Posted by Hilario Nunez on March 15, 2005 at 09:19:20:
In a time of political moves, gossip and maneuverings, We are again forced to understand that while we have the right to disagree, sometimes what we need is a meeting place. There is a Dominican family that is hurting today. A man, who had to make sacrifices and still blame no one for his plight in life but take hold of his future, is dead. A young man from Snyder HS is also dead. He leaves a hurting family as well. Could after school programs have helped? Could a better educational system have helped? Could a more involved community system have helped? Perhaps religion? All that is left are blood stains, tears and the nightmares of a lost future. We have to make our meeting places work for us. Church congregations need to spend time meeting their neighbors. Community groups need to come out of those walls, and schools need to reach the unreachable in order to mold our youth to be able to make better choices. As a Dominican and a teacher at Snyder HS my heart is heavy today. I understand the hurt of a family who perhaps came to this country to form a better life now ripped away. I understand the hurt of losing a young man who did not understand that his life mattered. It is not a happy day in Jersey City today. Maybe I'm simply venting but there has to be more to us than arguments and apathy. Politicians will now come out saying lets make stronger crime laws or lets build more basketball courts. These are the same ones who have been in power already. They should have or could have for a long time. On a day that the city mourns the usual answers don’t really matter. This is our city. This is more important than abatements, chicken spots and even an election. This is about who we are and how after a tragedy like this one we can look at ourselves in the mirror and say this is not my problem.
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