Civil rights veteran on crime issues in Black communities: A 'grace' problem, not a 'race' problem
Bob Woodson criticizes progressive politicians for not taking responsibility for high crime
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A veteran of the civil rights movement, Bob Woodson, wants to tackle the crime problem plaguing Black communities.
Many urban areas continue to see high rates of violent crime in the years following the widespread "Defund the Police" movement and the death of George Floyd in 2020. Though attempts to address alleged "White supremacy" in policing were popular among left-leaning leaders, Woodson claimed they missed the point.
"Crime will get better when we stop chasing this false narrative that we have a race problem in America. We have a grace problem in America," Woodson told Fox News Digital.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Woodson, who has worked with the NAACP and National Urban League among many other organizations, noted that many progressive political leaders who spotlight race or want to "defund" the police often do not see the consequences of these policies. He specifically blamed "elitism" from progressive political leaders who continue to highlight race as a factor. He also higlhlighted how some of these areas plagued by high crime are run by Black elected officials.
Woodson accused progressive politicians of blaming "White supremacy" for problems in the Black community to avoid accountability. (Matt Symons for Fox News Digital)
"Black elected officials do not have to take responsibility for why these problems persist even on their watch, because they can say police are an extension of White supremacy. And, therefore, it puts the burden of changing it on the outside, and it deflects attention away from their inadequacies or incompetence," Woodson said. "As long as evil has to wear a White face, we will not address this problem."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He explained how his organization, the Woodson Center, targets crime-ridden areas by reaching out to troubled students and empowering them to improve themselves and inspire others.
Bob Woodson is the founder of The Woodson Center to help empower less privileged communities. (Getty Images/Fox News Digital)
"Whenever you try to cure a snake bite, you take some of the venom from the snake, right? To create the antivenom. Same principle here. You take kids from the same neighborhood who become healing agents, put them into school, make them full-time employees, then they become a part of the youth culture that gives every young child in school a big brother or big sister," he said.
Woodson continued, "We just ignore the reality that the community that is experiencing the problem has the capacity of healing itself, just as the most effective way of healing the human body, if there's injury, is to strengthen the body's own immune system."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Beyond the Black community, he called for a greater look towards the moral failings of society that lead young people of any race to make self-destructive choices.
Woodson called for a greater focus on the community to help combat crime. (AP)
"We need to stop, again, looking at it through the lens of race and tribalism and recognize that we have a moral and spiritual freefall that is consuming our young people. In the inner cities, it’s homicides. In wealthy suburban communities, it’s suicide. And in low-income White communities, it’s prescription drugs. But we will never get this moral emptiness that's in the hearts of these young people if we keep going at it by looking at it through race," Woodson said.
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