A Strange Road Again: A Fractional World

I have often wondered about the world's strange chain of events, with its conflicting and oftentimes fragmented sense of morality; perhaps fate. I was surprised to find the deputy who was killed by the young Asian teen, Jimmy Siackasorn, on December 17 (2007, Sacramento, CA; Real Police, 1) was in fact Asian himself. This was before I knew the officer would come to be known as Deputy Vu Nguyen, a surname of Vietnamese origin. At the time the suspect was unidentified except his general size, height and his mysterious “Asian” background. Does it matter if he is not Vietnamese himself? I'm not really sure. Siackasorn is of Laos decent. His grandfather, much like Nguyen's father, left South East Asia to flee the Vietnam War (Modesto Bee, 2). This fact, about both being from a similar background, albeit, perhaps not the same ethnicity, still seems so ironic it's almost ridiculous and points to the social realities we Americans have become acclimated to in the United States. How could one person kill another of a very close cultural heritage? Everyday police officers of all backgrounds suit up and oftentimes patrol the streets of their very own blood. Usually they do their job and come back home to wherever they live—likely not where they work—and its not a stretch to say that most would like to have at least some police of their own background, in their neighborhood. But just think for a moment how eerily divine this is: one man lives a decent life and joins law enforcement, becoming a deputy sheriff; the other, a young man from a similar origin, follows a life of crime and winds up killing him. Moliere could not have devised a better tragedy.

I suppose, it doesn't matter in the end—just because it is ironic and almost fateful does not prevent it from actually happening in reality. I guess the truth is that many kids who grow up in that kind of violent and ambivalent background are often, voluntarily, or not, split from the moral norms of society. Indeed, conditioned in that sphere to be more and more violent just to survive, while at the same time, increasingly afraid of those they are surrounded by; those who are supposed to be their loved ones. But end up being more like the protocol and asylums with which their lives are dictated. It is a very different existence than what most middle class kids and teens go through, but just because it is not the norm does not make it untrue. Or uncommon for that matter. And so they do not always distinguish others as personally 'like' or 'unlike' them regardless of their ethnic, political or even spiritual background—nor grant them any mercy if they were alike.

Further, many adolescents from rival gangs are more similar to each other than contrasting, than they realize, and yet are oblivious to any common traits they share. It's sad to see a such young, honest family man killed by an even younger disparaging male of a similar ethnic background. It's good that the killer was found and taken off the street so justice can be served to the office and his family. But the reality is that there are a lot more kids out there like that, and the extent to which gangs are ingrained into California, on so many levels, is just really overlooked by society and government. As of 2000, according to the Department of Justice, there were 24, 500 gangs functioning in the United States, and estimated there were 772, 500 people that were gang related in the same year (Violence Prevention Institute, 3). Much time has elapsed since then, a whole decade, but how much could really change? Could we have cut those statistics in half? Maybe. Probably not. People like that will continue to function in our society until the state and federal government really take a look at our current system of incarceration, justice and rehabilitation and finally decide whether to overhaul it or not, hopefully for a more realistic future.

But that will not happen until people—common everyday tax paying and perhaps registered voting people—really look at our world, especially our lower-income areas. Because as of 1999 over 85 percent of gangs were comprised of minorities or people of color (“DOJ: National Youth Gang Survey,” 3). People that usually live in these low income neighborhoods: areas which are often derogatorily referred to as "the ghetto," which does more damage to the psyche of those neighborhoods than anyone realizes; many calling it simply “the hood.” Well, if those “everyday people,” as a family of poets once said, do not just glance but really, deeply, truly meditate on these places and, perhaps, decide the way it currently exists is not balanced with the rest of world (economically, opportunity-wise and familial coherence), offers no sense hope, no recourse to its inhabitants and finally decide “this ain't 'livin;” something must be done. Because, in fact, obviously or not, this is where so much (not all or even most) graphic violence comes from in our cities—violence our media seems so fixated on but rarely attempts to change.

But that begs the question, why? Why does so much destruction, both internal and external, come from here? For the very reasons named before: economic imbalance, lack of opportunities (both career and education wise) and familial coherence and harmony (i.e. no steady paternal figures, etc.). Why do we spend as much on incarceration as we do on education in California? This is not hippie rhetoric for some dissident with a sign out on a corner, these are fair and logical questions about our society; a legitimate progression of thought based on the fundamental flaws in how our country functions (SF Gate, 4). As of 2006 over 11,000 people were killed by gunfire in this country, compared to about 200 in Germany and Canada, and around 60 in England/Wales and the same for Spain (Department of Justice, 5; Brady Campaign, 6). This is not to say, however, that our country's dysfunction is absolute but, ultimately, one day people will have to realize that most legislation comes from movements and change starts from the bottom—meaning public opinion and activism—working upwards; it will not just happen upon by some random, idealistic politician. That inner city children really do need everything else kids in suburbia and the mid to upper echelons of society get: decent education, a nurturing family life, mentoring, and the cardinal maxim of them all—respect. Then, only then, will we be able to actually prevent future killings, criminals, and ignorance, in general, from happening.

Sources:

1. Real Police. “[sic] is a leading resource for Police Officers and Law

Enforcement professionals.”

http://www.realpolice.net/forums/archive/index.php/t-75064.html. 2008.

2. Modesto Bee. "Family In Shock Over Teen Accused of Killing Detective.

http://www.modbee.com/1618/story/179505.html. January 10, 2008.

3. Violence Prevention Institute: [A site] intended to provide valuable tips

for parents, teachers and school administrators with regard to addressing the

growing problem of violence in today's schools and the larger issue of

overwhelming youth violence in general. "Department of Justice: Office of

Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, National Youth Gang Survey

Trends from 1996 to 2000." By Arlen Egley, Jr.