Social Welfare and the Biblical Remedy

Image Source: FORGET NONE OF HIS BENEFITS 

 By Al Baker - Posted at Forget None Of His Benefits:

“For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either.” -2 Thessalonians 3:10

During the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920’s and 1930”s in New York City, a time where a rebirth of African American art, literature, and music occurred, many white celebrities frequented the Harlem entertainment centers, often staying there until after midnight. Invariably, without any fear for their safely, these white celebrities would walk the streets of Harlem without incident. The economist Milton Freedman, while a graduate student at Columbia University in New York City, often took his fianceé (later his wife) to dance the night away at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem without fear of being mugged or accosted. A black actress, after performing in midtown Manhattan, said that she would without fear take the subway back to Harlem and never had any trouble. “It is hard to imagine such things in Harlem or other ghettoes across the country today.”[1]

Just last week sixteen year old black high school student, Kentrel Miller, from Fairfield, Alabama, while shopping at a local mall, was gunned down by three young men. Authorities say that as many as seventy shell casings were found at the murder scene. A day or so later, Rishard Densmore, a football player for Miles College was also shot and killed, not far from Fairfield. Homicide is the leading cause of death for black males between the ages of 10 to 24, and over twenty times as high as that for white males of the same age.[2]

Lest you be tempted to think this high murder rate and other violent crimes are limited to our urban, poor predominantly black neighborhoods, then think again. England has a similar problem. In 1954 there were only twelve armed robberies in London. By 1981 there were 1400 armed robberies and ten years later the number had risen to 1600 for 1991. Though strict gun laws were enacted in England, by the 1960’s gun related crime had risen one hundred times of what it was in the 1950’s. Education has also suffered, both in our urban poor communities and London. Now, 90% percent less black students in New York City, as opposed to the 1950’s, have been able to attend Stuyvesant High School which is geared for the best academic students. A doctor who served the poor in London said that he had never met a white, sixteen year old who could multiply 9 times 7 and get the correct answer.

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