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Rich, reckless, ruthless
HEART TO HEART
With Betty Ann Blaine
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Dear Reader,
There is a general tendency to blame everything that is bad on "ghetto youth". In fact, crime and violence is almost completely synonymous with our inner cities and with a certain class of Jamaicans. What happens north of the line of the equator (above Half-Way-Tree), is hardly ever captured in studies or reported in the media. The general sentiment is that downtown equals bad, and uptown equals good.
Given that perceptual and practical dichotomy, it was highly unusual to have heard an interview on Nationwide Radio recently with two "uptown" parents, male and female, relating an incident which left their children seriously injured and hospitalised. The incident which took place near the end of June, has since captured national attention and has even caught the interest of our politicians.
A few days ago, the Opposition People's National Party issued a press release stating, inter alia, that: "The Opposition People's National Party is calling on the commissioner of police to probe the status of the investigation into the nearly deadly attack on three young men by armed thugs at a popular place of entertainment nearly four weeks ago. The young men suffered life-threatening injuries and one remains hospitalised."
As one might suspect, the PNP's interest in the case goes beyond concern and compassion. The word out there is that the alleged instigator is the relative of a JLP cabinet minister and that the young man has been spirited out of the country and has not been interviewed or questioned by the police. The press release quoted the chairman of the PNP, Robert Pickersgill, as saying, "I am calling on the police commissioner to ensure that there is no cover-up or tardiness in pursuing this investigation. No favour or protection should be given to anyone, whoever they may be."
The story told on radio by the parents of the victims was that their sons were attacked by another group of young men at a popular club, some of whom left and returned with machetes and knives and began inflicting stab wounds on their children. The boys were stabbed in the chest and stomach, and chopped with machetes on various parts of their bodies. One parent said that she didn't know if her son would survive the stab wounds he received.
As the parents shared the horrifying details of the incident, it began to read like a case study in the ills that befall the country in general, and our young people in particular, and not just those who live in the poorest communities.
First of all, it's astounding to know that uptown kids drive around with an assortment of deadly weapons in their cars, and not only knives and machetes. I'm told that some
of them carry guns as a regular practice. It's equally astounding that children raised in the best homes don't know how to resolve their differences without resorting to deadly violence.
But it's more than that. A friend brought me up to speed by relating the details of the lifestyle of many uptown kids who are simply rich, reckless and ruthless. He said that what is happening is that there are groups of uptown youth who are closely aligned to an assortment of ghetto gangs who operate both as "protectors" as well as purveyors and pushers of illegal substances. At the core of the relationship is the culture of popular music which both sides gravitate towards. So while the general society continues to practise a sort of de facto segregation, the children of the rich are forging tight bonds with youth across socio-economic boundaries.
My sources tell me that it is becoming common practice for uptown boys and men to call their ghetto friends for "back-up" when there is a fight to be executed or when there is one in the making. It is still to be divulged publicly whether or not ghetto youth were involved in the case under investigation, but my informants tell me that the "joint ghetto/uptown pact" is the new modus operandi of some rich uptown kids.
The other troubling development is the matter of eyewitnesses. Like crime, the general feeling is that the "informer fi dead" culture is a ghetto phenomenon, and that richer, more educated Jamaicans understand and willingly give statements and information to the police.
That is now obviously becoming a myth as evidenced in the case in question. I listened as the mother of one of the victims spoke about the shock and disappointment she felt when the parents of the other young people who were eyewitnesses spoke to her by telephone saying that they sympathised deeply with the injuries to her son and the emotional stress of the incident, but that they would not allow their children to give statements to the police. I later heard the investigating officer explain that one of the reasons for the slow pace of the investigations was the difficulty he was experiencing in getting eyewitnesses to come forward. The talk out there that the relative of a highly placed cabinet minister is involved can only complicate the matter.
"A lot of the rich kids are out of control," my friend and source asserted.
I replied, "who among us has the courage to bell the cat?"
