Initial reaction: lkjaldfjalkjdfaoijfdlakj!!!!!!!!! (see icon)
Rational reaction: I agree with this statement: "He said people had to drop their political correctness and recognise that the violence would not be stopped "by pretending it is not young black kids doing it"."
HOWEVER, read on and it's pretty clear that he went down there wearing horse blinders, heard one comment from the pastor that spoke to his personal bias, and then road it back to his high class white mansion.
Yes, the violence is generally black gang members, but is Blair considering anything other than that? I'd check off the big "NO" box on that one.
We are dealing with the same situation here, mainly in the Scarborough area. No one is dumb enough not to see the cultural connection, but we have gone further and actually tried to deal with exactly that. A lot of the gang issues have been traced back to Jamaican gang roots, so our police chief and mayor have actually worked with the Jamaican authorities, visiting the country etc. Basically, we recognize the problem and are targeting the source and offering options that work with the culture.
no subject
Rational reaction: I agree with this statement: "He said people had to drop their political correctness and recognise that the violence would not be stopped "by pretending it is not young black kids doing it"."
HOWEVER, read on and it's pretty clear that he went down there wearing horse blinders, heard one comment from the pastor that spoke to his personal bias, and then road it back to his high class white mansion.
Yes, the violence is generally black gang members, but is Blair considering anything other than that? I'd check off the big "NO" box on that one.
We are dealing with the same situation here, mainly in the Scarborough area. No one is dumb enough not to see the cultural connection, but we have gone further and actually tried to deal with exactly that. A lot of the gang issues have been traced back to Jamaican gang roots, so our police chief and mayor have actually worked with the Jamaican authorities, visiting the country etc. Basically, we recognize the problem and are targeting the source and offering options that work with the culture.