The Common-Unity (Community)

If you were born after 1955, there is a pretty good chance that you have never heard of the "Dead End Kids" but it is with great certainty, you have heard of "50 cent" and the movie he is associated with, "Get Rich or Die Tryin".

The "Dead End Kids" were a group of youn, white male actors from New York who first appeared in a Broadway play in 1937. They were so popular at that time, that they went on to make several movies including, The East Side Kids, The Little Tough Guys and the Bowery Boys, until 1958. Although, they were actors, the roles they played were reflective of what it was like growing up on the streets of New York City, as a white boy during this period in American history. If one were to define their behavior, they were considered today's juvenile delinquents or miscreants as P.D. Green states in the movie "Talk to Me".

This was during the World Wars (I and II), when the dominant male figure (father) was missing from the family because he had either enlisted but in most cases, had been drafted into the armed forces (military). It was also during a time of immigration of Europeans to America and they were still decoding their new environment as they negotiated it. The mother was forced to abandon the role of "stay at home Mom" and had to find work outside of the home. Since most of these women were low and unskilled workers, they worked in factories and other menial labor jobs. In the absence of the father figure and loving, guiding hand of the mother, the boys began to do what males of most species do and that is to fend for themselves.

They would "ditch" school and when they did attend, often times were unruly and unmanageable. Many of them became attracted to the "gangster" lifestyle because it was a fast way to make money. They were America's original "menace to society". These young men grew up in many instances, to become the real "Organized Crime" bosses who actually invented the "drive by" shooting. and after many of them got out of prison because they did serve time, they walked into "ready-made" public works, ligitimate employment paid with the public's tax dollars, i.e. McCormick Place expansion in Chicago of today.Meanwhile, "50 Cent" and the like, imitating the "gangsta" persona of their criminal heroes, will never reap the same benefits as their white counterparts.

To their ignorance and unfortunately, a large sector of the Black community, the "Dead End Kids" were dangerous and served as a terror to the communities in which they lived and to those they preyed upon. The difference between them and the so-called "urban terrorists"of today is rooted primarily in the fact that they are white and white society stepped in to correct a problem they had created. In some cases, they built reform schools and residential schools for wayward boys. But for the most part, their behavior got directed into certain profession; cosntruction work, law enforcement and firefighting. Some of them even went on to become Catholic preists. Whereas, with Black people, for more than two generaions, no one has stepped in to correct the problem created by the same group of white men who feel compelled to relegate Black men to an inferior status. What's even worst, Black people continue to beg, sit and wait for them to come to their rescue. The questions are; why should they? In whose interest would it serve?

The dominant male figure in the Black household has been missing in action for two generations on a consistent basis and Black women have almost always worked outside of their own homes, sometimes taking care of white children. If it were not for the extended family in the Black community, the so-called epidemic of violence we are now facing would have occurred long before now. Due to how the dominant Black male figure came to be removed from the Black family contributes greatly as to why it has become almost imposssible for to reintegrate into the institution of family. And in many cases, when the family makes the attempt to bring him back into the fold, they cannot absorb the many, overwhelming deficiencies he has acquired over time.

How did white folks allegedly turn around their problem of juvenile delinquency that was not just occurring in New York but at the time was being considered an epidemic as well? They relied on their religious institutions, primarily, the Catholic Church. Of course the government assisted but the people made sure it did via holding their political representatives accountable. Further, there was no conspiracy at hand to destroy Irish and Italian youths who were the ones to stand to benefit most from the programs that resulted that set them on the right track.

"50 cent" and others who are so inclined to be like him are being exploited just as the "Dead End Kids" were exploited. However, they remained connected to their community and the finacial gains they acquired were not utilized independent of their people. They were a creaion of their own. "50 cent" is a creation of someone else. There are many lessons that Black peopl, people of African descent in America, can learn from this history lesson. Don't keep repeating it!