The Death of Derrion Albert

When I heard about the beating death of Derrion Albert - an honor roll student with his eyes on college, who stayed out of trouble - I was saddened that we as African Americans would do this to ourselves and have such blatant disregard for the life of others. Let me stop here and say, that after having traveled to Africa, China and Europe and having done some studying of various genocides around the globe, the underlying root issue of violence is not skin color - but the faulty condition of the human heart and mind which frames and contextualizes our daily circumstances to promote ourselves at the expense - and even detriment of another. I need to make this distinction, because there are those who believe that black people are simply savages. This couldn’t be further from the truth as the issue is that under certain conditions, people have a tendency to act savagely.

When the Story Broke

But even as the story broke, there were conflicting viewpoints about what actually happened, so I decided to wait a few days to see what remained. Was Derrion killed because he wouldn’t join a gang? Was he killed while trying to help a friend? Even more important than these questions is the fact that beyond outrage, this type of tragic event causes fears in the hearts and minds of thousands. The problem of violence among youth in our urban neighborhoods seems so entrenched and far-reaching. The problem of black on black crime (and crime-period) seems so large that many of us feel powerless to stop it… or at least curtail it. The problem of young people choosing the streets instead of the halls of education seems so unrelenting. What are we to do?

Reflection…

As I reflected on the loss of yet another young person, who wasn’t out partying at 2am when a fight broke out, a sobering thought came to mind: "The consequences of doing what’s right may cost you your life. But the consequences of doing what’s wrong will cost you your life." There will be people who don’t like the fact that you are trying to do something positive with your life. So do you stop doing what’s right? There are those who will attack you while you try to help someone else. So do you not help someone else in need? Is the consequence of loosing our life, too high a price to be paid for doing good?

We all have to die at some point - but how do we die? How will we give our life in our last moments? Will we be about doing good for the benefit of others or will we be about doing bad for our own greedy intentions? Some will think that neither matters, since death comes to us all. "Get all you can, while you can" is the personal code of some. If there’s nothing after this life, but oblivion, then perhaps that’s a way to live. But if there is life after death and the quality of that life is based on the character of our existence on earth - then how we live means everything.

You may be asking, "Why even bring up the issue of life and death? What does that have to do with anything?" My answer is that it has everything to do with everything because life-and-death are the two overarching and interconnected realities of all of our existence. Life and death are the only two events in the lives of every human being that has ever and will ever exist - that has nothing to do with the amount of money we have, where we live, who our parents are, the color of our skin and all the other ways we try to determine status amongst ourselves. None of us asked to be born. All of us have to die.

So what does our life mean in light of this truth? It’s so easy to get caught up in the daily drama of our lives that we focus only on merely surviving at all costs. And when we focus on survival at all costs, the virtues of our God-given humanity - like love, kindness, generosity - are the first things to be jettisoned in favor of a tough exterior which we feel is necessary to weather the storms that we face in life.

What do we do?

I wasn’t at the beating that resulted in Derrion’s death. In the moment, I would like to think that I would have intervened, but perhaps the fear would have been more than I could have handled. All of us, when faced with crisis, think about (even for a second) what kind of consequence we face by getting involved. Even so, in the video, there were many bystanders who looked on and didn’t unite in order to help Derrion until it seemed to be too late.

It was a tragedy that happened, but this raises the issue that we all have to deal with as we face a reality that seems insurmountable. What can we do to make a difference? If we, as bystanders would unite and work together in a time of crisis, then perhaps we could save a life from the terror of a handful of bullies. One person can make a difference as others individuals unite to form a collective. A single drop of water doesn’t do much. But a continual dripping can begin to wear away rock. And a tidal wave (a collective of individual water drops) can move massive structures and extremely heavy objects.

Am I my brother’s keeper?

When do I stop thinking that ‘it’s not my problem’? Is it when we have become the new targets? When we are the ones being beaten, will we then look for bystanders to come to our aid instead of videotaping, shouting, laughing and running away? When will we stand together to help break this cycle of violence to free, not only the Derrion’s of life, but also the ones who hit him with the plank and stomped him while he was lying on the concrete. Those who inflict terror on our streets and make it virtually impossible for people to walk without fear of attack need freedom too. We all need to be freed from this cycle: the bullies, the bullied, the bystanders, the community, educators, law enforcement, politicians, religious leaders, and all others. This is not God’s will for any of us. Life is too precious.

May God comfort Derrion Albert’s family and help empower us to find a way to stand up and root out injustice - personally, in the public arena, political institutions, and in the very fabric of our society.

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Filed under: Risks and Opportunities

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