What About Our Daughters

Blaming the school is a cop out! Black folks who are mired in the insanity that is Civil Rights ideology make the most extraordinary jumps through hoops of all types to avoid criticizing the culture of the Black underclass. If a white person were responsible for this tragedy, the blame would NOT be placed at the steps of Campus security since it would fit perfectly within the NARROW confines of the "racist victimization narrative." Instead, there would be marches, liberation flags, speakers, and various forms of melodrama.

How odd it is that Black folks turn on Black institutions and other Black people when they cannot find or locate a white victimizer. As I have always argued, Civil Rights ideology is a mental disorder that is characterized by low self esteem on the part of the Black elitist negroes AND, as a result, they only find value in Black life and existence when something white can be attached or connected to it. This is why we had integration instead of Black self help.

There exists a useless and worthless cadre of Black underclass scum who impose a tyranny upon Black people that results in a destruction of our communities, its infrastructure, and its citizenry. The Civil Rights Establishment is an aristocracy (or Afristocracy) of unelected elite Negroes who remain, in perpetuity, unaccountable to their results and the people they claim to serve. Michael "Neo Uncle Tom" Eric Dyson is just one of many Afristocrats who maintain power by attacking dissent against the dictatorship of "blame and beg whitey" activism that only justifies the very behaviors and actions that destroy the lives of Black folks who only seek a full and free existence.

Its horrific to think that this tragedy will garner sentiments of indignation that are minor in comparison to those mustered for the Jena 6 criminals, Sean Bell, and professor Henry "repressed homosexual" Gates. When the time comes to purge the scum from our communities, let us not forget to save our torches for the likes of the NAACP and the National Action Network.

My sister, if you don’t feel safe attending school there, GET THE HECK OUTTA THERE.

Are you referring to the student who was interviewed? Did the article state her/his gender?

A) you're right it doesn't refer to gender. I am assuming it was a woman because its in ESSENCE, but I find it odd that THAT's the only thing you took out of the essay. Wanting to know the gender of the person in fear.

Al From Bay Shore~You are my hero. How beautifully and succinctly you described the pathology that has beset the minds of black folk....applause, applause, applause.

I dropped my daughter off at Spelman two weeks ago, I can't imagine having to pick her up and bring her home in a coffin. My heart is utterly broken for Jasmine Lynn's parents.

Blaming the school is NOT a cop out. Not when it was clearly stated the security is LAX. It could be green, red or purple people on that campus. This doesn't absolve the school at all. They can do background checks on students, expel others and screen people for sure but they need to do something as well. This is another reason why HBCUs are not safe for black women.

It isn't even two weeks into the school year and there has been a murder. I agree that this isn't the school's fault (outside of not having enough security). This is the fault of bad people, which has a population in any school in any town/city.

However, there has been a lot of different stories about the "reason" she was killed on campus, mostly about the stray bullet and her being a passerby. I think the boyfriend theory is most plausible, but, at the end of the day, a life gone is a life gone and it is sad any way it may have happened.

*condolences to my sister and her family*

@ Faith
Sorry my friend but security and law enforcement is NOT designed to be everywhere all the time. The hallmark of a free society is personal responsibility, something that a large cadre of Ghetto culture has purposefully forsaken.

I always find it strange when Black folks pick and choose the moments in which we are identified according to a set of collective interests. When white people are the percieved victimizers, its about Black folks as a monolithic amalgum of victimized. However, when the victimization assumes an intra-racial nature, suddenly people clamor to equivocate the incident as merely crime. In some cases, usually the woefully irrelevant Civil Rights Establishment, folks will go so far as to suggest that "Black on Black victimization" does not exist.

And one more thing....

This is not the first time a promising Black female college student was snuffed out by the Black version of the Ku Klux Klan (AKA the new buckdancing Uncle Toms - some even wear handkerchiefs upon their heads). When this story broke, I immediately thought of Ramona Moore.

" if enough of y’all get ready to bounce, they’ll have a 7 foot high wall up by the end of the week."

Pretty much. As a matter of fact, I'd be willing to bet that with teh media coverage and scrutriny coming from this, thew will start to construct a wall and gates like other AUC schools have.

Many private colleges and not just HBCU's are in the hood. How else can many colleges afford all that space. My college was expensive and very white and still a stones throw away from the projects, there were several robberies my freshman year including my roomate. And bring up background checks no one said that a fellow CAU student pulled the trigger.

