Myths about violence are excuses to justify police brutality

The mayor and others casually refer to mythological causes for violence in AfricanAmerican communities. They toss off statements about the so-called lack of male parental involvement, when the Centers for Disease Control has published a study showing that African-American males have a higher degree of involvement with their children’s upbringing than do white males. In addition, as shown in a University of Maryland study, AfricanAmerican children benefit from “socially supportive” involvement of their uncles.

Another myth is the dissolution of religious values in African-American families. A joint study by the University of Michigan and Howard University found that 97 percent of the African-American male participants considered themselves “at least somewhat religious.”

Citing myths merely serves to justify brutal and illegal police practices by portraying the victims of police harassment and brutality as the problem.

The ludicrous notion of calling out the National Guard implies that everyone in our communities is a criminal. It further ignores the fact that the Guard has zero training in appropriate ways of dealing with fellow American citizens. In 1968, I was part of a protest against National Guard actions during the disruption following Martin Luther King’s assassination. I got close enough to some Kankakee farm boys to see how frightened and confused they were (even worse than Chicago police !!!). The Guard used fixed bayonets on some protesters, in addition to tear gas. Luckily, I didn’t get stabbed — just gassed.

The lack of economic opportunity and the alienation of African-American youth from school (only 57 percent of African-American males in CPS graduate from high school) are the roots of the problem and cause some black youth to abandon our community’s historic principles and pursue illegitimate activities (like European pirates and bandits of an earlier era).

The facts are readily available. It took me less than an hour to assemble them. That the mayor and police superintendent choose to ignore the facts and attempt to deflect blame from themselves is part of their established pattern. We have to hold all of our representatives and public employees’ feet to the fire and insist they work toward real solutions to the real problems.

Muriel Balla, Hyde Park