Lessons From Derrion Albert’s Murder

Much has been written about the death of Derrion Albert, a teenager caught in the middle of a fight who became the target of the crowd’s wrath.

Television, the internet, and radio have already dedicated coverage to the story, but there are conclusions to be drawn from the incident that I feel have not been explored.

(1) Surveillance society is real. It used to be that you could be relatively secure that your business was your business; only selected people knew about your activities. Those days are gone. Regardless of your location, you are likely to be taped without your knowledge. Parts of Albert’s beating were recorded on a cell phone and posted to Youtube, and was used to identify some of the assailants.

(2) Education advocates should be concerned. This attack happened near Christian Fenger Academy High School in Chicago, a school that has had problems for years, and all the assailants attended Fenger. 

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and President Obama hope to make a major overhaul of public education, using their hometown Chicago as a model. Duncan has no experience as an educator and is more of a corporate styled manager. Some of these “innovations” include military programs, charter schools, and closing existing schools. Given the situation at Fenger, can we have confidence in Duncan’s vision for schools?

(3) Similarly, is now the right time for President Obama to lobby for the 2016 Olympics to be held in Chicago? Considering the epidemic levels of violence in Chicago, will this incident give the IOC confidence that participants and visitors will be safe? Like his decision to comment on the Henry Louis Gates situation, this can be held up by his critics as an example of Obama’s questionable priorities.

(4) Black people must stop demanding allegiance to niggativity! Once upon a time, the African-American narrative was one of uplift and constantly striving to improve our lives. Now, when you don’t fit it with the media-driven definition of stereotypical Authentic Blackness, you are ostracized.

I’ve always said “black is black, unless you’re different.” It is not surprising to learn that as an honor student, Albert had “a different attitude” that made his peers jealous.

Showing interest in education means you want to be white. Not wanting to associate with the baser elements of the hood makes you a bourgie sellout. Expressing emotions other than anger is seen as being “soft.” (That is one reason contemporary black music is devoid of humanity.) Being gay or bisexual is out of the question for “real” black people.

We need to do better. I understand that American society has raised violence and ignorance to an artform via blood-soaked video games, formulaic television shows and films, the thirst for blood and “big hits” in sports ranging from basketball to football to hockey to MMA, and people catapulted to celebrity status or political office on the strength of their ability to act outrageously. But most black people are not capable of indulging in ignorance with the same lack of consequences as whites. That was true during Reconstruction, and it remains so today.

We need an infusion of hope, a spiritual and mental (r)evolution! One look at the cold, hard eyes in the mug shots of the kids who attacked Albert shows they had no hope. And without hope, there is very little chance of people conducting themselves in a positive manner.