Herbert writes powerfully about the recent tragedy in Newark and the broader implications.  The only things I'd add are:

 

1) Cory Booker deserves less than zero blame for this.  The depravity that festered in Newark under Sharpe James, which infected every part of the city, cannot be overstated.  For example, when promotions in the police department were based on loyalty and donations to the James political machine, is it any surprise that crime spiraled out of control?  Though he's making enormous strides -- other than murders, major crime is down nearly 30% this year, for instance -- nobody could fix the mess resulting from two decades of James's regime in one year.

 

2) Herbert correctly mentions "better schools" as part of the solution, but I think this deserves more emphasis.  Consider these awful statistics:

• •82% of America's prisoners are high school dropouts
• •80% of prison inmates are functionally illiterate
• •52% of African-American men who fail to finish high school end up in prison at some point in their lives

Knowing nothing about the three people arrested for the Newark murders, I'd bet a lot of money that all attended failing public schools from kindergarten onward and that none graduated from high school.

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August 11, 2007

Op-Ed Columnist

A Bloodbath in Newark, and Beyond

By BOB HERBERT

http://select.nytimes.com/2007/08/11/opinion/11herbert.html

NEWARK

Cory Booker seemed tired, beleaguered, bewildered.

The young mayor had been on the run with very little sleep for several days. Now, during a break in a private room at City Hall here, he leaned forward in his chair and said, “There is something going on in our country that people are not, for some reason, awake to.”

He then mentioned what he described as a “poignant” meeting he’d had with a top official of the F.B.I. “I asked him, ‘What is the solution to this problem?’ ” said Mr. Booker. “And he said to me, ‘It’s not law enforcement.’ ”

The mayor was talking about the violent crime that, like a dragon from some Medieval fairy tale, continues to devour the lives of young Americans, especially those in poor black and brown neighborhoods. This is a tale with no happy ending in sight.