Good-for-Nothing Ghetto Punks

I must admit that I have a very residual, very right-winged way of looking at things. I think America is way too cushioned and needs a swift kick in the rear. I have mixed views of people in poverty. I know people on both sides: the ones who need help, and the ones who abuse help. And I generally feel uneasy around black people. Especially black men.

I'm thankful for Robert's view of them.After viewing their actions around a fire he gets to the heart of things. Here's an excerpt from his book:

"Noticeably absent from the conversation this evening and every evening is talk of marriage and kids, of family plans and dreams for the future. Perhaps macho men don't talk of such things anywhere. Bu here, love is another word for weakness. It is something to be denied. Romantic words are merely tools for manipulating a lady's mind. Intimacy is a temporary high. Being cool, 'fronting,' 'getting over' are the techniques for staying in control. These are being reinforced tonight, and every night on the street.
"You want to show, 'But this isn't real! It denies who you really are. Don't you have the same emotions, the same desires for deep and permanent relationships, the same hopes and dreams for a family as the rest of us?' But you remain silent, because you realize you have not yet seen life through their eyes. You don't know how it feels to be chronically jobless with no legal capacity to support a wife or family. You don't understand how strong young men get trapped in a permanent pool of unneeded labor at the bottom of our economic system. And you wonder: how does it feel to be both disdained by society and impotent to achieve without your culture even the most basic position of respect - the head of the household?
"These men feel deeply. Their eyes tell you that. Their quick humor and creative use of language reveal the keenness of their minds. And now you being to understand why they are here tonight: to belong.

"On the corner no one asks them why they don't get a job. No one needs convincing about the dreadful reality of surplus labor. No women remind them of their inability to support their children or their inadequacies as husbands. Tonight women remain objects, so they can be controlled, dominate. There is no talk of commitment and security, of home and trust. There are no reminders of dreams that never will be.
"Instead, they share adventures and intrique, street success stories. Loud music, boisterous laughter, and other anesthetics dull their pain. It doesn't matter that they are outside the rules of societal approval. The unspoken agony of worthlessness is eased in the sharing of bottles and joints. Tonight there is relief from a future without hope."

Morgan }|{ "look at Jesus only."