I was sitting at my kitchen table having a conversation with my oldest son Wednesday evening.

He's gotten himself into a little bit of legal trouble that's gonna take more than a notion for him to get out of.

But the trouble he's gotten himself into didn't disturb me nearly as much as the logic he's using to get himself out ... that the legal system is far too overworked in dealing with murders and drug dealers to worry about somebody with a small-time case like his.

I was speechless, but it hit home how just about all these 20-something young black men in the streets think these days.

And that's the really sad part ... that instead of thinking about how not to get strung out in the legal system, their entire train of thought is how to beat it once they do.

As a parent, your first inclination is to ask: What the hell did I do wrong when he was growing up?

But the reality of it is that our young black men and (lately) a big majority of our young black women, too have done this to themselves.

Too many of 'em have succumbed to the portraits painted by gangsta rap stars who glorify quick money, big butt women and raw sex.
As a result, our young black men have turned their attention from the classrooms to the bedrooms, and ignited an explosion of newborns into a society of "kid parents" who can't hardly take care of themselves ... much less a child with constant needs.  

The jails are overcrowded and funeral homes are overworked with a plethora of teenage funerals fueled by drive-by shootings and needless killings as a result of the only industry our young men think offer them steady employment ... drugs.

If there were a rash of young black men being gunned down daily by white guys on the streets of America, the black community would be standing on its ear ... running from their house, to your house, to the state house to the White House screaming for answers and somebody's head to roll.

But, instead, the black community has sat back and thrown up our hands ... saying there's nothing we can do.

I don't have the answer.
If I did, I'd win the Pulitzer Prize ... hands down.

But I do know what has to happen ... black people have to fix black people.
It's the only way.

And its going to take each one of us ... from the preachers to the dealers ... to take a hard look at ourselves and determine if we're doing our individual part to continue the legacy of the proud black race we are.

Until then, nothing will happen.
Until then America will continue to sit back and watch us destroy ourselves.
Until then, there will be no hope.

Until then, young black men will sit at kitchen tables all over the country and continually make their parents think: What did we do wrong? 


(Darron Patterson is an award-winning freelance writer based in Detroit)