I went to a predominately white college and we had security issues as well. It's hard to secure a campus of thousands of people no matter how you cut it. However, what I noticed when reading comments about this from CAU students on various websites, is that some girls complained that their campus security officers spend more time cat calling them than patrolling the campus. Clearly there's room for improvement.

My prayers go to this woman's family. I saw her picture on another site and she looks like a baby. She was so young. Its devastating.

I want to know who the shooter is.

The thing is, the town and gown divide takes on a whole new meaning when the townie is from the SWATS. I have many stories to tell about being harassed and grabbed (assaulted) by those gold-tooth goons. They used to start s- with the students at CAU in particular (who tend to have more of a hood element, but not as much as MoBrown did).

ABS-on point.

Scipio, I remember people fighting the MC & SC fences b/c they didn't want to be "separated from the community" All this while one of the windows from Abby Hall had a bullet hole (yes, I know the wall wouldn't have stopped the bullet). You can't have bitter resentful violent people mixing in with strivers and want success.
****

SC c/o 98

I have a questions for those who say school security isn't to be blamed . Virginia Tech? The parents blamed the school, state and sued. In fact the state handed out a $11 mill settlement.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/18/us/18brfs-SHOOTINGVICT_BRF.html

TaharkahX...love your points!

I attended a HBCU "Tuskegee University" which is a private college in a more rural setting. There we had our share of crime but, much less so than on other campuses including white campuses in large cities.

I am thinking of many of the schools in Atlanta, Georgia Tech for example, or FSU in Tallahassee, or U of F in Gainesville or countless other colleges around the country.

I don't think it is fair to blame crime and the safety of the black female population on HBCU's.

Prayers are with this young lady family.

I went to a private school in the heart of the hood. The school I attend now I notice has an increasing number of black people particularly women. There was some goons present too for obvious reasons... My thought was, I just hope these folks are here to learn and not to collect financial aid checks and hate on those serious about their education.

Some of these girls get to college and want to learn but don't know how to let the thug sensation go. It's like they have to hold on to some hood reputation by having a goon.

Hmm...I think I agree with many of the posts. I teach at a small rural college AND security is always a problem. How do you protect young people who as "new" adults are free to enter and exit a campus as they see fit.

Let's say you require an ID to enter and exit the campus...that does nothing to protect them from the kids with issues who are enrolled and on campus legally.

What is definitely true is that as a parent you have the right to inquire about incidents that have occurred on the campus...and a right to know how they were handled (rapes, assaults, etc.) College campuses are little towns themselves...with just a lot less publicity.

College kids (sorry, my old age coming out) and local non campus kids can become a problem. College kids come and compete for the same part time jobs that the local population also need and then when they interact in clubs around town, they do so without the knowledge of the local history, which can be dangerous. In their own hometowns they know where to go and who to talk to...but in a new setting they can become targets as they move in between the college and surrounding towns.

I'm a parent with two sons in college. I do worry. I teach and I have great students and I worry that they take too many risks. Some Friday mornings, I'll still see the hand stamps from clubs they went to the night before. This poor child who was killed was the victim of someone else's mess brought onto the campus.

I'm a parent of a former Clark graduate as well as future mother in law of a Moorehouse graduate. No college can be completely secure. Things happen all the time everywhere. My daughter used the campus security, the escort system and self protective measures. No incidents. There always enough blame to go around, but few solutions. I don't know the answers. I have a daughter going to Univ. Of Tampa and one that graduated from Boston College. Security will always be an issue, just like it is in highschools and middle schools across the country. Lunacy is colorblind.

Excuse me i do not know what your intended major was but I am a Criminal Justice major and a dear friend of Jasmine who loved the AUC. This situation deeply hurts me but the love I have for my instituion will let me stand by it in this time of need. I am working closely with the administration to do all means nessasary to make AUC a safe place. At the same time a bullet can be stray and it was because Jasmine was not the intended target but believe me GOD makes no mistake and her job on earth was complete and that was to make the AUC one she is one of the females who came from Spellman and was always @ Clark Atlanta, i repeate "GOD MAKES NO MISTAKES". I feel bad for you that you can actually type "i can't even tell you where my undergrad degree came from" that is ashame because when I walk acroos that stage I can proudly say "I am an Alumni @ Clark Atlanta University and Jasmine boo we did it". Before you try and say anything revaluate the situation and ask yourself what can I do to help the coping family and help the AUC instituion be more secure instead of causing flame to fire.

and also if you look @ the video that the quote was taken from it was a young female from morris brown who stated that. SO please dont be ignorant and investigate all facts before making your theory

Speaking of the need for better security while we address the real problem.

