Time For a Solution …
Asbury Park Can Learn A Lot From FDR -
Comedian Bill Cosby spoke at Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ during a scholarship breakfast honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on January 16.
His speech was described as somewhat of a scolding to the 400 attendees. He chastised parents and grandparents of young black adults because they were failing in life, citing the endless shootings among young black males in the streets of “Newark and cities elsewhere.”
He urged parents to become more motivated to speak, to preach—to do whatever had to be done to redirect and consequently save this generation.
Mr. Cosby could have easily given this speech to the Black community in Asbury Park, NJ. In a recent one week period there were five reported shootings in the city. Five shootings in a one-square mile town with 16,000 residents.
Last year we ran an editorial urging that the city’s powers-that-be to take a look at the Depression Era Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).
The CCC was implemented under the direction of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933. During that time many young men were idle and aimless. That led to problems which led to the creation of the CCC. Participants lived in paramilitary type conditions, sleeping in large tents, having chores and spending the day either learning a trade or participating in an array of conservation projects. You could join the CCC voluntarily. Often, however, you were given an alternative by a local judge to join or do jail time.
Drainage ditches were dug. Millions of trees were planted. Tributaries were cleaned. Streams cleared. Crops planted and harvested to help feed the “troops.”
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With five shootings in Asbury Park in one week we urgently need to address this issue
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The project was considered one of the most productive during those tough times. Success story after success story surfaced until after the onset of World War ll which virtually ended the need for the program. At its height there were more than 600,000 participants.
Is it too costly? Is it socialism? Will it undermine union jobs?
We feel it is none of the above, although these were the questions raised in the 1930s at the onset. Planting trees and gardens, carving paths, stopping levies, cleaning tributaries; these were the projects were designed to enhance conservation while avoiding taking away any union jobs.
How about the cost? It currently costs an estimated $80,000 to house one inmate per year in jail. Not only that, we are paying ex-military personnel unemployment because of the sparse jobs market.
It would seem logical that military personnel would be an integral part of organizing and maintaining such a program.
Washington seems to be in a state of impasse at the moment. And with the recent spate of shootings in Asbury Park it’s time to say enough is enough and we need to at least explore some solutions.
We are asking the parents and the clergy within the Black community in Asbury Park to take the CCC into consideration. Our elected officials at the local and state level should at least consider such a plan.
And if you don’t like it, come up with something else. Because with five shootings in one week we urgently need to address this issue.
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Michael Booth
Mr. Booth is the publisher of The Coaster, a weekly newspaper based in Asbury Park, NJ. A longtime local media entrepreneur, he also founded Long Branch’s Atlanticville newspaper in 1976. He welcomes questions or comments by e-mail.
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