The recent presidential debate was an interesting event. I respect the preparation of Hillary Clinton, and I am intrigued by the intellect of Donald Trump.

Donald Trump proposed the idea of resurrecting ‘Stop-and-Frisk’. In my opinion, ‘Stop-and-Frisk’ is an authorized way to discriminate against Black and Latino men based on their appearance. The numbers behind ‘Stop-and-Frisk’ prove it to be unsuccessful. The police force is not trained intensely on racial issues, so they don’t have the ability  to judge a potential criminal from an innocent civilian.

Both candidates also referred to gangs as being a huge problem in inner cities. That is a current fact that I will not fight. But, why are gangs such a problem? A theory that has grown on me is that gangs were infiltrated and destroyed by government officials because they were becoming too powerful. This infiltration led to unorganized groups of impoverished men with power. The power was used to obtain means to survive.  Originally, all of the Chicago gangs were built to protect their neighborhoods from competing neighborhoods and, most importantly, police brutality and injustice. Gangs built community among members.

A well noted/feared “gang” who was infiltrated was the Black Panther Party. The Black Panther Party was created by college students who saw a need to improve inner city neighborhoods. The Black Panther Party offered many resources and programs to inner cities such as Black Student Alliance, Community Pantry (Free Food Program), Drug/Alcohol Abuse Awareness Program, Drama Classes, Disabled Persons Services/Transportation and Attendant, Drill Team, Employment Referral Service, Free Ambulance Program, Free Clothing Program, Free Dental Program, Nutrition Classes, Oakland Community Learning Center, Police patrols, Pediatric Clinics, and WIC (Women Infants, and Children) Program. These programs ran between the years of 1966-1982 according to Stanford University.

I am not claiming that the members of gangs or the Black Panther Party are all perfect. I am simply stating that these groups of black individuals were built on purpose. Their purpose challenged the norms, values and beliefs of the world they lived in, leading fear to take over the nation instead of concern for fellow human beings. Fear of change by the Black Panther Party led to noted covert infiltration by an FBI program started in the 1960’s.

The thought of gangs is also associated with drugs and guns. Personally, when I think critically on both drugs and guns I wonder: where are gang members getting automatic weapons, the capital and connections to support drug businesses? A majority of the individuals who are able to access these weapons and drugs can not access holistic food. Drugs are pushed into impoverished neighborhoods by powerful entities. Drugs are a business that requires money in order to make an actual profit. People within impoverished neighborhoods do not usually have the means or connections to have drugs transported. Drugs are planted in impoverished neighborhoods for profit.

William Kingdon Clifford introduces what in my opinion is a great principle in his work “The Ethics of Belief.” This principle states, “It is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence” (p 405).

Clifford’s principle leads individuals to critically think and build beliefs upon actual evidence. If followed, Clifford’s principle would innovate thought and growth among society. It encourages scholarship, and would produce a successful nation.

For example, a successful civilization who promoted scholarship is noted by John Henrik Clarke in his book “Christopher Columbus and the Afrikan Holocaust: Slavery and the Rise of European Capitalism” he references the great black leader of Timbuktu Askia the Great. Clarke writes, “The German writer, Henry Barth, in his famous work, Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa (1857) calls Askia the Great ‘one of the most brilliant and enlightened administrators of all times (667).’ He reorganized the army of Songhai, improved the system of banking and credit, and made the city-states of Gao Walata, Timbuktu and Jenne into intellectual centers (42).”

Timbuktu is noted as having many judges, doctors, and clerics who were paid by the king (42). Alexander Chamberlin notes that Askia has been “hailed as one of the wisest monarchs of the Middle Ages” in his  book “The contribution of the Negro to Human Civilization” written in 1911. Chamberlin notes “In personal character, in administrative ability, in devotion to the welfare of his subjects, in open-mindedness towards foreign influences, and in wisdom in the adoption of enlightened ideas and institutions from abroad, King Askia was certainly the equal of the average European monarch of the times and superior to many of them” (489). Timbuktu was settled in the 12th century.