Letter to Raise Awareness

Chief Leroy K. James

Chief of the Campus Police Department

Howard University

2244 10^th Street, NW, 2^nd Floor

Washington, DC 20059

Dear Chief Leroy,

I am a freshman Electrical Engineering major from Nigeria. I have been a resident of Drew Hall for the past three months, and I really appreciate different security strategies implemented to reduce crime within the campus. I really liked the idea of mounting emergency poles within the school area, and giving out contact numbers in case of emergencies. However, occasionally, when I head back to Drew Hall from the Health Sciences Library during late hours, I observe a lot of lapses in the attempts made by the Police Department to reduce crime.   

In relation to this issue, I would like to point out that the town in Nigeria where I lived had a relatively high crime rate. When the chief of the town realized that all his personal efforts to reduce crime proved abortive, he called the residents of the town to make suggestions to improve the security of the area. This was a wise and successful move by the chief because he was able to hear the voice of the people who saw the day-to-day lapses in the previous attempts to curb robbery. After considering and implementing the new laid-out plan of the community, crime has since been reduced to the lowest minimum.

In essence, I strongly believe that the first strong step that the Police Department can make is to organize a conference where the students’ voices and opinions on security would be heard. I assure you that you would be surprised with the turnout of people because a lot of students stay up studying for exams and writing papers in the library and afterwards, hope with crossed fingers that they reach their respective rooms safe and sound. Therefore, in the suggested conference, issues like poor patrolling, delay in arrival for emergency pick-ups, and others that would be raised would be addressed adequately.

Thanks for your anticipated consideration. I hope to hear from you soon, because I would be willing to give you details of the reform that I have in mind. Happy Thanksgiving!

Sincerely

African Childhood Vs African American Childhood

There was an interesting discussion in my Freshman Composition class about family related topics—extended families, single-parent families, relationship of parents with their children and so on. As an international student, I compared and contrasted the opinions of the African Americans in my class with my personal opinion. First, I realized that the American system is a very free system where the children can blatantly choose to do what they please irrespective of their parent’s opinions. This assertion might not be true for every African American family, but it is definitely evident in a considerable amount of families. American kids can choose to stand their ground and argue with their parents. However, it is very different in Nigeria, where I come from. When an elder speaks, the younger person must not say a word, talk less of argue. Respect is a very important virtue in the African system. Children are bound to obey their parents. And if they disobey, they are scolded accordingly. Also, I noticed that most African American kids are exposed to hard drugs at very early ages. In Nigeria, to my knowledge, drug-addicts are mostly adults. On the other hand, I realized a common trend as I compared the African and African-American families. Most children are more comfortable around their mothers than their fathers. It is only pragmatic to suggest that mothers are the most caring among the parents, even though there might be some exceptions. It was a very enlightening class discussion, as I learned a lot of other important facts about African Americans.  

For a "United" America!

Is the United States of America actually united? The undisputed answer is “NO.” To a layman, unity simply means oneness and equality in love. These three key words in the definition of unity—oneness, equality and love—are almost certainly absent in the American society today. A novice foreigner might ask, “Why is there an absence of these important virtues in such a great country?” An American citizen, black or white, would respond in just one word, “Melanin.” Melanin, the pigment that gives dark color to the skin, is the major cause of disunity in the supposed “United” States of America. Sadly, this pigment has left a huge dent on Black history. This huge dent is called slavery. According to Randall Robinson, the “246-year practice of slavery” caused “a yawning economic gap between blacks and whites” in the United States. It is best to think of those 246 years as a period when the development of  blacks stood still—as a result of oppression from whites—and that of whites soared higher. However, if whites want to make amends and make United States really “united,” restitution would be the best option, because it would improve the standard of living of blacks. Restitution could be by improving health care and education for blacks. This step would definitely close down the “yawning gap” with time.