“There are hundreds of millions of gun owners in this country, and not one of them will have an accident today. The only misuse of guns comes in environments where there are drugs, alcohol, bad parents and undisciplined children. Period.” -Ted Nugent
Neighbors called 911 to report a house on fire and children screaming, but were unable to enter the building and save them. Ladareon died shortly after firefighters pulled him from the house, and Catereon remains in critical condition. The random act of “niggatry” that happened next truly enraged me-not just as an Educated Negro, but as a human being.
Now everyone who watches the News or reads the newspaper knows that journalists will interview the biggest idiot that they can find in order to: A) make an uneducated person appear even more stupid and B) to obtain the most controversial quote they can find in order to both sell newspapers and promote themselves. One of the media decided to go directly to Marilyn Wilson, the child’s aunt, whose absence was the reason for the children’s death. When asked if she had any regrets about leaving the children home alone she said, “No, I really don’t because if they had been there by themselves, I don’t know if the boys set the house on fire or somebody threw something in there to set it on fire. I really need to get in there to see if my purse burned up. I had my food stamp card and everything in there.”
Just when you thought the dumbest things that black folk could ever say were limited to BET and Reality TV…
“All good qualities in a child are the result of environment, while all the bad ones are the result of poor hereditary on the side of the other parent.” - Elinor Smith
At what point does horrible parenting begin? Is it when we decide to have unprotected sex with individuals who have no history of employment, no concept of responsibility, or have reoccurring stints in the state Penitentiary? Is it when we create these absurd and profiling names for our children, which can potentially limit their chances at their job of choice? And limit how seriously society takes them?
Or is it when our children are 6-years old and have a PlayStation 3 with every game, but no computer in the house? Could it be when our kids know every lyric to every rap song that permeates the radio airwaves, but can’t read on their own grade’s reading level? Or is it when things are past the point of no return, as children begin having children and mothers become young grandmothers-raising not only their children…But their children’s children. 
And let’s not forget those parents who’s cars should bear the bumper sticker that reads: PROUD PARENT OF A NEIGHBORHOOD DRUG DEALER, because these fickle individuals have society’s plague living right in their homes and act as if they have no idea what their children’s occupation of choice is. Let us be honest with ourselves for a second. If you have a child who does not have a job and is not in school, but maintains an expensive wardrobe and somehow manages to contribute to bills and have money to go out with friends-then perhaps your child has a brick of cocaine duct-taped to the bottom of their twin-sized bed. Do you come to every little league football game that your child has, and are oftentimes the loudest cheering parent on the sideline, but miss every Parent Teacher Night that their school has? You’re well on your way to being a Bad Ass Parent. How the hell do you look coming to every little league practice and running your mouth with other football Moms and Dads, and you don’t even know the name of the Teacher who educates and watches your child seven hours a day?!?
Melanie Hain was fatally shot alongside her parole-officer husband at their home. The parents of three children, ages 2, 6 and 10 were rumored to be having marital difficulties. I guess the crazed soccer mom was married to someone a bit crazier. In a twist of irony, there was a car seen parked in their driveway with a badge shaped NRA sticker which read, NRA Law Enforcement.
Last Thursday I came across another controversial article in The Philadelphia Daily News that I have mixed feelings on and wondered if readers of thegrayareas.com could give me their opinions on the matter. This is an article that was written by Mensah M. Dean entitled: HARD LIFE GETS KILLER A LIGHTER SENTENCE:
The life that Bilal Gay had lived up until the night he fatally shot a neighborhood rival in a recreation center on Jan. 18th 2008, was heartbreakingly sad.
On that night, Gay, who was 16, had already lived through the home-invasion murder of his mother, abuse at the hands of his father who is now incarcerated, more abuse in a foster home and had dropped out of a disciplinary high school in ninth grade.
Common Pleas Judge Carolyn Engel Temin yesterday cited the sorry circumstances of Gay’s life in sentencing him to seven to 20 years in state prison for voluntary manslaughter and weapon’s offenses.
The judge ordered that Gay’s sentences run concurrently rather than consecutively, as the prosecutor had recommended. “We as a society did not take care of you,” the judge said referring to the years after Gay’s mother’s murder.
“We did not offer you the…care that you needed,” she added, “but you are getting it now.” He had faced a maximum sentence of 16 to 32 years in prison after a jury convicted him on Aug. 28 of voluntary manslaughter, carrying a gun without a license and possessing an instrument of crime in the death of Charles “Frog” Trotman, 16. The violence broke out inside the crowded Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Center, at 22nd Street and Cecil B. Moore Ave, where as many as 100 people had gathered to watch a basketball game.
During the trial, Gay said that he had tracked Trotman to the rec center to get the cell phone and the $20 that the victim had stolen from him at gunpoint 15 minutes earlier. Gay testified that he opened fire when he thought that the victim was reaching for a gun. Assistant District Attorney Richard Sax maintained that there was no evidence that Trotman had robbed Gay, and no cell phone or money was found on his body.
“You are not a bad person, Mr. Gay, but you a horrible, horrible thing,” the judge said. With tears in his eyes and gravel in his voice, Gay turned in his chair to
address the victim’s mother.
What do you guys think of this? This is something that happens very often here in Philadelphia. A young man, seemingly brought up since birth to never amount to much, does the expected; he kills another young black man, and goes to jail. Potentially facing 16 to 20 years, the judge changes it to 7 to 20 because he had a rough life. This means that he has a minimum of seven years in jail, and may get parole in five-for taking the life of another 16 year old black kid. What the hell?!? Am I dreaming?!? Who gives a shit if he had a rough life? Now…I was never from the projects, but my family was poor…and strict. Awwww…he had a bad life? What black kid in Philadelphia doesn’t? There were times, where my parents had so many rules and restrictions I would have thought I was living under the same roof as Hitler. Growing up, kids love water fights. In the Gray household, I wasn’t allowed to play with any type of guns (thanks to my Mom). Water-Guns, Cap-Guns, Toy Guns, SuperSoakers…no guns! But guess what? You don’t see me reaching for one now to settle infantile beefs with other idiots-who should have spent more of their time either hitting the books or learning self defense at the nearest Karate Dojo. He says, “I was young” to the victim’s mother. I say he is still young…and after spending a few years in a Pennsylvania Prison, which has a proven track record of not rehabilitating inmates…will still be young when he hits the streets…and just as dumb…
…These Are The Random Thoughts Of Ronald Gray…
