Perhaps one of the most deplorable and disgraceful sights that my eyes constantly behold is the group of young men who gather daily at two certain sites on an anonymous street in Newtown.
What makes these assembled groups so noxious to my eyes is the fact that the vast majority of these African -American men are unemployed due to their own refusal to seek gainful employment. Also, they are evidently encroaching and for the most part a degrading and destructive blight on the Newtown community. How did these young men arrive at their present state of being idle vagrants, many of whom are a part of the drug trafficking element, as well as being vulgar and of the baser sort with criminal intent?
Possibly, my primary reason for addressing this issue in my column today is due to the fact that the intrusive gathering and presence of these good-for-nothing loafers poses a serious threat to the good, law abiding and tax paying citizens who live on this particular street in Newtown. Many of whom are senior citizens who have put their time in and have worked hard and now that they are retired, they certainly deserve to live in peace and tranquility in their neighborhood without the disturbing noise and nuisance that these young, derelicts’ presence provide. In a conversation with one of the senior citizens who is being victimized by the daily gathering and gabbling of these undesirables, I was asked if anything could be done to stop them from meeting and hanging out in the spots where they meet each day. One of these spots just happens to be in proximity of where he and a few more seniors live in front of a house that is vacant and in disrepair.
According to his complaint, besides the fuss and noise that their unwanted presence brings, the spot seems to be a rendezvous for others who show up periodically to peddle their illegal substance.
Though I could not give this senior citizen an answer that would produce a solution to the problem that these intruders have brought to his street and neighborhood, I could not help but wonder what type of family and background that these idle and shiftless young men who refuse to seek gainful employment have.
Somebody is giving them lodging. Somebody is feeding these young men who have become a blight on the Newtown Community, as well as a burden and leech on someone who is obviously allowing them to have lodging and food for free.
Regrettably, many of these young men were raised without having the work ethic instilled within them like most people of my generation. Both of my parents fully embraced and enforced the belief that “if you don’t work, you don’t eat”. In my family, we were not allowed to be lazy and shiftless.
Most of these young men are products of parents, especially mothers and grandmothers, who allowed them to live with them without gainful employment or carrying their load. Then there are the captive, silly women who take the money that they receive from various sources, like welfare for the well-being of their children, and use it to feed and provide accommodations for these lazy rascals.
The presence of these young derelicts, some of whom even boast that this street is theirs, is an infestation and shame, not only to Newtown, but to Dillon County as a whole. It is a shame because the law abiding and tax paying people who live on this street have come under seize and the quality of their lives, as well as their tranquility is being diminished by these young loafers and thugs.
I appeal to those who are in civic authority and law enforcement – the County Council, as well as to both the Police Department and Sheriff’s Department – all of which I greatly respect, to please do something to remedy and remove this ugly blight from this street.
I can well remember when this street was one of the best and most well-kept streets in Newtown. It was upon this street that I attended church each week when I was growing up and the very spots where the gangs of young me now gather were the showcase sites with nice houses. This human vermin is not going to leave voluntarily. Like roaches, mice, and other pests, this infestation must be exterminated by the only people who possess the legal authority and manpower to do the job. These words of Edmund Burke are very suitable to both our discussion and its conclusion: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”