Addressing Guns & Gangs in the African Canadian community: Courage and Generosity, Anyone?

There is now no doubt that there is a major problem of gangs and guns in Canadian society, particularly in the major metropolitan areas. It is equally plain for all to see that the problem is particularly pronounced in the African Canadian community. This truly alarming situation has now put the peace, security and well-being of the society as a whole, and of the African Canadian community in particular, at significant risk. That this is the result of the reckless and vicious action of a small if increasing number of individuals is important but beside the point. For the sake of all, this situation must be addressed; and it must be addressed in a bold and effective manner that safeguards the lives and futures of all, including the community most at risk: the African Canadian community. But, is there sufficient courage and generosity of spirit and action to get the job done?

We submit that for an effective and lasting solution that protects everyone from the spiral of drug dealing, petty crime, criminal gang participation, targeted and indiscriminate murder and counter-murder, courageous action, buttressed on a foundation of generosity of spirit and action is indispensable. Why do we say this?

To begin with, the situation we now face requires courage on a number of fronts. We need the courage to publicly admit the truth of the situation, regardless of its political correctness. Surely, the lives of the chief victims of this criminal monstrosity, African Canadians, are worth the political approbation we suffer when we dare speak the unfashionable truths that do not fit the usual explanations and “solutions”.

Sadly, one of these truths is this: Over the past three decades Canadian society has indeed achieved tremendous successes in safeguarding the human dignity, and promoting equality of treatment, of all. And indeed all Canadians are to the congratulated for the admirable and universally-shared hope that all Canadians are now able to enjoy equal opportunity to individual and social progress. Alas, in many ways akin to Aboriginal Canadians, African Canadians continue to face serious systemic barriers that frustrate their ability to truly achieve the equality of opportunity and treatment yearned for. Some, and perhaps most, Canadians would sincerely disbelieve this, but it’s the truth nonetheless.

Regardless of educational attainment, African Canadians continue to be denied – subtly now - equal opportunity to employment and promotion. The unemployment rate among African Canadians continues to be over one-and-half times the Canadian average; and despite a few faces here and there, African Canadians continue to wallow in the lower rungs of the corporate ladder. While these are significant problems in the public sector, they are far worse in the private sector, where most Canadians must make their living! And because of the positions African Canadians are hired to, regardless of their competence or potential, the earnings of African Canadians in the labour force pales significantly from the general Canadian earnings rates. In Toronto, for instance, African Canadian men earn around 22.5% less than the average Canadian male; and African Canadian women earn about 32% less than their general Canadian female counterparts! In consequence, the poverty rate among African Canadians is nearly twice the Canadian average, ranging as high as 45%! And that is so whether we are comparing the rates for children, men, women or the communities at large. Yet, on average, those African Canadians who are employed put in as many hours as the rest of Canadians.

That is the real fate of African Canadians which the rest of Canadians hardly notice; and it is a fate which, like Aboriginal Canadians, African Canadians by themselves can hardly change – at least not as things currently stand. It is, in short, a fate which requires focused, special measures by government, private industry and the charitable sector, working hand in hand with the African Canadian community, to achieve serious and lasting redress. But from whence cometh the political courage and corporate and charitable sector leadership for action?

An equally important truth that must be publicly admitted and acted upon is that, even in the midst of the greatest adversity, the cultivated and determined human spirit is capable of success. That is say, even in the face of the horrible hand African Canadians continue to be dealt systemically, the African Canadian community itself could do a far better job of so building the internal resilience of our young – and as young as possible – that they can succeed even in the face of the systemic challenges we describe. Thus, as we hold at the African Canadian Social Development Council, while systemic racism and intense poverty are indeed at the core of the community’s problems, racism and poverty do not equal murder. That is to say, precisely because of the intensity of these two evils in our lives, we must build our individual and collective capacity to overcome. We must never allow these challenges to cause us to kill each other off.

The African Canadian community itself desperately needs to look also to internal character building efforts within the community to build the strength of all to triumph over challenge. This we can do. One person at a time; all the community together by ethos. But where is the courage to say, and really mean, “racism and poverty do not equal murder”? What would our friends say? Those who have always respected us for our cogent analysis that always points to the system – be it explanation or solution. The risk of condemnation is palpable indeed, and the fear great.

But what does the courage to say these things mean? It means the community and government would join as one and say, let’s publicly condemn and severely punish those who resort to murder when the easy road they took brought them to a dead end. It means adopting a new legal philosophy and new laws that make it unrealistic to seek to profit from the life of drugs, gangs and violence – because the chances of being able to “enjoy” the cool life the music videos promise are just not there anymore.

It also means the community, government, the charitable sector, the faith community, families and individuals must all agree to act on a basic premise: That non-traditional and innovative actions can and in fact needs to be taken by all for and within the African Canadian community to directly address the unemployment, the academic disinterest among a sizeable proportion of the youth, and the poverty and social disconnectedness that the family and material circumstances create, and which contribute to the lure of the gangs.

So, is the courage to admit these truths and to innovate enough? No. What is also fundamental is the generosity of spirit that would support courageous action. Would fellow Canadians be charitable enough to support government and private sector leaders who dare agree to take special and sustained measures for, and to support real change within, the African Canadian community? Would the generosity of spirit to provide such leadership emerge in the first place? For better or for worse, we are all in the one boat called Canada, and for the sake of all, we surely hope so.

To do our part, the African Canadian Social Development Council has worked with a number of community organizations and individuals to put together a major strategy on crime and violence prevention that departs from much of the traditional approaches. The Strategy, which we plan to unveil in the immediate future, offers a new and sustained way to support the well-being of the African Canadian community within the Canadian family. But this really requires everyone to be prepared to think and act outside the box. Courage and generosity, anyone?