It's the toxic culture that's killing our kids

FoxNews' Bill O'Reilly has been publicizing the attack on two white reporters by a mob of about 30 black youths in Norfolk, Virginia that took place on April 14th. He did this because the reporters' own newspaper, the Virginia-Pilot, delayed the report on the assault until after the reporters filed a complaint against the Norfolk police. Since the killing of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida, there have been a number of black on white assaults that have gone unpublicized and Mr. O'Reilly was attempting to tie this mob attack with others. The unprovoked mob attack, however, reminded me of one I witnessed in 1960 in Spanish Harlem that was just as shameful in its senseless brutality. The toxic culture aimed at our youth and geared towards undermining parental and traditional authority has been brewing for decades.

The autopsy on Trayvon Martin showed marijuana in his system which may have influenced his judgment so that instead of just going back to his destination he chose to confront the armed George Zimmerman. Teens now smoke pot more than cigarettes and why not? The new culture considers it harmless and cool. Why we even have a president who admits to being a heavy drug user in high school and a new book written by David Maraniss, "Barack Obama, The Story" shows several photos from his "cool days."

My barrio neighborhood had already changed by the late 1950's and homes with a working father had dwindled and were nearly non-existent. In 1960, it was "hot time, summer in the city" and as usual I spent those gritty days with my elbows on a pillow looking out our window enjoying the mise en scene that stood in for the TV we didn't own. My neighbor, who was known as Uncle Louie, had a wrench and proceeded to open the fire hydrant, or as we called it, the "pump." A Cadillac was just passing by with a window open and the driver was inadvertently sprayed He angrily got out of the car to argue with the man who had done the deed.

Suddenly a fist fight broke out between the men and within a matter of minutes about 20-30 young men from all corners of the block joined in punching the lone driver. The crowd moved up the street with multiple fists flying and resembled a Chinese New Year dragon; and although I couldn't see what occurred, I soon learned that the driver had been stabbed on the stairs of the 110th Street Lexington subway station. I recognized some of the attackers for some lived in my building. I knew their names and I was shocked and ashamed of them as they were all Puerto Rican and the driver was an Italian.

What struck me then and still does is the cowardice of those young men who felt safe to vent their frustrations while hidden anonymously in a mass of humanity. No cell phone cameras or street surveillance equipment captured their wicked blows at the helpless and outnumbered victim. There were no arrests as the cowardly attackers ran away as soon as they heard the sirens heading their way.

There is something about any mob that reeks of cowardice. There is nothing brave or "macho" about outnumbering a target but isn't that why many join a gang? I don't believe that hype about the need to belong or a lack of familial contact.

I sometimes wonder if my brother had been there if he would have taken part in the lopsided attack but he was at that time in Lebanon serving in the Marines. He had joined the service at 17 like many brave young men in the city who found the military the better choice than life on the mean streets. More importantly, even though we came from a broken home like most of the kids in the neighborhood, we had our mother and our faith to keep us grounded.

Why has the family unit in many urban areas disintegrated? Why are so many husbands and fathers missing in these neighborhoods? As much as I try to understand the reasoning behind the welfare programs which led to the decline of the nuclear family I can no longer call them' misguided.' I know it now to be deliberate. What has happened to the barrios and ghettos in America is criminal but part and parcel of an agenda that has as its goal, the destruction of our nation.

Pardon this conspiratorial tone but it's difficult witnessing the shocking reports in the news on a daily basis; the lack of shame in our homes and in political figures; the endless violence and deaths of the very young. We need to ask what turned our social and popular culture toxic.

Although President Obama's heavy socialist connections are now being vetted by the Breitbart sites, the fix was in long before he was even born and it started in Hollywood. Although Sen. Joe McCarthy is always linked in the minds of Americans with the Hollywood blacklist he had nothing to do with it. His communist allegations involved the party members in Congress. It was a House of Representatives committee that rightly sought the communist connections in the movie industry. If you're wondering why our culture is so toxic today, the entertainment industry has long been the means and end for the Marxist agenda taught in academia and aimed at our youth.

In 1963, The Congressional Record--Appendix, pp. A34-A35, entered remarks by Rep. A.S. Herlong Jr. of Fla. listing the 45 goals in the Communist Manifesto.

Among the most relevant today are:
25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.
26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy."
40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.
41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.
42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use ["]united force["] to solve economic, political or social problems.

Those roving, angry crowds in Norfolk, in Spanish Harlem and in Europe as well as the Occupy vandals are products of this Marxist attempt to dominate our independent way of life. They were bred over decades by the promotion of discontent and class warfare and the question is what can we do about it to save our children?

Shining a light on our enemies is a good start.

Alicia Colon resides in New York City and can be reached at aliciav.colon@gmail.com and at www.aliciacolon.com