By shelz.
Eddie Long is under the gun. A big one. The accusations are enough to churn your stomach and the story has moved like wildfire across the country and thanks to cable news and the internet, the world. As expected, everyone has a point of view.
The situation has provided a foundation for almost everybody who has something to say to fit the situation to their own individual wars. From gay rights activists to the anti-religion to sect, conjecture has run rampant as people twist the story to fit whatever ideology they are peddling. Even comedians, both professional and amateur, have unloaded all of those “Long has a hamster on his head” shots that more than likely will bring PETA into the fray if they are paying any sort of attention. But what about the big picture?
We’d like to view these situations as anomalies; dreadful happenings that run counter to what we feel is expected. Unfortunately, these allegations are almost regularly occurring and Long’s situation is just one in a long tapestry of increasingly sickening events that are widening the chasm between black men and black boys.
We can fight the numbers of single parent homes in the black community and suggest conspiracy and improper reporting but we can’t deny we know a lot of black boys better than their fathers do. We also know that it’s not abnormal to walk every hall in a school and not come across a single black man heading the lesson. We talk a lot of shit about folks of other races who have little personal experience with black men and depend on the news to teach them what black men are all about. Unfortunately, some of our black children are in the same boat.
This is why some fathers think they deserve a monthly Heisman for putting the child support check in the mail on time and why adult role models of all sorts who reach out to black children are so very important. Priests, coaches, camp counselors, scout leaders etc. are all necessary cogs on the child-rearing machine when the biologicals don’t bother. But when the last line of defense is perceived as a gaggle of opportunists in place to prey on the needy, what do we do?
I don’t know if Eddie Long is guilty as charged or not, but what I do know are some black men who would like to take an active stance in the lives of our children, but decline. They decline because they think their motives will be questioned. They decline out of fear. They decline because the images of the all of those above job titles have been tarnished and for many carry wholly negative connotations. There are people who believe black men are so far removed from their paternal instincts that men who do step up are expected to have an ulterior motive and rarely is it good. Nothing could be more heartbreaking.
So as everybody twists this mess into a piece of their battle, as the far right distances themselves from one of their pawns and as PETA wakes up and takes notice of all of the claims of woodland creature abuse, know that little black boys still wait. They still have few opportunities to learn firsthand about being a man from a man. And as long as we immerse ourselves in nervous laughter and apathy, they will be at risk
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Bollocks. I get what you’re saying but men can and should be involved with youth programs. There are plenty that are organized and have standards that protect kids. For example, no kid should travel alone with an adult. There should always be someone else present.
The charges against Bishop Long can be easily proven wrong. He didn’t do himself any favors by sending photos of himself via cell phone. There is too much work to do. There are plenty of men involved with no charges or shadiness surrounding them. Perhaps we should focus on that, first.