The Bahamas has lost roughly twelve hundred young black men in the last ten years due to black-on-black violence.  It is that type of crime through violence, or when a homicide occurs often at the point of a gun or a knife, when one black man kills another of the same colour.

There is a very low premium on the sanctity of life in heartland communities, especially in New Providence as many young men do not expect to live to an old age.  A large number of these men who are miseducated and lack proper socialization, have been left behind in development by young Bahamian women who are upwardly mobile.

We listened to a commentary on a social media platform recently making the following remarks: “When you hear about a shooting on television in The Bahamas, what face do you immediately picture?   It’s not Chinese, Indian or Greek.  The harsh reality is that while others are building wealth, black men are busy eliminating each other with surgical precision that no Colonial power could have executed better.  We are witnessing a gender revolution borne from male self-destruction.

“Women are just not leading companies, they are running entire industries, because too many men are choosing cemetery plots over corner offices.  They are not taking up positions, they are filling the vacuum we leave behind.  The most chilling part, black men have been psychologically programmed to see other black men as their greatest enemies. They will murder each other over a three second eye contact, while foreigners quietly build economic empires in their neighbourhoods. They will destroy potential business partners over perceived disrespect, while women collaborate to create generational wealth.

“The graveyard doesn’t lie.  Open the obituary section (of newspapers).  It’s a photographic exhibition of male faces, most under 30, most killed by someone who looks exactly like them.  This is not random violence, it’s a calculated psychological operation where the targets have been convinced to eliminate themselves.  Women are not succeeding because of some agenda; they are succeeding because they are not engaged in mutual extermination.  They are building, while men are destroying.  They are investing while men are fighting.  They have mastered cooperation, while men perfect annihilation.  The cemetery is full of men who died over nothing, while women inherit everything,” said the opinion.

Writing on Masculinity in The Bahamas, Ian Bennett an educator said: “Black men are fed a diet of images from popular culture that show black masculinity as bling-focused and violent, as well as cash-rich.  They see that males are defined through women, sex, wealth and toughness but not through education, knowledge and good behaviour.  The Caribbean, and particularly The Bahamas, has become a site where young, black males are excluded and so begin to react against this.  Social exclusion is also based on their ethnicity.  The system tells young men that they must behave a certain way and have the money to be able to enter that space legally.  Meanwhile, a great many of the male role models they see around them perform the same kind of masculinity they are told is not for them because they are not of that social group.  Politicians and rich tycoons behave badly in public and boast about beating women.  What other examples do these young men see?” asked Bennett.

Having described the problem, there is no doubt that State authorities and the moralizing and socializing institutions have failed young Bahamian men.  We must find solutions.  While many organizations over the decades have placed emphasis on empowering women, even with the creation of a Women’s desk in the Ministry of Social Services, scant attention has been paid to the development of young men in a wholesome way.  The Gentleman’s Club has aimed at a certain group of boys who are academically strong, but more must be done to capture at risk young men in the community who in many instances are falling through the cracks and who are not taking full advantage of the system of education in the country that has produced many outstanding citizens.

Organizations such as The Boys Brigade, Boys Scouts and other church groups like Pathfinders must redouble their efforts with the determined support of the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture to focus on modalities to curb the high level of violence in the society.

Over the years, we have supported the Urban Renewal programme which was developed during the Christie administration after the 2012 general elections.  It achieved many successes and was headed in the right direction, including the establishment of marching bands in many communities.  However, it floundered in the Minnis administration with many programmes discontinued. The current Davis administration, while apparently well intentioned with the appointment of a new leadership team in Urban Renewal and the establishment of legislation for its institutionalization, must put the necessary funding in place to ensure the proper administration and for effective outcomes.

We are losing too many of our young citizens who are either in their early graves or are warehoused in Prison.

We need peace.  It can come about from the adherence to the objective of the Boys Brigade which is “the promotion of Christ’s principle among boys and the adoption of values such as honesty, self-discipline, respect and all that tends toward true Christian manliness.”