Should we choose to get down and serious, the root of the problem, as Al pointed out, is the black cultural acceptance of a "thug element".

Oh, we can advance without addressing it. But the attrition of our best and brightest should not be so determined.

As President of the Planning Unit for the neighborhood in which Spelman is in (NPU-T), I am greatly dismayed by the shooting and the comments following.
I am also the mother of two girls (ages 8 & 5), in which I hope will attend one of these fine institutions.
It is well past time we stop ‘blaming’ for the crime we have surrounding the Atlanta University Center and take action. I can attest that we, NPU-T and Atlanta University have been working very hard to help obtain the security, finances and support needed from Atlanta Police Department, City Council and the Mayor to better our AUC and surrounding communities.
We need the voices, people and support. The support of the community residents, as well as the parents in and out of state to get involved!
This has been the year of ‘Change’. Let’s continue, while we still have momentum.

"At the same time a bullet can be stray and it was because Jasmine was not the intended target but believe me GOD makes no mistake and her job on earth was complete..." -- LOVES CAU

Who is certain of the intended target?

As has already been stated, there really is no such thing as a stray bullet. There are stray minds. One was in operation when the young lady was shot and killed on campus.

I hope we will stop calling the insane actions of irresponsible killers "acts of God" and stop suggesting that, in some way unknown and unknowable to us, God is the cause or source or facilitator or enabler of mindless murder. If we REALLY believed that, we would not seek the killer, punish the killer, or make any changes in campus security.

Why is OK for the death of a young woman to represent the "God makes no mistakes" school of thought? If we knew the killers were KKK or Aryan Nation, would we say the same thing?

If we really believe in God, we should have a reverence for God's goodness that would never connect His will to a senseless murder. WE need to take ownership of what we have turned into and stop laying the blame at the feet of God.

@cau you have to be a pretty cold blooded SOB to place the reputaion of your school above the life of a human being.

First of all you ought to pray that a lightening bolt doesn't burst from the sky and cauterize you eyes shut for trying to Blame god for a man's evil act.

Second of all, free will is alive and well. God didn't make Adam bite from the tree of knowlege if you recall.

Please stop bastardizing religion for such trivial reasons as public relations for a college or university.

My heart goes out to the family of Jasmine; especially her mother. Being a mother myself of a college kid, I can have empathy for her.

I've visited the Clark Atlanta University campus and I question the very security issue that everyone is discussing. I to was concerned that the CAU campus was the only campus intertwined in the community. At my daughter's orientation, I asked the very question that has been addressed.
Why haven' they gated off that back end of the CAU where most of the upperclassmen dorms and the library exist. There next door neighbors are literally the residents in the neighbor. Here is my concern. If they don't do anything. Then parents will begin pulling the kids out of CAU. There are other goood HBCU schools with less news media. Furthermore, if I had to pay $26,000 for my kids to attend this institution I not only expect but I demand that everyway is made available for my childs safety. I think all rational thinking parents feel the same way.

The community will also need to become involved and take their neighborhood back. They need to have numerous neighborhood meetings involving the police as well as city, local and state representatives. Until the community want crime and violence to cease, it will surely remain a part of their lives. The schools(CAU, Spelman, and Morehouse need to work with the community as well. They can participate in the communiy meetings. They can bring certain activities to the neighborhood. For example, the greek organizations can do community service in the neighborhoods and the education department can send tutors into the elementary schools and after school programs to assist the neighborhood kids. Make it a two way street. The neighborhood working along side the university. I'll seen it successful in other cities.

As a staff member in an urban university, I can say that safety concerns are not limited to HBIs. I also can say that most universities do a *horrible* job of being more upfront about their crime statistics and ensuring that students are more safe. And honestly, the public shows little concern for this as well. If it isn't some huge, media-grabbing crime on campus (e.g., the mass shooting at VA Tech) then folks just are not that interested.

It is imperative that we make our colleges safe havens, to whatever extent humanly possible. Our young people should not spend their childhoods following the rules, doing what they are supposed to in order to succeed, only to be gunned down in the streets steps from a campus library.

With all respect, it is not enough to say "get out if you do not feel safe." We should be demanding more accountability from our institutions--especially the premier Black ones. There is a lot more that can be done but no one on college campuses seems willing to do it.

