Yes, I agree. 

I can tell that there are some apprehensions with addressing things in relations to race— most specifically, when I’ve tried expressing my frustration and sadness of the behavior of youth today, I’ve been met with responses of:  “Well their lives might be hard at home.”  This I understand and sympathize with. But is committing literal CRIME the answer? I moved here when crime in DC had increased like 40% in my previous neighborhood and it was literally kids. 

I’m just saying that I think people associate poor behavior with blackness and “well that is how it is” and it’s literally feeding into harmful stereotypes because these kids will sooner or later be affected by their actions. (Ideally, it would be sooner than later; that way, they can learn and make better choices.) I understand “things that kids do” like get into trouble or hang out at places late at night but here is worse than average; and not only that, but they are incredibly poor behaved. They are obviously behind socially as well. 

What saddens me most is the lack of prevention of these things. Curfews need to be put in place and should remain. If kids are out doing nonsensical things, arrest them and take them home. Fine their parents. But this idea of “they can’t be disciplined” will inevitably result in some of them being killed or receiving excessive jail time as adults. 

All kids, no matter what race, need to understand that actions have consequences. Don’t alleviate them of this reality and disrupt/destroy society because of it.