With love.
bab2609@yahoo.com
HEART TO HEART
With Betty Ann Blaine
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Dear Reader,
There is a general tendency to blame everything that is bad on "ghetto youth". In fact, crime and violence is almost completely synonymous with our inner cities and with a certain class of Jamaicans. What happens north of the line of the equator (above Half-Way-Tree), is hardly ever captured in studies or reported in the media. The general sentiment is that downtown equals bad, and uptown equals good.
Given that perceptual and practical dichotomy, it was highly unusual to have heard an interview on Nationwide Radio recently with two "uptown" parents, male and female, relating an incident which left their children seriously injured and hospitalised. The incident which took place near the end of June, has since captured national attention and has even caught the interest of our politicians.
A few days ago, the Opposition People's National Party issued a press release stating, inter alia, that: "The Opposition People's National Party is calling on the commissioner of police to probe the status of the investigation into the nearly deadly attack on three young men by armed thugs at a popular place of entertainment nearly four weeks ago. The young men suffered life-threatening injuries and one remains hospitalised."
As one might suspect, the PNP's interest in the case goes beyond concern and compassion. The word out there is that the alleged instigator is the relative of a JLP cabinet minister and that the young man has been spirited out of the country and has not been interviewed or questioned by the police. The press release quoted the chairman of the PNP, Robert Pickersgill, as saying, "I am calling on the police commissioner to ensure that there is no cover-up or tardiness in pursuing this investigation. No favour or protection should be given to anyone, whoever they may be."
The story told on radio by the parents of the victims was that their sons were attacked by another group of young men at a popular club, some of whom left and returned with machetes and knives and began inflicting stab wounds on their children. The boys were stabbed in the chest and stomach, and chopped with machetes on various parts of their bodies. One parent said that she didn't know if her son would survive the stab wounds he received.
As the parents shared the horrifying details of the incident, it began to read like a case study in the ills that befall the country in general, and our young people in particular, and not just those who live in the poorest communities.
First of all, it's astounding to know that uptown kids drive around with an assortment of deadly weapons in their cars, and not only knives and machetes. I'm told that some
of them carry guns as a regular practice. It's equally astounding that children raised in the best homes don't know how to resolve their differences without resorting to deadly violence.
But it's more than that. A friend brought me up to speed by relating the details of the lifestyle of many uptown kids who are simply rich, reckless and ruthless. He said that what is happening is that there are groups of uptown youth who are closely aligned to an assortment of ghetto gangs who operate both as "protectors" as well as purveyors and pushers of illegal substances. At the core of the relationship is the culture of popular music which both sides gravitate towards. So while the general society continues to practise a sort of de facto segregation, the children of the rich are forging tight bonds with youth across socio-economic boundaries.
My sources tell me that it is becoming common practice for uptown boys and men to call their ghetto friends for "back-up" when there is a fight to be executed or when there is one in the making. It is still to be divulged publicly whether or not ghetto youth were involved in the case under investigation, but my informants tell me that the "joint ghetto/uptown pact" is the new modus operandi of some rich uptown kids.
The other troubling development is the matter of eyewitnesses. Like crime, the general feeling is that the "informer fi dead" culture is a ghetto phenomenon, and that richer, more educated Jamaicans understand and willingly give statements and information to the police.
That is now obviously becoming a myth as evidenced in the case in question. I listened as the mother of one of the victims spoke about the shock and disappointment she felt when the parents of the other young people who were eyewitnesses spoke to her by telephone saying that they sympathised deeply with the injuries to her son and the emotional stress of the incident, but that they would not allow their children to give statements to the police. I later heard the investigating officer explain that one of the reasons for the slow pace of the investigations was the difficulty he was experiencing in getting eyewitnesses to come forward. The talk out there that the relative of a highly placed cabinet minister is involved can only complicate the matter.
"A lot of the rich kids are out of control," my friend and source asserted.
I replied, "who among us has the courage to bell the cat?"
With love.
bab2609@yahoo.com
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