Dead Children

I have lost another student to murder by gun. I am ANGRY.

I didn't pay close attention to what the Rev Jeremiah Wright actually said that was offending folks, but my recollection is that it was generally negative about America. Right now, I'm feeling that America is on the road to hell, and I can relate to anyone who is ANGRY with the circumstances we find ourselves in today in this country.

I have been in education for 15 years. In that time I have had four students killed and three locked up for murder or other gun crimes. Plus one more just arrested last week for gun possession but apparently getting off. And those are just the ones I know about.

I am ANGRY that a student of mine who was smart, who graduated from high school with skills last year, is now dead after participating in an armed robbery. If the smart ones go down, what hope does that leave for the rest??? Antoine was a good kid by teacher standards - he didn't cause trouble and he learned what I tried to teach him. What on earth was he doing in an armed robbery???

I am ANGRY that kids with potential, who had lots of support while in school, graduate and suddenly have nothing. If a kid is not ready when they graduate, then what? One former student, who keeps telling me he is going to enroll in community college, was caught getting high with a gun in his car, sitting across the street from a school, waiting for his girlfriend. Is that really all he's got?

I am ANGRY that two of the brightest young black men I've sent off to college in recent years have returned - dropped out - in less than a year. As their English teacher, I know it wasn't simply a skill issue - they could think and write just fine. There's more to it. And again, those are just the ones I know about.

What exactly does America offer our poor black boys? Someone asked me this afternoon if Obama could make a difference on this issue, and I said maybe for the generation yet to come, but for these guys? I'll have to ask them, but I doubt it.

I am ANGRY.