The Thoughts of Black Men

TBM & Midnight Basketball.

Crime in America has been a topic of much discussion between philosophers and everyday people of life. It seems everywhere you turn, you see a marker of the seemingly endless decline of morals and social progress. In 1994, President Clinton approved legislation that included a bill that advocated the use of public tax money to use recreation activities, in sum with anti-drug and education programs as a tool of combating the rising rates of crime amongst youth. By enforcing discipline with stringent rules regarding academic and social responsibility, and by giving troubled youth a sense of involvement, social programs such as Midnight Basketball are succeeding in the cities across America.

Despite the proven success of the program, opponents to the 1994 initiative contend that providing federal funds for Midnight Basketball is wasteful spending. On the contrary, the government should continue its support for Midnight Basketball because it is an investment in our future.

The program not only assists the inner-city players, but it benefits the surrounding community as well. However, many Conservative politicians and essayists are strongly opposed to the idea of using public money to fund such social programs; I hope in my presentation to effectively show the overwhelming positive effects of Midnight Basketball, and I will address the objections, and offer an argument against each.

Crime prevention programs such as Midnight Basketball are justified to receive Government subsidies from public tax monies.

The most common opposition to Midnight Basketball comes from the eyes of the Conservative general public, who view such social programs as meaningless. In a poll done by Bay Area, FL recreation department (a department which sponsors Midnight Basketball), an overwhelming majority of citizens who are against Midnight Basketball were unaware that the program included workshops as well as community activity and involvement.

The program is more than just basketball – it is mandatory that players attend a one-hour workshop preceding each game, with focuses varying from the dangers of drug abuse to the epidemic of AIDS.

In addition, players are subject to stringent rules regarding attendance and performance in school (in leagues that accept participants still in high school), as well as service in the community. If either a participant missed a workshop, or has any problems with the law, he is immediately expelled from the program.

Essentially, the program is open to all whom are interested, but one is immediately dismissed for failing to comply with the firm rules. The goal of the program is to take young males off the streets at the hours where crime and drug abuse are most likely to occur, and place them in structured, disciplined environment, thereby giving them a sense of involvement, pride, and teaching them essential social and life skills.

Although basketball is the medium, the main thrust of the program is to help those who are willing to continue their education and become productive members of society.

In drawing a relationship between Midnight Basketball and social programs involving the environment, Kay Kastel states:

We often assume that what we provide (programs that endorse conservation) is inherently good, but if it is not structured to directly address the social issues, we are not solving the problem. An example of this could be a late-night basketball program for gang members or at-risk youth. If the only goal of the program is to keep participants off the streets, then the old way of programming works.

But if we want to help solve a societal problem and make a difference in the lives of the participants, the basketball program must have other components. For example, some communities that offer midnight basketball also require players to attend a GED program if they don’t have a high school degree.

Some offer highly structured basketball programs that teach sportsmanship and social skills. Other programs may bring in businesses to discuss employment opportunities for the participants. Thus, the second component of Benefits Programming is that programs need to be structured to directly address stated goals that relate to the social issues and concerns of the community.

In Atlanta, where Midnight Basketball has been instituted since 1986, police records have noted a decrease in crime rate by an average of 40% during the hours that Midnight Basketball offers an alternative to street life. In Miami, students who are involved with Midnight Basketball are 31% more likely to complete their GED, or graduate from high school than students who are not involved with the program.

Nearly every city that operates a Midnight Basketball program reports not only a lower crime rate, but a higher rate of high school graduation and vocational placement as well. One of the more glowing successes of the program comes from Anthony Carter, a professional basketball player with the Miami Heat franchise of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A juvenile in his youth, Anthony became involved in the Jonesboro Midnight Basketball program, where he spent three years. As a result, he graduated from high school, received a scholarship from the University of Hawaii.

As noted in #2, an overwhelming majority of programs are successful in terms of lowering crime rate, as well as improving education statistic. However, it is important to note that programs would show even more success with a stronger Government subsidy. In cases where marginal success is shown, the reasons fall into two categories: a lack of funding, and a lack of dedication and structure within the program.

The former results from the cost of motivational speakers and experts for the workshop programs, as well as various other operating costs, such as uniforms and equipment. In the majority of the cases where the latter is apparent, it is imperative to note that in a lot of cases, crime is such an extensive problem that no solution offered by the community can effectively prevent it from occurring.

Richard E. Ralston, Director of the Ayn Rand Institute compares Midnight Basketball to a “round-the-clock nanny of America’s children. In case they have any free time left, Clinton’s mandatory “volunteerism” goals would put children to work on government approved community projects – heretofore reserved as punishment for criminals in regular prisons.

” Ralston fails to realize the larger scale and goal of Midnight Basketball - it is not just to keep young males busy, it is to teach life skills where traditional education has been shown to be ineffective. As is the case with many incorrect assumptions, Ralston assumes the medium to be basketball. The medium incurrent to Midnight Basketball is life. Basketball is used simply as a recreational activity to build the programs around.

An opponent might argue that the program only offers a place for criminals to gather. This is not true, as most programs require that no participant have a criminal record that involves a felony, or any jail time. (Although individual programs differ, the general pattern is that anyone between the ages of 17 and 25 whom are either currently enrolled in school, or unemployed are eligible to join a Midnight Basketball league.)

This means that the program makes headway into stopping crime before it starts, as opposed to the significantly more difficult task of rehabilitation. In fact, in the five years after the inception of the program in Chicago, only one participant out of over 3,000 had to be barred from the program because of problems with the law. This shows that participants not only respond to the program by showing up and keeping it afloat, but by abiding by its stringent rules. Simply, the participants do not wish to jeopardize their newfound success by deviating from the program.

