Why do we as people let the smallest things turn into the biggest problems? How come people find it so hard to walk away from a fight and not feel like they have to prove themselves over the dumbest things? This seems to be a big issue in the DMV with today's teenagers, so many innocent lives being taken away over conflicts that could have easily been resolved. The crime rate in the DMV is nothing to be proud of, whether someone's "hood" got disrespected or someone other than you took the last pair of shoes the day of the limited release, the reasons for almost every fight that happens is minor. Learning how to pick and choose your battles is something everyone should look into,however; it is also something that very few people have mastered. Our materialistic mindsets, pride, peer pressure, immaturity,lack of respect and self-worth is to blame for the increased number of crime that has been taken place between the teenagers in the DMV. Those of us who are watching the problem get worse and are not doing anything about it aren't any better than those creating it.

Often before an event takes place in the DMV nowadays, you'll see many tweets on twitter like "I hope no one fights". There was a time when fighting would be something that was unexpected now it is becoming normal. The problem with the amount of violence that goes on in the DMV is not only the fact that innocent lives are lost and people get hurt but also the stereotypes that it creates for those of us who aren't even involved in the stupidity. The DMV is a predominately black area which means a lot of the crime that takes place here is committed by african americans. When people go out with hopes of enjoying themselves and their time gets cut short because the event had to be shut down due to yet another fight between African Americans, it gives us a bad name. People don't like to be around us or feel safe in a room filled with too many of us because they think it will result into something dangerous. I recently read an article written by the KKK, they were thanking black people for making their job easier. "You are killing each other for our property. You are killing what could be future black doctors, lawyers, and businessmen that we won't have to compete with. And the good thing about it is that you are killing the youth. So we don't have to worry about you n*****s in generations to come" It had become clear to me that us fighting each other is in fact much bigger than we realize. We seem to think that the only way to gain respect of our peers is to shoot someone who we feel disrespected us instead of walking away and realizing that it is not worth it. We kill each other over shoes and jewelry, material items that could be replaced easily. We work harder to fight over materialistic things than we do to learn how to make our own businesses that we could benefit from. Why is it that we do not realize that being the reason a mother has to bury her child is far worse than walking away from a fight that is almost NEVER worth it? We are so into having power and not letting someone walk all over us and don't even realize that by allowing someone to make you so mad that you have to KILL them is giving them all the power in the world. Even if that person dies and everyone thinks of you as a powerful individual, your still the one who has to live in jail with the guilt of what you have done. You miss out on life, you are the one who loses. When someone is killed everyone always thinks about that person potential and what they could have been in life, but what about the person who killed them? Since you are now a murderer you will live your life in jail and never be able to fulfill your destiny in life. People who react off of anger and kill someone will never be able to live their dreams, that person might have had the potential to be the next president or be the parent of the next oprah winfrey. I believe that people who are willing to throw their life away over the unnecessary reasons that they do, have not yet realized their self-worth. Someone who knows that they have too much to lose would not risk it. Those teenagers responsible of the many deaths that could have been avoided probably did not think that they had too much to offer or would ever be something important in life because if they did, they would not let someone else take that away from them. Insecurity could be disguised in many ways, whether its the latest shoes, the shiniest jewelry, or the fastest cars. It is sometimes those who you would have thought had the highest self esteem who actually are the most unsure about themselves.

As african americans we get so defensive when we hear ignorant comments about our race and how were only good for committing crimes, but then we give them reasons to say the things they do. How are we suppose to make them think more highly of us if we carry ourselves in the manner that we do? We do not have respect for ourselves or each other. The solution to this problem is not that difficult to figure out, everyone simply needs to just grow up! The fact that people find it more cool to act like a thug than to own a business and carry themselves like a future CEO is a problem. If you love material items enough to kill someone over it then you need to be in school, going to college, making dreams and turning them into reality so that you could own your own business and have all the money you need for material items. If you want to be respected and have a problem with people walking all over you then you need to do what you have to do in order to be a boss of a company but killing each other for these pathetic reasons NEEDS TO STOP!