parents who fail to parent adequately, who seem incapable of creating a culture of learning in their homes, who, quite frankly, let their children roam the streets and cut the fool in school.
Never have I seen so many blacks who refuse to invest in their own community, who will not pool their resources for the greater good, who blame their problems on white people who live in communities many miles away.
Never have I seen such a high percentage of blacks who tolerate the presence of active criminals in their neighborhoods, who remain silent about black-on-black crime.
Never have I been in a town where a small, fringe group of malcontents has been given the power to distort reality to such a degree, to turn the city into something that it is not.
As a black man who was reared by sober, industrious and selfless adults who cared about the future of the children in their lives, I am ashamed of what we have done to ourselves. Despite the fact that racism, unofficial and institutional, still limits opportunities for blacks, we continue to squander opportunities by failing to "do for self," as the late Elijah Muhammad of the Nation of Islam was fond of saying.
When we burn our own communities and abandon our children's futures, we are not doing for self. We are, in fact, self-destructing.
Combine this with Bill Cosby's remarks the other day. I wonder if John Kerry will get 90% of the Black vote? Perhaps the GOP will see an increase in Blacks who realize that personal responsibility is the key to their future, and that government hand-outs are part of the problem, not the solution.
Based on what evidence? How will you know unless you try?
But what about the other 90% of the article?
So I won't, lest the indoctrinators become angry, and punnish me.
>>And this is the kind of woman the mob wanted to hurt or kill?
Oh...so it's OK if anybody else? Good Lord, a crime is a crime is a crime.
I believe he's driving home the point.
I don't think that the writer thinks that anyone else deserves that treatment. I think the writer is trying to express that this woman has been a friend to the black community and how tragic that this is how she is repaid.
I am glad to see that more black people are realizing that white people are not the enemy anymore.
Here's another article from the Tampa Trib. Same subject.
http://tampatrib.com/News/columns/MGBUGSTVJUD.html
Uhurus Run The Streets? Yeah, Right
RICK BARRY
Published: May 23, 2004
S T. PETERSBURG - It's a sign of maturity for a community to tolerate opinions from the fringe, even the radical voices among its residents, from every hue of the political spectrum.
So, rarely if ever does anyone hereabouts speak ill of the fine folks from the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement, especially the city's appointed and elected officials.
The Uhurus are, after all, generally home-grown, well-spoken, well-educated, and well, black. And there are substantial reservoirs of guilt hereabouts, as well as ignorance and a bit of fear over what these people are about.
Also, the Uhurus' founder is Omali Yeshitela, who earned his singular place in the history of the city's civil rights struggle.
His arguments remain as reasonable as any radical, socialist African separatist's, although they still sound like his 1960s and '70s newspaper, The Burning Spear, that regularly found its way onto the desk of J. Edgar Hoover, making the G-man ever more apoplectic.
But slowly, it seems, after the riots of 1996 and the rock-and-bottle-throwing incident of 10 days ago, folks are beginning to tire of the rhetoric and the attempts to inflame the frustrations of young people to the point of violence.
Leverage Lost
The Uhurus are becoming marginalized, and they know it. So they are fighting back for leverage in the political arena, and in the economic redevelopment of Midtown, without much success.
Instead of using logic, persuasion or, perish the thought, cooperation, the organization has been resorting to verbal extortion and threats of violence to come, if settlements and concessions aren't forthcoming.
That hasn't worked too well, either.
Mayor Rick Baker, without mentioning the U-word, actually waxed adamant May 14, as people worried whether we could get through the weekend after The Verdict without another march and rocks, bottles and worse being aimed at police. Baker said he would not be forced into a settlement by threats, but oddly said the city was still ``negotiating.''
Still, Uhuru fliers scream: ``We Run These Streets! No Justice! No Peace!''
