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Letter to the Editor: My Son's Killer Hasn't Been Caught

Photo credit: Hampton Police Jihad Amir Ramadan remains at large.

I am the mother of Byron Bryant, the murdered Hampton University student.

First I want to say that I applaud the journalists who contribute to Black College Wire. Without your diligence, a lot of the information about crime and other issues would never get to the college public. To the Hampton University journalist who contributed the article about the crimes at Hampton ("Knowing Campus Crime Stats Heightens Our Awareness," March 27), I want to say don't forget about my son.

Although we know the name of the Hampton student who allegedly committed this senseless crime, the Hampton police, New York police and the federal marshals have yet to apprehend Jihad Amir Ramadan. Only 19 years old and supported by his parents, no one seems to know where he is.

Unfortunately, the issue of violence on college campuses continues daily (i.e. hazing, rape). Because this is a daily occurrence, we need to work daily to combat crime. We need to explore the root causes (immorality, gangsta rap culture, excessive freedoms, etc.), and we need to work out a plan. Just look at the lives that have been destroyed by these senseless decisions. People young and old need to know that no decision that you make voluntarily is ever a small one.

I feel for the parents of those involved in hazing, but at least their sons are alive. Everyone should read the book "The Covenant With Black America," especially the third covenant, "Correcting the System of Unequal Justice." The stats listed are only the ones reported, so we can probably add to those stats.

I am challenging young people to take charge and do something, because unfortunately, as I was told by Tavis Smiley's camp, his job is only to open up dialogue. Talk is informative, but cheap.

We need to take back our yesterdays, when our fight was over things that mattered, like equal opportunity, like discrimination, like false imprisonment, like slavery. Now we're just majoring in mediocrity. And unfortunately, things that commonly affected the impoverished of our community, such as crime and hopelessness, have trickled up. We are losing a lot of ground, and losing young black men and women in the process.

Cheryl Pitts-Bryant
Houston
April 20, 2006