Holiday in Liberia

This story by Ellen Barry for The New York Times is just fantastic. It's about a Liberian-born woman raising her family in a rough neighborhood on Staten Island who decided that the best thing for her teenaged son would be to get off the streets by . . . being sent to live in war-torn West Africa.

I don't have much to say in an analytical vein, but I'll note that some of the issues raised seem similar to the questions Mary Waters writes about in Black Identities.

Comments

Or you could have watched "The Boys of Baraka" about Baltimore teens sent to Kenya...would have satisfied your fix for "The Wire" type stories with the above issues you mention.

Posted by GtheK | December 15, 2007 10:51 AM

Matt, why do you hate America? I mean, if you were patriotic and loved this land, you wouldn't believe such stories--and even if they could be proven to you (which, if you built up enough indifference mixed with patriotism couldn't happen) then you would have to say good riddance, finally, someone who didn't love it, indeed left it.

Posted by d | December 15, 2007 11:00 AM

It seems somehow impolite to write a post title with a Dead Kennedys reference only a few hours after dismissing the band for its supposed "heavy-handed didacticism."

Posted by James Gary | December 15, 2007 11:49 AM

It's pretty common for urban Puerto Rican families to send kids back to Puerto Rico because they are worried about gangs and what not, even though I don't think violence rates are much higher in Chicago.

Didn't read the article you linked to, but in many cases its anxiety about the loss of culture that gets translated into worries about safety that then leads to decisions which are not maybe entirely rational from a safety point of view, but make a lot of sense if what you really want is your child to share your traditional value.

Posted by Sam L | December 15, 2007 11:57 AM

So which of the Wu Tang Clan is going to star in The Fresh Prince of Liberia?

Posted by digamma | December 15, 2007 2:39 PM

Couldn't you at least consider how you and your ideological comrades might bear a little responsibility for New York inner city conditions?

No! We're Upper West Side liberals! We're perfect! Everything that's wrong in New York City is the fault of Reagan, Bush, and the Christians!

Posted by y81 | December 16, 2007 10:44 AM