Ganging up against gangs
In a masterful, passionate presentation to an overflow crowd tonight at A&T's Webb Hall, Greensboro Police Detective Ernest Cuthbertson called on the community to work together to fight the growing gang problem in Greensboro.
I got to the session a little late and found myself standing, and then sitting on a corner of the stage from which Cuthbertson delivered a PowerPoint presentation.
I couldn't even see the screen; I had a better view of Cuthbertson's laptop backstage. But nobody had any trouble hearing Cuthbertson's message: Reach out to these kids; reach out to each other. Help the police help you.
Even when one man in the crowd challenged Cuthbertson, who is African American, as being used as a tool against young black men, Cuthbertson stood his ground.
And then he asked for the man's help in fighting gangs.
"I'm not talking about what I've heard," said Cuthbertson, who grew up in Greensboro's Morningside Homes ("The Grove" we called it growing up here). "I'm talking about what I've seen."
The crowd consisted of young and old, black and white, male and female, among them a number of City Council candidates.
The event was organized by City Councilwomen Goldie Wells and T. Dianne Bellamy-Small. A pleasantly surprised Wells said they had no idea this many people would turn out. The event was scheduled months ago and aimed primarily at Districts 1 and 2. It was good to see the rest of the city represented as well.
Let's hope Greensboro as a community stays focused on this issue as more than a flavor of the month.
Comments (5)
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Kudos to Detective Cuthbertson. From everything I've seen and read about him, he's a world-class expert on gangs - we're lucky to have him here in Greensboro.
However, it's sad to see that even one member of the crowd resorted to the old "Black people shouldn't cooperate with law enforcement" routine. We even see this "Stop snitchin'" attitude reflected even by school board member Deena Hayes.
But that's counterproductive and wrong. Law-abiding residents deserve to feel safe in their own neighborhoods, even if they live in poor, minority neighborhoods.
Posted on August 29, 2007 1:33 PM
In defense of the gentleman, I don't think he meant he didin't want to cooperate with police. He himself said he opposed gangs. I think he just didn't want the anti-gang initiative used as a means to target solely black males.
I thought Cuthbertson handled him very well by reaching out to him.
And by the way, a significant number of white kids also are involved in gangs, according to most studies I'm aware of.
Posted on August 29, 2007 2:17 PM
"And by the way, a significant number of white kids also are involved in gangs, according to most studies I'm aware of."
And brown kids and yellow kids. Latino and Asian gangs are also part of the local makeup.
Posted on August 29, 2007 4:53 PM
Absolutely.
Posted on August 29, 2007 4:56 PM
Allen,
So, help me understand Det. Cuthbertson's comment as reported in the News-Record:
“Gangs, he said, flourish for three main reasons — racism, prejudice and cultural bias.”
This sounds to me as though the official Greensboro position is that gangs are the direct result of racism, since Cuthertson was speaking on behalf of the city. I've seen Det. Cuthbertson talk before, and I think that he is very impressive, but I question this statement. It lets all of the gang members off the hook. They are gang members because of white man's racism? Does this mean that our new gang unit will become social workers instead of law enforcement officers?
Posted on September 1, 2007 10:09 AM