Exceptions To Every Rule

Like most people, I have my prejudices.  I am a firm believer that, all things being equal or even a little skewed, children that are obviously black or children with African ancestry should be raised with an appreciation for the black community.  I believe that most white people are not familiar enough with the inherit problems of growing up black in America.  Most white people wouldn’t spend five minutes out of a week immersed in black culture with a few exceptions like music, comedy, and little else of substance.

The converse is very different.  Black people are automatically raised with an appreciation for the dominant community.  It is unavoidable.  It is the dominant community that holds the vast majority of the jobs.  It is the dominant community that controls the government and all sources of media.  It is the dominant community that controls so much of America.  You can’t turn on a television, walk by a magazine stand, or do much of anything else without seeing the influence of dominant America.  It is pretty difficult for black people to ignore the white community.

Therefore, in order for the black community to gain the type of compassion from the dominant community that it readily bestows on its own institutions, I feel that the more black people who grow up in the black community, the better chances we will have changing the issues effecting the black community.  Black kids should be raised by black people.  But this morning, I am reminded that there are always exceptions to any rule.

This morning, a little obviously black girl’s life may be in danger and there is a very good chance that she may have already been murdered, because her white father gave up his rights to custody and released her to her black mother.  Five year old Shaniya Davis is the daughter of a white man and a black woman, the product of a one night stand.  Her father, Bradley Lockhart, said that he has been raising his daughter for several years and recently decided to let her stay with her mother, Antoinette Nicole Davis.  Mr. Lockhart said that Ms. Davis struggled to make ends meet for years to make ends meet.  But the woman had recently obtained a job and a place of her own and decided to give her a chance to raise their daughter.  That was about a month ago.

Last week Ms. Davis called authorities in Fayetteville, North Carolina and reported that little Shaniya was missing.  Authorities began searching nearby wooded areas.  Ms. Davis’ current boyfriend was initially charged in the kidnapping.  But the charges were later dropped and he was released.

When the story made the local news, a hotel worker remembered seeing a child matching Shaniya’s description at a hotel about forty miles away in Sanford, North Carolina.  Investigators reviewed the hotel’s surveillance video and confirmed that the child was actually Shaniya.  The video showed Mario Andrette McNeill carrying Shaniya into a hotel room.  He has been arrested and charged with the little girl’s kidnapping.  McNeill admitted to taking the girl, though his attorney says he will plead not guilty to the charge.

Since then, authorities have arrested the mother.  Fayetteville police say Ms. Davis faces charges related to human trafficking as well as child abuse involving prostitution and the filing of a false police report.  The local newspaper reported that arrest documents indicate that Ms. Davis knowingly provided her daughter for sexual servitude and acts of prostitution.

All things being equal black children should be raised by black families.  The black community needs black children if the black community is to have a future.  But if black children are to have a future, they need to be in a safe environment, whether in the black community or not.  The need for the black community to have a future should never supersede any child’s safety.  The need for a child to be with his or her parent or parents should never put a child in danger.

Just three weeks after getting her daughter the mother is accused of one seriously heinous crime, the betrayal of the flesh and blood that she gave birth to.  Obviously, this mother has her own devils to deal with.  I actually hope she spends the rest of her natural and unnatural life tormented by the thought of what she may have done.  Unfortunately, at least at the moment, I don’t think she has much of a conscious to dwell on her contribution to this incident.

However, it appears Mr. Lockhart might actually be dealing with his demons of regret.  Just three weeks after he gives the little girl to the mother she turns up missing.  He is the parent that was most responsible.  Whatever led him to decide to give the girl to the poor excuse of a mother will haunt him for the rest of his life.  Now, Mr. Lockhart says all he wants is his daughter back.  It is truly unfortunate that his choices, whatever his reasoning may have been, ended up going so wrong.

Please keep Shaniya Davis in your thoughts today.

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Like most people, I have my prejudices.  I am a firm believer that, all things being equal or even a little skewed, children that are obviously black or children with African ancestry should be raised with an appreciation for the black community.  I believe that most white people are not familiar enough with the inherit problems of growing up black in America.  Most white people wouldn’t spend five minutes out of a week immersed in black culture with a few exceptions like music, comedy, and little else of substance.

The converse is very different.  Black people are automatically raised with an appreciation for the dominant community.  It is unavoidable.  It is the dominant community that holds the vast majority of the jobs.  It is the dominant community that controls the government and all sources of media.  It is the dominant community that controls so much of America.  You can’t turn on a television, walk by a magazine stand, or do much of anything else without seeing the influence of dominant America.  It is pretty difficult for black people to ignore the white community.

Therefore, in order for the black community to gain the type of compassion from the dominant community that it readily bestows on its own institutions, I feel that the more black people who grow up in the black community, the better chances we will have changing the issues effecting the black community.  Black kids should be raised by black people.  But this morning, I am reminded that there are always exceptions to any rule.

This morning, a little obviously black girl’s life may be in danger and there is a very good chance that she may have already been murdered, because her white father gave up his rights to custody and released her to her black mother.  Five year old Shaniya Davis is the daughter of a white man and a black woman, the product of a one night stand.  Her father, Bradley Lockhart, said that he has been raising his daughter for several years and recently decided to let her stay with her mother, Antoinette Nicole Davis.  Mr. Lockhart said that Ms. Davis struggled to make ends meet for years to make ends meet.  But the woman had recently obtained a job and a place of her own and decided to give her a chance to raise their daughter.  That was about a month ago.

Last week Ms. Davis called authorities in Fayetteville, North Carolina and reported that little Shaniya was missing.  Authorities began searching nearby wooded areas.  Ms. Davis’ current boyfriend was initially charged in the kidnapping.  But the charges were later dropped and he was released.

When the story made the local news, a hotel worker remembered seeing a child matching Shaniya’s description at a hotel about forty miles away in Sanford, North Carolina.  Investigators reviewed the hotel’s surveillance video and confirmed that the child was actually Shaniya.  The video showed Mario Andrette McNeill carrying Shaniya into a hotel room.  He has been arrested and charged with the little girl’s kidnapping.  McNeill admitted to taking the girl, though his attorney says he will plead not guilty to the charge.

Since then, authorities have arrested the mother.  Fayetteville police say Ms. Davis faces charges related to human trafficking as well as child abuse involving prostitution and the filing of a false police report.  The local newspaper reported that arrest documents indicate that Ms. Davis knowingly provided her daughter for sexual servitude and acts of prostitution.

All things being equal black children should be raised by black families.  The black community needs black children if the black community is to have a future.  But if black children are to have a future, they need to be in a safe environment, whether in the black community or not.  The need for the black community to have a future should never supersede any child’s safety.  The need for a child to be with his or her parent or parents should never put a child in danger.

Just three weeks after getting her daughter the mother is accused of one seriously heinous crime, the betrayal of the flesh and blood that she gave birth to.  Obviously, this mother has her own devils to deal with.  I actually hope she spends the rest of her natural and unnatural life tormented by the thought of what she may have done.  Unfortunately, at least at the moment, I don’t think she has much of a conscious to dwell on her contribution to this incident.

However, it appears Mr. Lockhart might actually be dealing with his demons of regret.  Just three weeks after he gives the little girl to the mother she turns up missing.  He is the parent that was most responsible.  Whatever led him to decide to give the girl to the poor excuse of a mother will haunt him for the rest of his life.  Now, Mr. Lockhart says all he wants is his daughter back.  It is truly unfortunate that his choices ended up going so wrong.