Cutbacks in government spending on libraries and after-school programs are to blame for the flash mobs of black teenagers converging on the streets of Philadelphia in predominantly white business districts, according to the director of a major youth advocacy group,

Shelly Yanoff, of Public Citizens for Children and Youth, said spending reductions have led to this youthful restlessness, which includes the game of “Catch and Wreck” in which children as young as eleven target street people to pummel and rob. The word is spread through text messaging and mobs converge in Center City. In a mob last Sunday, teenagers chanted “black boys” and “burn the city,” according to the New York Times.

If more libraries were open and there hadn’t been dramatic cutbacks in youth violence prevention programs, these teenagers might be sitting quietly reading Mark Twain. The city’s black mayor disagrees.

According to the Times, a senior editor at Harpers is “credited” with introducing the idea of a flash mob.

Janet writes:

As a black person, Yanoff’s remarks disgust me. They don’t have enough library time?? Hogwash!! Until we in the black community deal with pathologies that ravage our communities and the fact that we are the reason for the madness, this will continue. While I know there are many who believe that blacks are more prone to illicit behavior, that we are simply morally inferior, I refuse to buy that premise. It makes God a liar and I will not be party to it. 

The problem is godlessness and the decimation of the black family due to our bad choices and our willingness to sell our souls (not to mention our votes) in exchange for the promise of economic security in the form of unearned entitlements. Not all black people participate in this farce in terms of fleecing the taxpayers (my family certainly doesn’t, and my family of origin didn’t either). In fact, most don’t. Unfortunately, most of those who have not accepted the handouts have bought in to the political pandering, helping to solidify the grip of those commited to a collectivist agenda. I have wearied of trying to get my friends and family members to look around and see that decades of liberal Democrat leadership in the urban areas of this country have wrought disastrous results.

Elizabeth Wright writes:

As a black, I’d like to add my indignation to Janet’s. The remarks of Yanoff and others like her are horrifying, since the children in that city hear these excuses being made for them by adults, the very people who should be demanding better behavior from them. It’s clear that such children are bereft of home supervision. So, who else are they to turn to, if other adults offer nothing more than the craven rationalizations made by Yanoff? God help us.

 Rita writes:

Instead of lecturing food manufacturing companies (and I suspect food manufacturing is something she knows little about), Mrs Obama could use her status to lecture, advise, cajole and appeal to her people on better ways to live. She won’t do that of course because if the black community became more self-supporting and felt less entitled, her husband and his ilk would be out of jobs.

I respect Elizabeth, Janet and others who stand for what is right. I’m sure it takes a lot of courage in this day and age. God Bless you.

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