What strikes me as the essence of hypocrisy in this ongoing debate over tookie's death is the fact that some of the underlying issues with respect to the reasons why people join gangs and the power of popular culture seem to be swept under the rug much too easily. The fact that there is a far larger population of African- American Males in the Prison System across America than there are in African American neighbourhoods, is a statistic that is rarely discussed in the open. Any attempt to do so means you are automatically branded as a left wing hippie. The other issue is that with the mounting debt incurred by the ongoing War and the failed tax cuts given to the uber rich, the government has been forced to cut back on many programs that sustained blighted neighbourhood. AFter school programs for kids in gang prone neighbourhoods have been forced to close which means that the kids are back on the streets on their "spare time" and are easy targets for gang recruiters. Another point that troubles me exceedingly is the impact of Ex-Gang members who now enjoy the limelight--people like Fifty Cent. Fifty seems to have no problem acknowledging that not only did he get shot five or six times, he was also a drug dealer...he play up the gang lifestyle and when kids lack mentors in their neighbourhoods and their daily routines, they are bound to be more vulnerable to the peer pressure of joining one gang or other other to seek "mentors" or friends. I have no doubt that Killing Tookie is going to be hopelessly irrelevant to the rising tide of violence. His life was worth far more by having him alive to continue writing his books and counter the glorified gang life...as someone before me said...so much for the Pro Life movement!