Uncle of murder victim speaks out regarding local crime

To the Editor:

My heart is heavy right now, as I have just learned that my nephew, Vincent Harrison, was tragically gunned down in a Blytheville, Arkansas park while playing basketball. I know many family members will have a biased opinion and have you believe that their lost family member was an angel and an upstanding citizen. The truth is that many times that is not the case. Vincent Harrison, my nephew, was just about as good a kid as they come! I can unequivocally say that he was a very respectable young man, full of dreams, full of ambition, and full of hope. Those dreams were tragically taken away by bullets from another young black boy's gun. And maybe the saddest part of the whole situation is that these shootings have become so common-place that we are immune when even hearing about another young black boy being gunned down by his own kind.

As my cousin Dana so eloquently pointed out, we as a people are quick to rally around the cause when it's a white cop shooting an unarmed black man, or a white, wannabe cop, shooting a black teen for wearing a hoodie,or white cops choking out a black man for selling cigarettes. But I ask, where is the same outrage from black-on-black crime? Isn't it far worse to kill off your own species? Our kids, Your kids, have NO respect or value for life, NO respect for themselves, NO respect for their parents, NO respect for the older generation,they simply have NO respect! It saddens me when I see a young black kid being arrested after shooting another young black kid, and ultimately he says that the victim 'disrespected' him. SERIOUSLY, how can someone disrespect you when you don't even have respect for yourself?

I am saddened for my sister Jamie, who has lost her only son. I am saddened for my Mother, who has lost her Grandson. I am saddened for myself and my family members who loved Vincent and knew what a kind and gentle soul he was. I am saddened for Vincent,who will not get to see his hopes, dreams and ambitions come to fruition. I am saddened for our community, which has become so sanitized with black-on-black violence that when a young black boy is gunned down in a park playing basketball, there isn't even outrage!

My family and friends will mourn Vincent and always remember what a fine young man he was. We will remember the good times and all the unrealized possibilities that were taken away by a coward's bullet. No doubt, a young black boy who thought he had been disrespected. W.E.B. Dubois stated, "Now is the accepted time,not tomorrow, not some more convenient season. It is today that our best work can be done and not some future day or future year. It is today that we fit ourselves for the greater usefulness of tomorrow. Today is the seed time, now are the hours of work, and tomorrow comes the harvest and the playtime" The work has to start at home! Parents, I urge you to get control of your children and stop letting the streets teach them their morals and values!

Each man's death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee

Thanks for even taking the time to read my rant!

Vincent Jordan