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A Show of Power

Wednesday, August 27th, 2008

Most of us have experienced them: a knot of half a dozen male teenagers and twentysomethings: a “street gang”. They come in all races and ethnicities. Whether loud talking during a movie or standing in front of the store entrance you want to use, their presence is undeniable. If you are not of their age and ethnicity, you will probably feel some intimidation: you probably won’t call the movie manager to complain about their noise; you will lower your eyes and rush past them into the store. Whatever you do, you will feel the flush of intimidation.

In case you hadn’t guessed, the purpose of their show is just that: intimidation.

From across the country to halfway around the world, the same scene is repeated. In Charlotte, black street gangs carry jam boxes and openly display anti-social behavior. Latino street gangs in Los Angeles fight over the colors or tattoos worn by the gang members. Palestinian teenagers openly carry automatic rifles instead of jam boxes. (Intimidation in Palestine has a more lethal quality.)

In all three instances, the goals are the same: a pitiful attempt at projecting personal power into a seemingly powerless situation. It is pitiful in that the display, whether openly or covertly violent, cannot ever achieve the aims of the young men. The “show” can never gain power for them.

The futility of their behavior is evident once one understands what power is (and is not). True power is the ability to manifest one’s intentions. It involves the will to move forward to accomplish one’s objectives.

With this definition, it becomes obvious that the young disaffected men in the street gangs cannot wield true power. The young urban rebels of America and the world are powerless because they have no collective intentions or objectives. Their show of belligerency is just that – a show. Like boats without paddles or rudders, they drift toward the chasm, knowing something is wrong but not knowing what to do about it.

However, in order to wield true power, intentions and objectives must be realistic and achievable. The goal of pushing Israel into the sea simply cannot be done. Pursuing an objective which, in your heart, you know cannot be achieved focuses and crystalizes your powerlessness and escalates the level of desperation in your actions.

Although powerless, the young men of the Middle East are responsible for hundreds of deaths every year, including the deaths of American civilians and soldiers. Similarly, the black street gangs of urban America are the leading cause of death in the black community. The buzzwords “black on black crime” mask a violent reality of a society rotting from the inside out.

What is the answer? What is the answer to those who feel so disaffected that violence is not only a solution but the only solution? What is the answer to those committing the slow suicide of drugs and casual violence, those for whom prison or execution is no deterrent, since it is no worse than the life in which they find themselves? “Senseless” acts of violence make all the sense in the world to those who perpetrate them.

The answer lies in adopting a simple but profound statement as a way of life: all of life forms one seamless, interrelated web. Therefore, anything I do to anyone else, I am doing to myself. I choose to resolve all conflicts through negotiation rather than confrontation. A person who is whole does not have the need for violence.

However, as a society, we send exactly the opposite message to the urban terrorists of this country and the Third World. We tell them that death and destruction are acceptable means of resolving conflicts. The lesson we teach by sending the battleship New Jersey to blow up Lebanese communities or sending in our armies to the Persian Gulf is that it’s better to shoot than talk. It is a lesson that the powerless have learned well.

If we ask Hamas or Al Qaeda or Iran or the Crips or the Bloods to renounce violence, we must be prepared to set an example and renounce violence FIRST. If violence is wrong for the Iranians, it is wrong for the Americans. Anything less is asking an adversary to hold still while you beat him up.

The second answer lies in providing realistic options to those who see themselves as powerless. Any animal, once cornered, will turn and fight to its death. The key is in not cornering or being cornered. The key lies in “Plan B” thinking. In the American ghettos, it means asking the disaffected a simple but profound question: what do you want that you are willing to work for? Then, if the goals are achievable, to assist in their realization. (Even if what they want isn’t what you would want.)

To solve the question of powerlessness, we must address the question of goallessness. We must cultivate a dialog in the schools, in the homes, in the community, about our goals, both individual and collective. A person with a set of coherent, achievable goals simply does not have time to feel powerless. It means helping to provide a sense of direction and purpose to an aimless life. (The accumulation of money is not a goal: rich people can lead powerless, aimless lives, just like the poor. They just do so with more “stuff”.)

In keeping with the philosophy of wholeness, we must see that the young black men on the corner are intelligent, creative, dynamic and energetic individuals, but without purpose, direction or constructive outlet. If we support them in the development and cultivation of goals and purpose, we will all be pleasantly shocked by their solutions to seemingly insoluble problems. For example, adults have talked for decades about the effects of drugs on teenagers. However, how many of us ask the teenagers to come up with the solution? Instead of considering them responsible partners, we treat them like mindless children, giving them simplistic, nonsensical solutions to complex problems, like the “Just Say No” anti-drug campaign.

On the international scene, ending the violence of powerlessness means ending military support. Period. Instead of selling arms to both the Arabs and the Israelis, it means sitting all parties down and TALKING – with no preconditions – until matters are resolved. It means supporting both sides (non-militarily) as long as they are talking, and withdrawing support from any side who gets up and leaves. It means being committed to “win-win” situations. It means recognizing that parties can differ without killing one another. It means being concerned about the growth and welfare of all.

To those who say that our security lies in everyone being capable of killing everyone else, the last line to the soundtrack of the movie “Colors” states both the promise and the peril:

“our war won’t stop
until all wars end.”

Tags: ethnicity, inclusivity, intimidation, killing, options, personal power, powerlessness, race, society, teenagers, urban rebels, urban terrorists, violence
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Posts Tagged ‘ethnicity’

A Show of Power

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