Sean Taylor

Sean Taylor died this morning. The second NFL defensive secondary player to die this year by gunfire (Darrent Williams being the other back in January).

Sticking to the number, Sean had little impact on the fantasy world. In leagues with IDP's, I doubt he was played, much less owned. Only participating in 9 games this year, he amass 5 interceptions and one fumble recover to go along with 42 tackles. When on the field he played well, his five interceptions were tied for the NFC lead, yet that all seems insignificant now.

I don't want to get into too much social commentary here but the fact remains that there are some pretty fucked up places and situations in this world. Whatever evidence ends up coming out about how he died, the incontrovertible truth is that another young black man died senselessly before his time.

In 2005, 269 individuals were homicide victims in Baltimore City. In 2006 that number rose to at least 272. Considering the city is primary black, especially in the areas with high concentrations of violence, that's basically a black person getting killed once every 36 hours. Additionally, Miami's homicide count for 2003 was 74 - two and a half times the national average. Miami is about half the size of Baltimore for comparison. The point is that crime in America's cities has reached epidemic levels claiming the lives of countless people, innocent and not.

Not to minimize the lose of Sean in any way, but how many other possible pro athletes, musicians, artist, writers and doctors have we lost, do we lose, on a daily basis at the hands of violence on our city streets? How much more potential will be snuffed out by a hand gripping a 9mm? How long will suburbanites living their relatively secluded lives ignore the problems across the tracks? What's happening to America's black youth is nothing short of tragic. Perpetuated by a culture that glorifies the violent activities that should be shunned and put down, black society is quickly turning on itself, self destructing with no one willing to take a stand for what's right. Gangs, guns and drugs rule the streets of impoverished inner city neighborhoods. There is no law except their law, no justice other than what they perceive to be right according to the code of the street.

Politicians and law maker promise every year in Baltimore City to reduce the murder rate and make the streets safer, but every year the homicide rate increase, the poor continue their decent into abject poverty and the gangs take over more and more territory, recruiting young and impressionable kids who feel thug life is their only way out. For every one success story, there are a hundred failures. You'd think City officials would look to improve schools, install programs to discourage youth enrollment in gang elements, help the impoverished earn a living wage and increase the police presence to squash further gang activity. Instead, they choose to maintain the status quo citing budgetary restrictions - nothing changes and nothing improves. How much is the next generation worth? Apparently, in their eyes, not enough to actually shell out some cash.

So what will come out of this microcosm we have in the form of Sean Taylor? Maybe awareness with be raised, maybe the local Miami city government will make some concessions, addressing the city's crime problem. But, if they're anything like Baltimore, I doubt it. As much as I hate to say it, maybe Kayne was right. But instead of just George Bush not caring about black people, I think it's more accurately all politicians - black, white, other or both. These are the people who should be fighting for the downtrodden, the little guy, the people who lacks the ability to represent themselves. But today's political scene isn't conducive to it. The poor inner city black vote is an important one to have, but one government leaders are unwilling to work for. The traditional inner city democratic voting line has hand cuffed the black poor and silenced their voice. No one's going to pay for it if you give it away for free.

I wish I could recommend some person or party they could vote for - a representative for their needs and an unrelenting fighter for justice - but there is none. The Republicans would take their vote and run with, just like the Democrats do. The truth is, no one in a position of power is looking out for their interests. So what do they do?

Sean's shooting is simply further evidence of the state of unrest in our cities. I used a lot of Baltimore references because that's what I know. It's were I live. But this truly is a national epidemic. The question then becomes, how many more NFL players, fathers, sons and brothers have to die before something is done? I guarantee Sean won't be the last. There may be a war going on in Iraq, but a bigger war takes place on the streets of every major American city everyday.