The national debate over crime often treats “prevention” and “punishment” as mutually exclusive concepts, polar opposites on a continuum of “soft” versus “tough” responses to crime: midnight basketball versus chain gangs, for example. However, there is no such dichotomy. Prevention is an effect, and punishment is one of many causes to that effect.

Both Midnight Basketball and chain gangs may logically succeed or fail in achieving the scientific definition of crime prevention: any policy which causes a lower number of crimes to occur in the future than would have occurred without that policy.

But a Conservative outlook would assume the chain gang to be more disciplinary, and hence, more successful in the prevention of crime. This argument not only fails to realize the teaching potential that is incurrent with Midnight Basketball, but it also fails to acknowledge the stringent rules and structure that Midnight Basketball is operated under.

The program offers a sense of involvement to a generation of kids who are systematically detached from any group or social setting outside of a gang. It offers skills that consist of overwhelming positive effect, both psychological and social, and teaches its players the value of community. Now, compare that to a “harder” form of punishment, such as a chain gang. Both use strict rules and discipline, but which do you think is more effective in preventing crime? Midnight Basketball also works on the psychological level, by teaching self-respect and discipline, and creating a sense of self-esteem.

Opponents of Midnight Basketball such as Republican representative Billy Tauzin believe it to be wasteful spending. In a discussion concerning the Crime Bill, Congressman Tauzin argues, “Midnight Basketball and arts and crafts classes aren’t going to do the job. The only way to keep our streets and families safe is to get tough on crime and keep dangerous criminals behind bars.” On the contrary, crime prevention programs like Midnight Basketball will save money in the long run because they rescue potential criminals from the depths of crime and poverty.

The educational experience of the program provides hope for men who would otherwise have little incentive to succeed in today’s competitive society. In this technological age, finding a job is becoming increasingly difficult without a high school diploma, and Midnight Basketball is helping the inner city communities rise to this standard. Thousands of people have already attended these workshops, and with more and more people joining the work force, less money will be needed for anti-crime measures, such as prison construction and the expansion of the police force.

Although most of the leagues receive some private contributions, many communities would be unable to maintain the program without some public endowment. The Crime Bill specifies that only areas that have a significant crime problem and include mostly low income residents are eligible to receive the government grants.

The government only gives aid to the communities that need it most. Methods such as gun control and increased funding for prison construction deal with the inevitability of crime. Midnight Basketball, on the other hand, attempts to prevent crime before it strikes. Instead of criticizing crime prevention measures like Midnight Basketball, we should encourage our government to continue supporting successful programs that improve the well being of our nation.

Floyd Bayne, a Republican essayist, in a response to an essay supporting Midnight Basketball, states: Why is this blatantly racist stereotype of black people not being met with howls of indignation from the black leadership?

If I were a black man I would be deeply offended by the belief on the part of my elected representatives that playing basketball is all I may aspire to. Is there nothing else of any substance that might appeal to the black man? I thought we lived in a society that tried to dispel racial stereotypes.

Bayne fails to realize that the majority of participants in the program do not aspire to play basketball – they aspire to do something other than roam the streets. Basketball is merely the hook; the programs are the real substance of the program. The name “midnight basketball” is misleading, because it portrays the thought of basketball being the primary impetus of for change.

He continues:

I am outraged at what is simply another attempt to garner votes by handing out more of my tax dollars to voting blocks. This idea of midnight basketball is but one of myriad other pork laden social programs that will do nothing to slow down the advance of crime.

Midnight basketball will do nothing to slow down the advance of crime. We have had thirty years of social programs that were supposed to bring American society back from the edge of the abyss. What have we to show for it? Are we any better off today than thirty years ago? More specifically, is the black community any better off? If not, why? All this social spending we are subjected to was supposed to cure these ills.

As we talked about in class, historical precedent is hardly a reasonable argument. Just because certain programs failed to work in the past doesn’t mean that the next one will inevitably fail.

Also, the writer assumes that the only participants in Midnight Basketball will be black, thereby also assuming the only people who would be in trouble, or looking for a way off the streets will also be black. This is far from the truth. According to national statistics, participants in social programs such as Midnight Basketball are very racially mixed, with 44% being African-American, 31% being Caucasian, and 18% being Hispanic.

There is a small flaw inherent in the structure of the program; it is run late at night, and some may argue that the program being run takes away studying time for the players, since many of them have to work beside their school. They argue that so much focus is being put on the players to attend the program that they lose focus on other positive behaviors, such as doing well in school and being active in the community.

However, while it is true that these players are indeed taking free-time out to attend the program, the program is justifying it by doing more than allowing them to just play basketball, it is using their time to reinforce positive behavior.

While it may be true that it is taking time away from players to do their homework, one can also assume that the players attending the program are there because they need help, and probably aren’t doing their homework in the first place. If a student is already studious and tends to his studies, odds are he doesn’t need the kind of support that the program provides, and hence, would not be regularly attending the program.

Cincinnati, Ohio, reported a 31% decrease in crime incidents in the first six months after the Winton Hills prevention programs began.

Commerce, California, compared gang related assaults in their city with neighboring East Los Angeles to demonstrate program effectiveness. In East Los Angeles there were 140 gang related assaults and 11 homicides in 1993 compared to seven gang related assaults and zero homicides in Commerce.

Kansas City, Missouri, reported a 25% decrease in the rate of juvenile apprehensions compared to the previous year in the areas abutting centers in which Midnight Basketball programs were offered.

In Fort Worth, Texas, crime statistics supplied by the Police Department indicated in a one mile radius of the community centers where the midnight basketball was provided, crime dropped 28%. At five other community centers where these programs did not exist, crime rose an average of 39%.