By Nadra Enzi

  What would life in the inner city be if the federal government paid residents ( called hostages from this sentence forward ) to defend themselves? It’s a good thought experiment given millions spent with little or no safety to show for it.  Self-government seems to pass us by. By ” us ” I mean fellow would-be urban hostages. This is written from first hand experience. Could would-be hostages, armed and adequately financed, do worse than commuting officers policing the same problems? Sounds wild I’m sure. The nerve of promoting broke Negroes being mobilized and funded on their own behalf. If it’s good enough for Iraqis and Afghans it should be good enough for us. Especially when underwritten by our tax dollars!

Oh I forgot, the government game plan isn’t actually stopping neighborhood crime. The role offered hostages is playing silent Sambo while law enforcement and lawless enjoyment use our community as their profitable playing field.

Returning tax dollars to provide our own hometown security makes for novel civil rights legislation. Minus stationing officers here garrison style, urban hostages are the only available full time defenders. We live in these high risk areas; we know the bad actors and their supporting casts. Standing up neighborhood watches and citizen patrols with some punch serves notice the reign of terror is over. Most thugs are bullies seeking easy prey. Once little old ladies and the Hood’s shrinking supply of viable men patrol armed and on alert news will quickly spread. The goal isn’t inciting more urban violence. Reducing it from within is the method to this bit of madness.

Hostages didn’t get the memo about war being declared where we live. No call; no text; no e-mail, nothing! One day we awakened to a nightmare of mounting drugs and violence. This idea seeks to seriously turn this tide.

One major argument to the contrary is:

1. Civilians shouldn’t be armed and on the loose, especially Black ones. This official hesitancy hails from the plantation. Fear of slave revolts makes 2nd Amendment use in out zip codes problematic to racist minds. Better we’re hostages than scare other people by lawfully defending ourselves en masse. The fact private security and gun license laws exist shoot holes in that callous talking point. Police alone aren’t adequate to sufficiently control crime. There’s no way handfuls of officers can secure neighborhoods better than mobilized hostages. We out number the police and possibly predators too. Fighting crime is the only logical alternative to being voiceless victims. Every other outside strategy has failed so why not give community self-defense a try? Using our tax dollars to personally protect life and property is a march on Washington worth making.

Rich neighborhoods hire armed security to patrol their areas so please don’t trot out tired allegations of vigilantism. Vigilance isn’t illegal, even when done by poor Black folks. Being taxed with nothing in return makes society less safe from the high income to the no income.

2. When in doubt, refer to answer number 1.

Supporters of prevention will howl these dollars should be used for social programs and outreach. Prevention takes a back seat to basic safety. We can ‘t have a safer inner city absent equipping hostages to reclaim it. Anyone who thinks this suggestion far fetched should read headlines more closely. The fine print almost screams that there are good people who didn’t sign off on such chaos. Inner city taxes help finance security globally. Is it too much to give some of it back in the form of weapons and public safety training?

Paying the Hood to defend itself is a good investment no city nor law enforcement agency dares make. Here’s one more concern for a lengthy list of considerations: is it acceptable for tax paying, law abiding Americans to be imprisoned within their homes because of zip code or skin color? That’s why paying the Hood to defend itself makes good sense. It’s cheaper than deploying the National Guard. It’s also the right thing to do.

Nadra Enzi aka Capt. Black is a Republican activist who promotes crime prevention in Savannah, Ga. He can be reached at http://www.captblack.info