Reclaiming Black Manhood

I have recently come to the heart-rending conclusion that we, as Black men, are coming dangerously close to losing the one ideal that has sustained us for nearly 400 years in America: raw courage.

Set upon, hounded and besieged from the moment our chained African ancestors squinted against the sunlight, after months in the dark misery of the Middle Passage, Black men have epitomized courage, honor, and dignity. Robbed of language, religion, culture and humanity, our forefathers still managed to achieve great feats of engineering, invent machines that would revolutionize the world, and build this country from scratch. And they would do it all without credit, profit or acknowledgement from their white overseers or the books of history.

What I cannot understand how this rich heritage of courage, heroism, and sacrifice could have given birth to a generation of craven cowards and low-rent poltroons.

Poltroon is another word we ought to bring back to life. More than just a coward, a poltroon preys on the weak or unsuspecting, usually in numbers or with unnecessary violence. Say, for instance, like opening fire on a crowded playground.

I met Miles Mack a couple of times. It seemed like whenever I went to cover a story in Mantua, Miles was around. He was loved and respected, a brother with no greater purpose in life than helping others. He founded the X-Tra Miles Developmental Basketball League, and played surrogate father, uncle and big brother to hundreds of troubled kids over the years. He was murdered while handing out championship trophies, in front of maybe 200 witnesses.

When Miles lost his life last Thursday night, the poltroonish gunmen were shooting at someone else. They had their victim, Darren Hankins, right where they wanted him - unarmed and unsuspecting. They hit him, and five other people, including Miles Mack.

I cannot imagine the sad existence that surely must accompany an absolute lack of decency, morality, or any sense of right and wrong. How can you not think of yourself as the lowest form of coward? Who cares about the so-called “reason” for the killings? What reason could you possibly have to behave in so shameful a manner?

You can ask the same question of the pair who last week gunned down Veno Leigertwood, a brilliant, hardworking young family man in Yeadon. An Ivy League graduate and entrepreneur, Leigertwood returned to his alma mater (and mine) John Bartram School to mentor and guide students through the rigors of college application.

A couple of young brothers snuck up behind Veno and shot him to death in his driveway.

I don’t have to tell you that these are not isolated incidents.

From the guys who get their kicks beating up old men in mall restrooms, to the recently jailed poltroon who beat seven women’s faces in after snatching their purses, we’ve been flooded with case after case of young brothers whose heinous actions, a generation ago, would have made their families hide in shame.

When did we decide that craven cowardice is an acceptable quality of manhood?

There are any number of socio-economic factors we could tick off that contribute to crime: poverty, lack of educational and employment opportunities, institutional racism, continuing inequities in the legal system, and a host of others. All fair, and all valid.

That does not explain, however, a change in attitude that excuses, and even encourages, the lowest forms of cowardice. Being a purse-snatcher is one thing, beating the women up after taking their valuables is quite another. Having it out with someone with whom you disagree is understandable, sneaking up on them and shooting them in the back is not.

It’s easy to blame to lack of real father figures in the community, and certainly, to some extent this is true. Fathers (and grandfathers) are the traditional teachers of manhood, but women can just as easily teach boys not to be cowards. Single mothers can, and do, teach their sons to respect themselves and others, and that their actions reflect not only on themselves, but their families and their community.

But somebody, somewhere is telling our boys that it’s perfectly alright to prey on the weak, to gang up on the unsuspecting, to shoot wildly into a crowd. Someone is telling them that these actions don’t make you less of a man, and that you still deserve respect.

The first step to reclaiming our legacy of courage is to find out who is feeding our sons these vicious lies – and pray we’re not too late.