Soon it will a long, hot Labor Day weekend, and police in many cities are bracing for multiple teen takeovers.
These takeovers, usually of crowded downtown areas, are organized on social media and escalate rapidly into large-scale brawls involving the use of fists, knives, and guns. Bystanders and police are hurt, and businesses are damaged and have their hours curtailed.
Footage from a large teen takeover from the Wisconsin State Fair in Milwaukee has aired on national media, with commentators noting that “these kinds of takeovers have become all too common.” What was not said is that “these kinds of takeovers” are largely, though not entirely, black teen takeovers. Although white teens are certainly guilty of committing crimes, teen takeovers are mostly relegated to blacks. The question is, why?
Certainly, the Wisconsin State Fair takeover involved mostly blacks, including women punching, kicking, and brawling, and striking a police officer. As Fox News states, “malls, beaches, and restaurants become battlefields.” In New Jersey, Georgia, Wisconsin, Detroit, and other states, “massive crowds of juveniles overwhelm public spaces.” One of the most violent of these occurred at a Washington, D.C. Chipotle Grill restaurant, where a group of teens entered the location and began fighting and throwing chairs. What the report failed to indicate is that all of the teens shown in the video of the event appeared to be black. Outside the Chipotle, hundreds of teens reportedly brawled in the streets. None of the commentators noted that the vast majority of these teens were black, despite the fact that footage of the event showed it to be so.
Similar teen takeovers have occurred at a shopping mall in Glendale, Wisconsin; in downtown Detroit; and in Chicago, and at many other locations. Body cam footage from the Glendale takeover showed police battling black teens and teens striking police officers. Additional video showed dozens of black teens brawling, but this was only a small number of those participating in a takeover said to have been organized on social media. It’s important to note that though most of those involved in the so-called Bayshore Mall takeover appear to have been black, the overall black population of Glendale, Wisconsin, is 16 percent. Whites constitute 65 percent of Glendale’s population, but by and large they are not out there rampaging and causing harm. What has been causing a disproportionate number of black youths to participate in these violent takeovers?
In another recent takeover, hundreds of teens reportedly flocked to the Chicago Loop and began fighting and looting. These footage shows that most of the participants were black. In Charlotte, North Carolina, over 40 teen takeovers have occurred so far this summer, with most of those on the videos I have seen being black. In Charlotte, blacks constitute 33 percent of the population; whites and Asians constitute over 40 percent.
Chicago’s 57th St. Beach takeover involved an estimate 400 to 500 teens, again largely black, as one can see in video of the event. Chicago’s population is 28 percent black. Why are so many of the teen takeovers black events?
The fact that these takeovers involve mostly black teens is rarely if ever mentioned in media accounts. That fact by itself — the fact that the media refuse to identify black participants by race despite identifying some of those at the Tybee Island, South Carolina, mΓͺlΓ©e as white female teens — may well be one reason blacks feel free to flock to these events: society refuses to face the facts and hold them accountable because they are black. Likewise, the chance of being arrested and punished is almost nil.
It would be better, for the public at large and for participants in the takeovers themselves, to identify the problem exactly as it is: not a problem with “teen” takeovers, but with “black teen” takeovers, and to move from there toward solutions. Solutions will never be found if the truth is suppressed and endless excuses are made for exactly those responsible. There is a problem with a certain segment of blacks youths in America today, and that problem needs to addressed head-on.
In all of the takeovers reviewed above, only a handful — less than a dozen — of the participants were arrested. There need to be arrests of all of those participating, and there need to be longer sentences along with attempts at re-education. Along with this, as Florida’s Lt. Governor Jay Collins has it, parents need to take responsibility for educating their children and tracking their whereabouts.
It may also be that current curfews in many cities including Chicago are not early enough and are not strictly enforced. If young people, both black and white, were kept off the streets to begin with, there would be far fewer takeovers. Some cities are also attempting to address the problem with after-hours activities for teens. All of this is well and good, but it has not ended the takeovers. In our major cities this summer, there have been teen takeovers at multiple locations every weekend.
Conservatives care about the well-being of all persons, and especially about the well-being of our youth. In every teen takeover, young people are injured and sometimes killed. Above all, conservatives value human life, and the lives of our young, white and black, are put at risk every time a takeover occurs. Only a forceful response can save these precious lives.
At its core, there is a problem with the way our society makes excuses for the behavior of black youths. Too often the story is that offenders have grown up in difficult circumstances. So did millions of whites, but most of them do not go about breaking curfews and engaging in violence. There’s also the suggestion that since black Americans have historically suffered from slavery and Jim Crow, the failings of present-day blacks — including lawlessness — should be overlooked, almost as a sort of non-monetary reparations. But black American teens have never experienced discrimination; if anything, they receive preference in schooling and hiring and can look forward to future promotions ahead of whites.
The problem is not past discrimination. It is the way black teens, especially males, are being brought up today and the failure of parents and society to correct them when necessary. At its foundation, that failure is the result of society’s refusal to hold blacks to the same standards as whites. Until that happens, black teen takeovers, violence, and other lawlessness will continue.
