Wednesday, April 28, 2021

Delayed Consequences

 Peter, over at Bayou Renaissance Man, has a powerful posting about delayed consequences, focusing o the tragedy that surrounds the death of Ma'Khia Bryant.  I've seen it over and over as a police officer.  Mom and Dad make a series of bad decisions that affect their child, then when the cumulative effect of those decisions finally manifests into a tragedy, it magically becomes some else's fault.

Peter gives a play-by-play of the seemingly innocuous decisions that led to this tragedy.  Dad is a piece of work, his daughter doesn't share his last name.  He had to be brought to court to prove paternity, and at the time of the tragedy, he had warrants for his arrest.  Mom, likewise is a piece of work.  Through her activity in the courts, her daughter was in foster care.  Somehow, she decided that the proper way to settle a dispute was with a knife.

Before we go much further, this isn't about black culture or white culture.  This isn't a racial thing.  I've seen the same scenarios play out against the backdrop over every race. This is a parenting issue.  Extremely poor parents making decisions over decades that affect their child in ways that almost invariably lead to bad outcomes.  This one was especially horrific, because the child's life was lost, but the parents have no real reason to complain.  This is their fault.  They are not the victims here.

If any victim can be found, it may be the police officer.  He came to a call without knowing the background, and within one minute of arriving was forced to use his firearm in defense of other people.  He had no fore knowledge of any of the participants. He reacted well, in accordance with his training, yet he will have to live with the knowledge that he took  life.

Ma'Khia Bryant's parents are not the victims here.  They made decisions that set the backdrop for this tragedy, and they should certainly bear the burden of their own actions.


Termite said...

In this case, "Mom" and "Dad" were simply the biological parents. She provided the egg, and he provided the sperm.

In no way, shape, or form are they a "Mommy" or "Daddy".

Old NFO said...

And the unasked question is, why didn't Baby Daddy step in and stop it BEFORE the cops showed up???