something called The HOPE Gap is alive and well in Cleveland, Ohio
Usually when you hear the phrase “hope gap” it refers to the gap that exists between those in extreme poverty from the others who live in Third World countries. I believe that we are experiencing our own brand of the hope gap, here in Northeast Ohio. And again, it coincides oftentimes to socioeconomic conditions, just like in the Third World countries, but sometimes I think it is also a manifestation of the dysfunctionality we are experiencing as a society. Major shifts in wealth, economies, and opportunities are occurring each and every day, and cracks and fissures are widening.
Two tragedies here in Cleveland have shown me that this gap is occurring here in Cleveland. The first was the tragedy at SuccessTech where a young man reacted violently to a suspension and possibly an expulsion by shooting others and ending it by killing himself. The governmental answer was to provide metal detectors for heightened security, but very little was said about the circumstances that led the young man to that fateful day. Although the tragedy occurred in a CMSD building, the silence of our school board members was deafening. At the time, I thought to myself, which streets will get metal detectors so that our children will be “safe”. At the time, my husband said that that boy needed someone to take him under his or her wing and hold him very, very close. But for this boy, there was no one. And we are left to wonder what despair and hopelessness led a young boy to such disastrous decisions.
And then, one week later a young girl was stabbed to death by another teenage girl while her mother, grandmother, and cousin held off the crowd who came to help the victim. What a chilling condemnation of where are society is going. A young girl given to her grandmother to raise because her mother was seen as unfit is now a killer. You see, the metal detectors to make our kids safe on the streets haven’t been installed, but luckily the mothers in that neighborhood took it upon themselves to tell their offspring, you will give these people up. Our community is our safety net. There is hope. A group of community leaders joined together to talk about the problems but did more than that–they offered solutions that basically were the “take them under our wing” approach.
Have you ever watched a young child in action? The world holds an endless abundance of possibilities and opportunities, but then the child begins to grow and change and life’s challenges begin to take their toll. Some children thrive because they have the nurturing support system needed to protect them and to guide them through the pitfalls of everyday life. Children learn by example and by imitation so that when the examples are dysfunctional, their learned behavior perpetuates the dysfunctional lifestyle.
Young people are not stupid. They are often very astute. Many kids with unique gifts are often pushed aside, and eventually they drop out of the mainstream because they realize that the industrialized school system will not help them achieve in the 21st century. In our MTB conversation with C.J. Prentiss, she told us that 4th grade achievement scores are used to calculate the future need for prison beds. These kinds of statistical uses for achievement scores should be appalling to a civilized society like ours, but are they?
Back to the child with light dancing in his or her eyes: As that child grows, the light becomes dimmer, and eventually, when the hope gap widens, the light goes out. How many times can we allow those lights to go out before the hope gap becomes so wide that we turn on ourselves and destroy our land of opportunity? How do you intend to lessen “the hope gap” here in Northeast Ohio? Remember, actions, not words, speak volumes.
October 31st, 2007 at 2:52 am
Gloria, this wonderful riff could only have been written by someone with a fiercely loving heart and the accumulated wisdom of the ages. You’re blessed with both, and so much more. Thanks for sharing this wonderful piece of writing.