Children With Guns
Will these images prod officials to respond to this problem with the seriousness it requires? Part III of the "Stop and Frisk" series of articles.
There are no secrets. None of this is unknown. Perhaps common people going about their lives are unaware of what you’re about to see, but New Orleans leadership is very well aware of this.
Children - I should say toddlers - in New Orleans are given loaded guns to play with by their mothers.
These images come from an Instagram account called “GetYourKidsNOLA” which serves similarly to the well-known “Libs Of TikTok.” These sites expose the problems; they do not affirm or encourage them.
Most of these pictures are taken by the children of New Orleans themselves and are daily posted by the young people to their own social media accounts. The people behind “Get Your Kids” find and aggregate the photos and encourage parents to come “get your kids” and deal with this.
When I’ve written this past week about the need for more effective policing tactics - like the tried and proven Stop and Frisk technique - it is with these people in mind. The resistance I’ve received to the idea derives from the misunderstanding that any random person on the street will be detained.
Officials can trace the origins of these photos. Law enforcement can address this. Child services can visit these homes, too.
The Mayor knows about these photos. City Council President JP Morrell knows, too. Council members Helena Moreno and Freddie King know. The Chief of Police knows, as does the Sheriff. District Attorney Jason Williams knows. How can they not know if you and I know? Do school principals and administrators see these photos? These children can be identified.
I’ll allow the people and the images to speak for themselves, and I’ll challenge everyone reading this: Why would we not target our law enforcement resources directly at the problem? Why would we not stop and frisk the people carrying the guns? Why will city leadership continue to allow this?
What will it take to fully admit, publicly, that black people have a lethal violence problem? That “racism” or “equity” are not the problem? That white people aren’t the source of this dangerous issue?
The children place the blame squarely on earlier generations of black people, not on some colonizing something-or-other they’d have learned about in an African Studies grad program at Tulane.
Over generations the police department hasn’t figured this out?
What will it take, Mayor Cantrell? Judge Levine? District Attorney Williams? Sheriff Hutson? Police Chief Woodfork? Council President Morrell? NAACP? ACLU?
Is it any wonder there is a 1 in 14 chance that a young black man in New Orleans will be killed before he is 35?
