The Gist of It

 

 Darryl Rice Jr., a 28 year-old black man, died in the early hours -- 5:15 a.m. -- of last Sunday when he was shot and killed in a parking lot outside a party on North Liberty Street in Winston-Salem. He was not killed by a policeman but by another black man. Two others, aged 17 and 23, were shot but not killed.

A vigil was held for him yesterday. One of the speakers was Frankie Gist, founder of Hope Dealers Outreach which advocates "to fight against police brutality, gun violence, homelessness, and other plagues against marginalized communities.Here is what Gist said:

“We’re going to continue to have the gun violence happening in our city, so everybody has a part to play. The sheriff has a part to play, the chief has a part to play, the mayor has a part to play, city council has got a part to play, city managers have got a part to play. The community has a part to play because it takes a village to save a community.”

The first four who he said had a role to play was government. The fifth was the community. So who did he not say had a role to play?

Parents.

And that is the most important of all groups who have a role to play. Black parents, as a group, are simply failing in their role as parents. Black folks like Gist need to remove their blinders to that simple fact.

This killing also begs the question of  just what the hell was Rice, a father of three young children, doing at a party at 5:15 a.m.in a neighborhood well known for gun violence and murders. Was, indeed, he also shirking his responsibility as a parent?