Leonard Pitts Jr., columnist of “Murder is the greatest injustice of all,” preaches that murder is one of the main causes of death among the young African-American community. The repetition of “this is how we die” serves as the foundation for educating young African-American males who murder-whether with fist or with weapon- and helping them realize that their actions are causing “us” to deplete at a gradual pace.

“We,” meaning the African-American community, have turned our backs on this plague of ignorance known as “black on black” crime. We’re giving the younger generation the impression that it’s okay to kill your “brotha” because it’s life. “We” are starting to lose respect for our color. We do not see “us” as we should but how the nation saw us long ago: “cheap and lacking in worth.” The repetition of “shot” shows we die mostly from gun-shots but have not taken heed to the cry for help “we” have sounded.

Do “we” not care about the uprooting of a family or about a child growing up fatherless with no father figure in their life? Do “we” not care about having our communities referred to as the “ghetto” or the “projects”? Do we not care about being degraded? We should, because as a race, it is up to us to fight ignorance in our communities and put an end to our hostile reputation. We know the story; we know the result. Yet we still do nothing about it? We should become that “one” to make a difference for well-being of all, not just the African-American community. Let us be a beacon of hope so that one day, we can stop this ignorance and regain our respect for ourselves and our community.