Nia Knowles: Is there a website for your organization? If so, will you post it here or email me through my blog? Thank you!

My prayers go to this baby's family. I am a proud graduate of an HBCU. When I went to JSU, it was open & anyone could come on campus. However, I went back a few years ago & was amazed to find a fence around the entire campus. Even though it was Homecoming it was hard even for alumni to come on campus. That irritated me at the time but I understood. Our children must be safe at not just HBCUs but any school. Today on the news they interviewed a white frshman @ Georgia State Univ. He was held up @ gunpoint this morning near the campus. Throughout this year there have been numerous reports of crimes near the GA Stae & GA Tech campuses. Crime is everywhere unfortunately. Everywhere.

I completely disagree with your view of this situation. Your comments feel very simple and disrespectful tome. If a student like the institution s/he attend as well as pay to be there, s/he is entitled to attend the school of there choose and feel safe! I attended GSU, which is about 2 miles from the AUC. FYI~ similar situations happened there. Unfortunately, these things happen in urban (and sometimes rural) environments. My heart and prayers are with the family, students, and institutions impacted by this tragic.

Rev B.
It's attitudes like yours that get people killed.

So do you advice people to knowingly step in to a dangerous situation just so you can pray for them in the aftermath?.

Only a fool sees danger and walks straight into it. That's why you pray to God for wisdom, so you don't see a ditch in the road and walk straight into it expecting God to save you from your own stupidity.

You have given me a thought, maybe you Rev B have a vested interest in tragedy in the black community.

So you can rush out with your bibles and prayers and 'counsel the bereaved'. Maybe that makes you feel better at night, maybe in these days of people leaving the church, it makes you feel relevant. Maybe that is it, that is your agenda.

We are talking about people being shot in pursuit of education and you have the audacity to state that the tone is disrespectful. Your comment is ridiculous and you should be ashamed of yourself.

The institution means nothing without the people. PEOPLE make the institution and if people are dying in the institution, then they have every right and common sense dictates that they take their money, their belongings and their life to a different institution which appreciates them and their security or they create their own.

Safety of the people (who make the institution) should be paramount and it is the responsibility of the institution to ensure that their precious students are protected to the nth degree.

What you and AL (the 1st commenter) are endorsing is ridiculous, bizarre, naive and damn right stupid.

Does the president wander aroudn unprotected because, people should behave properly and not kill him.

Do you walk down a dark alley in a bad neighbourhood because the community should rally together and ensure there are no 'bad neighbourhoods' it is impossible.

If God, didn't achieve that when he created the Garden of eden?. Evil managed to find it's way in there.

Your words urge us to be complacent, rely on some unrealistic notion of community goodness to preserve ourselves.

Why don't you guys put yourselfs and your lives on the line doing it then?

Gosh I hate hypocrites, especially Pseudo Bible totting ones who put physical structures above life.

Rev B, if you are a real reverence then I suggest your ministry = EPIC FAIL.

Please go back, get back, re-train and come again

Al From Bay Shore,

Have you ever walked on CAU's campus? Have you been on the strip at 2am? Obviously not. I say this because, just as the CAU student mentioned in the Essence article, there are no physical barriers protecting the students on CAU's campus from the drug dealers and crack houses that sit just off campus. The strip is where students from all of the AUC schools congregate. While normally this is a perfectly safe environment, the fact that there are no gates or campus security check points around the area means anyone can enter the campus, student or not. This is a serious safety issue that has nothing to do with anyone from the Black community looking to “blame and beg whitey” for anything. Until we are able to rehabilitate the West End to rid this area of senseless violence, the blame here should be placed on the CAU administration for not taking the basic precautions of providing their students with adequate security. There is no excuse for the school not having a gated campus when both Morehouse and Spelman have had these safety devices for decades. Perhaps when our schools take a proactive interest in the safety of their own students, tragedies such as this will become a less frequent occurrence.

Morehouse Grad

Amen Mr. Morehouse Grad!

For $26,000 a year, you're damn skippy that I want my child to have the best security that this or any institution I send her to can give. CAU has knowledge of their surrounds and it is NO EXCUSE whatsoever that this part of the school is in the open. I am aware that even with gates there is still potential for non students come on the campus but atleast put forth some effort to alleviate crime. People buy guard dogs for their homes. They also get security sytems for their homes. Hey administration! Just pretend it's your own home and that you are protecting one of your own kids. Maybe that will give you an incentive.

