Fenger High School: Violence Runs Deeper Than We Think

We need to look deeper at the problem of violence that infects our culture. Where do kids learn violence? From adults. The American justice system is by punishment: punitive justice. Punitive justice seeks revenge - best example is capital punishment. The message we are giving is that if someone harms you, you harm them back. We need to transform our understanding of justice so that it is not based on punishment, but on reconciliation. We need restorative justice. Until then, violence and revenge will plague our culture. Revenge leads to revenge. Violence to violence. http://www.ravenfoundation.org/

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• adam
• ericksen
• mimetic
• theory
• Derrion
• Albert
• fenger
• high
• school
• violence
• revenge
• justice
• reconciliation

[ChicagoJoe57]

Great video! I appreciate the fact that you used logic to justify your beliefs, unlike Glenn Beck whose commentary was a factual waste of bandwidth. I study gangs, primarily white gangs. I took a poll and 85 percent of all ex members joined a gang because they were picked on. That kind of proves your point about learned behavior.

[raventelevision]

@ChicagoJoe57 Thanks for the comment! And for the info about the poll. That's very intersting.

[razzusmc]

appreciate your thoughts but apparently the white people are to blame . keep talking but look at the other utube comments and videos and we are to blame. keep talking and then say sorry.

[raventelevision]

Thanks for this comment. I understand your concern with the video. My intention was not to blame, or scapegoat, white people for violence, but to place the responsibility for our violent cutlure on all of us. Many comments want to blame black culture, but violence infects white culture, too. My concern is that I think our cultural idea of justice is associated with punishment as opposed to reconciliation. Punishment leads to a spirit of revenge that permeates our culture. Is there another way?

[ChicagoJoe57]

Another thing: I have found that Whites who live in the same violent conditions as Blacks and Latinos react in simuliar ways.

[danthropomorph]

Hey Seanhatesyou2 -- the restorative justice process, to a large extent, is owned by the parties in conflict. In many cases it's the victims and offenders together, supported and constrained by members of their communities, who determine what needs to happen to make things right between them. Your point is well taken about its complexity b/c many times it's paired with retributive justice as an add-on, which really complicates things for everyone.

[Major2219]

Nice Video!

~Blessings~

[raventelevision]

I think "Ultimate Fighting" is good evidence to my point. Our culture loves violence-so much that we are willing to pay people to see them inflict it upon one another. Ur right, for us to feel good about our love of violence, we expect them to shake hands. But the cultural love of violence infects all of us in a way we can't control. (Do you think the handshake is sincere?) Until there is a radical transformation of our culture, we can continue to expect these types of events to occur.

[raventelevision]

All good points. The problem I have is that everyone thinks their violence is good and meaningful. The people labelled "bad" justify their use of violence in the same way others do. The point about violence being uncontrollable is that violence is imitative. Physical, verbal, emotional - violence is imitative and produces in us a spirit of violence when we see it.

[timmyp34]

You say that we use violence to protect ourselves from violence soon after stating that violence is meaningless. If something protected me from violence, I might tend to think it had meaning;i.e., violence is not meaningless, by your own words. Violence can not be controlled? But it is common for boxers, wrestlers, even "ultimate fighters", to shake hands or congratulate each other soon after a match. I think that is evidence against your point.