They also demand that Police Chief Chuck Harmon be fired, that economic development be placed ``in the hands of the African community,'' that the city settle with the families of TyRon Lewis and Marquell McCullough, both of whom were ``murdered'' or ``assassinated'' by police - word choice depending on the speaker or the screed in which the claims appeared.
A Clarion Call
A flier handed out downtown demanded an assortment of settlements, and urged people to join their ``movement'' - ``for Black Power and self-defense'' - and attend an important meeting. ``You gotta be at the Uhuru House this Sunday [May 16] at 4 p.m.,'' it demanded.
A mass rally did not transpire. Perhaps a dozen cars were parked outside the place that afternoon.
Lewis, drug dealer, car thief, police assailant, already has an Uhuru health club named in his honor. McCullough, shot by deputies under similar circumstances, will probably receive similar veneration. Rhetoric and tactics from another era? You take your martyrs where you find them.
Burning cars, looting stores and throwing rocks at police aren't the prime tools of social change this millennium - though they remain popular expressions of revelry after major athletic victories, notably NFL and NBA championships.
Well, color or lack of it has never stopped me from commenting. It's the loudmouths and selfish interests on either side who make a living by exploiting division and controversy. Mr. Maxwell has had a bellyfull, as have so many, and they are speaking out in our land of freedom and opportunity, against this self-inflicted lack of opportunity.
"Innocent victims of a misguided mob."
Mr.Maxwell presented a well written article. However, as evidenced by the title of his piece, he danced around a major issue. The innocent victims were attacked by a racist mob. Imagine if you will, the reaction if the attack had been perpetrated by caucasians instead of negroes.
Mr.Maxwell writes with race blinders in place.
Thank you for the article. It's the dying gasps of a ghost of the past.
I doubt he picked the title. Go to the LINK I posted in Post #1 and read some of his other articles. I don't agree with Mr. Maxwell on his choice of political parties but I do believe he is well positioned to speak truth to the issue of education and opportunity for blacks.
The amazing thing to me about the situation in St. Pete is that just south of the Midtown section are successfully integrated neighborhoods of middle to upper class homes (some of these communities that have been successfully integrated for over 30 years).
Some of the lowest crime rate in the city are in this area. At least that is true of the Lakewood Estates community.
I think as the black community has been able to successfully integrate into the upper scale communities of south St. Pete, the power of the Uhurus has been fading. When a black moves into a neighborhood that may have been at one time historically white, and the neighborhood accepts him with open arms, the Uhurus "hate" message loses it's power.
Here's a bit about a few of the successfully integrated neighborhoods just south of Midtown.
http://www.stpete.org/nnlak.htm
http://www.stpete.org/nngpp.htm
http://www.stpete.org/nnbro.htm
http://www.stpete.org/nnbah.htm
He was venting his feelings, his reactions for the most part. There are very few facts in the article at all.
I will take his word for it that a vicious, unprovoked attack occurred. If the races of the victims and perpetrators had been different, it would have been reported worldwide as a "hate crime".
I believe him when he reports the generous and gracious nature of the victim. I have known many people like that of all races, both sexes and in every walk of life. Same is true of the perpetrators.
When he makes a vile and unsupportable characterization of the society which has nutured and protected him, I take exception.
Approximately one year ago, I wrote Mr. Maxwell a letter, referencing an article he wrote in which he repeatedly referred to blacks as "African-Americans".
In my letter I included a quote from Theodore Roosevelt about A hyphenated American not being American at all.
Mr. Maxwell replied to my letter by asking me what I was talking about.
As I thought I had made my point, I could only assume Mr. Maxwell was being facetious.
As far as this incident goes, it has been occuring for many, many years, in cities all around this country. Hence a reason "whites" flee the cities for the suburbs.
IMHO ... Mr. Maxwell is an admitted hyphenated American, and therefor no American at all.
bump
First I'd heard of this story.
Black Conservative meta-Ping.
I do believe that Drs. Miranda and Marsalisi need to start carrying large calibre handguns if they intend to stay in that area, and encourage others to do the same.
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