Anyone considering attending (or sending their child) to a school to live on campus should visit that campus in advance of registering. If possible, spend a night or two on campus or near campus. Walk around that campus (see it during day and night) and make sure it looks like someplace you want to live.

If you choose a school without doing that, it's like agreeing to lease a house or apt. for four years without having seen the house or apt. and without knowing in advance what the neighborhood looks like. Nobody would do that.

I was a staff member of a residence hall during my college years. I attended a Big Ten university in the midwest. Stuff happened. Generally speaking, however, you must always consider how often crime occurs in an area because that shows what your odds are of becoming a victim.

Also, read the local newspapers (available online) of whatever town you are considering for your college student. College administrations like to keep these things away from the media, but if you notice a lot of crime near a campus area, there is probably a lot of crime on the campus as well.

I have a son who is a freshman at cau. As ridiculous as the attempt by some of you at sounding learned in this blog is, the real concern is the safety of our children. The police department is charged with security of the campus and the protection of the students, staff and faculty. For those of you who are so quick to defend the security efforts of the police department at Clark Atlanta University, I invite you to go to the campus and see for yourselves. Take note of what security is doing. Count the number of cruisers that make regular patrols around the campus. Don't get me wrong, I like the idea of sending my son to CAU, but I believe that despite the strong and rich history of this institution, I have a stronger sense of regret for sending him there. Two recent shootings on campus, regular brawls at every one of the fraternity dances in the multipurpose room and the fact that young teenagers are largely left to fend for themselves. I will allow him to complete the first semester here but will haul ass far away from the Afganistan of Atlanta as soon as his last exam is done!

@ dre: "As ridiculous as the attempt by some of you at sounding learned"

Whatever...

Campus crime is a serious problem. I think most of us are either parents or have been on college campuses. My oldest two are in college. I work on a college campus. I've attended several colleges. Campus crimes are a serious problems. At the HBCU, I attended it was a problem. At the non HBCU's I attended...it was a problem.

I think if most of us (as parents) realized our kid's college campuses were being "shot up", we'd probably pull 'em from the campuses. That's when the change happens. When tuition dollars start walking out of the door, change happens quickly.

Other FREQUENTLY occurring crimes that happen across college campuses that are seldom if ever reported are the occurrence of date rape and domestic violence (date fights).

A lot of this happened on my campus when I was an undergraduate at an HBCU and I just never bothered to mention it to my parents. Now, as a parent with college kids, I have to wonder what my kids haven't bothered to mention to me.

Search for Yale student turns to Conn. landfill :

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32810822/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

Tragic story and my point it only that crime can happen on any college campus.

@tusk You point at all other than to try to deflect legitimate concerns about safety on the the Clark Atlanta Campus. So typical trying to say that these students have no basis to be concerned about clear safety issues on their campus. BTW, If you know anything about YALE, it ain't necessarily what I would consider a fabulously safe neighborhood.

Of course crime happens on other campus. Your point is irrelevant. Virginia Tech and the University of Texas both had mass murders. UT's massacre resulted in the development of SWAT teams.

Nobody is saying crime doesn't happen other places.

That's OR problem, we want to do nothing at all to fix what's right in our faces because we want to make sure we win the fault olympics.

Don't insult our intelligence by coming on here acting as if any commenter who posted doesn't recognize that crime can happen anywhere.

gem2001,

I realize that crime happens everywhere myself but, it seemed that to some they needed to be reminded of that fact is why I posted that story link. With some of the statements that were made turning an issue or instance of crime into only an issue at HBCU's.

I am use to it being a 3rd generation HBCU grad. myself, no apologies from me about the need to point out the obvious.

My intent was not to make excuses but, if there is one thing I know about HBCU's and it's administrations is that with parent and alumni criticism and involvement things change.

I would expect that with in a year or so that fence will be up around campus and that security has already been heighten dramatically.

I don't have much to say because my alma mater, although not perfect, has pretty decent security due to incidents that have happened before I got there. It has its own police department that is also linked to the overall city police department. There are also student escort services every night. The area in which my alma mater is, is usually #1 or #2 (depending on the year) in the country for safety.

This story does, however, makes me think of Delaware State University, which is quite notorious for how unsafe it is. I have a couple distant family members who went there over the past 15-20 years and the amount of people who have been killed there is immense and ridiculous.

Not sure who to blame in any of these incidents, but it needs to stop. I don't care if the perpetrators are enrolled students or ignorant ass folks from the local area, and i don't care if the reasons are simple or complex. It just needs to STOP.