I am neither a conspiracy theorist nor someone who uses hyperbole to convey my thesis, but in America, sometimes Black boys don’t come home! This is the grim reality Black parents, especially Black Mothers, refuse to accept, but understand exists. My Grandmother told me that she would spend the night praying whenever any of her seven sons ventured into the Jim Crow darkness in search of a good time. As a teenager, I am not able to recall how many late nights I walked into our home to find my mother reading the King James Bible and humming “Blessed Assurance.” Since I was the youngest of four sons, God only knows how many nights my mother had performed this ritual of protection. My grandmother and mother believed divine intervention was necessary to protect their sons, because they understood one simple fact about America: Sometimes black boys don’t come home!
The specter of death and imprisonment hovers above the heads of Black boys like smoke above fire because of how they are perceived in America. Our nation has never granted Black boys with the proverbial boy next door status, which would allow Black boys to exist briefly in a world of childhood and adolescent innocence. Instead, Black boys are born into a world that views their smiles as a deception; their laughter as a threat; and their anger and frustration as a prelude to violence. In this type of world, there are no safe places or innocuous encounters for Black boys. Schools, parks and even their own neighborhoods have become potential minefields in which educators, police, and all too often, other Black boys have become their enemies. Under these conditions, is it surprising that sometimes Black boys don’t come home?
As I stated earlier, I do not ascribe to conspiracy theories or use hyperbole to make a point, but analyzing American statistics leads to conclusions which seem fraught with conspiracy and hyperbole. According to the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights and The Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Black boys rank first in out of school suspensions and death by homicide. Therefore, I must ask the following question: does America care about the plight of Black boys? This is not a Black problem; this is an American problem. No longer can this discussion be confined to Black churches and Black barbershops. Just as America took the moral high ground in the war against the human trafficking of children and the bullying of LBGTQ teens, it must also fight for the protection of Black boys. America must find a solution to why it is that sometimes Black boys don’t come home!
There are many well-meaning Americans from various faiths and races that believe it is simply who Black boys are, which is at the epicenter of the challenges they face. The belief is that Black boys should strive to create an image more acceptable and palatable to mainstream society. If Black boys wore shirts and ties, only spoke the Queen’s English and listened to more Beethoven or Beatles and less Jay Z or Lil Wayne, they would be immune to certain societal biases, which lead to violent misunderstandings. This theory is simultaneously humorous and sad. I laugh at this idea because it ignores the true source of the problem, racism, but I also cry because the solution is rooted in blaming the victim. A Black boy’s clothing choice, use of the English language or musical taste does not alter his racial identity. It is not about the who; it is about the hue! And because of their hue, sometimes Black boys don’t come home!
I wonder if America will ever understand the fear and sense of powerlessness Black parents feel every time their Black sons leave home. Once their Black sons cross that threshold, Black parents know their sons enter a society that seems to have little to no regard for the dignity and humanity of Black boys. As an adult, I realized that my grandmother and mother’s prayers were for their own peace of mind as much as they were for their sons’ protection. I would like to believe that those prayers were the reason for my survival through childhood and adolescence, but I am sure that the mothers of Emmett Till, Yusuf Hawkins, Blair Holt, Trayvon Martin, Jordan Davis, Jermal Hawkins, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Demario Bailey, The Scottsboro Boys and Central Park Five were trusting God to watch over their sons with the same amount of faith as my mother had trusted God to watch over me. Unfortunately, until America lets go of its irrational fear of Black boys and begins to value the lives of Black boys, nothing can guarantee the safety of a Black parent’s son in our country. Therefore, no one should be shocked that sometimes, Black boys don’t come home!
–Samuel E. Adams is a freelance writer and educator who lives in Chicago.
