Mike Celizic

Darrent Williams was a football player who died a violent death on the streets of Denver early on the first day of a new year. But don’t blame this one on sports. It could have been anybody whose only fault was to be a young African-American on the streets of a big city in the land of his birth.

If Williams was going to die, the cold statistics of death in these United States say that this was the most likely way for it to happen. Young males are a high-risk group of which to be a part to begin with, but that’s especially so if your skin is dark. Young white males die most often of accidents or suicide; young black males die most often of gunshot wounds.

It happens all the time, too often for the national media to take notice of. Only when a high-profile person gets killed does it catch our attention. Two months ago, the victim was Bryan Pata, a starter for the University of Miami who was shot in the back of the head in the yard of his apartment complex for no reason that anyone has yet to establish. Early Monday morning, it was Darrent Williams, a 24-year-old defensive back with the Denver Broncos who until that moment had a great future ahead of him.

He leaves behind two children and another shattered dream, and the only comfort that could come of his death would be the hope that something good could come out of it. And that is the real tragedy; not much good seemingly has come out of the thousands of similar deaths that have preceded Williams', and it’s hard to see where any will come for the thousands that are sure to follow.

If Williams had been shot by police, there would be rallies with thousands of persons demanding justice. If one or more of the cops were white, Al Sharpton would be front and center, demanding an end to the victimization of young blacks by law enforcement officials.

But it is likely that this will turn out to be another black-on-black shooting. And that’s a lot harder to get a soundbite out of. Besides, to condemn it would require condemning a culture that too often celebrates in music and lifestyle guns and retribution and a twisted idea of honor.

It’s hardly unique to inner cities. White Protestants and Catholics happily gunned each other down and blew each other up for decades in Ireland over similar misconceptions. Iraq is torn apart by people with guns and differing opinions about their shared religion.

No matter what you call it, it’s the idea of an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and an ounce of lead for a handful of words. And in America, more whites die in gang killings than do blacks, so it’s not a racial issue; it’s a societal issue. If people can get that through their heads, maybe we’ll be able to start doing something about it.

The common thread is people who feel powerless and disenfranchised by society. For most of us, the American Dream is a good job, 1.6 perfect children and a home in the suburbs. For too many, the dream is a Glock and somebody to use it on.

Some will try to find a way to blame the victim. Williams was out on the town at 3 a.m. with a group of friends, and they went to a night club. To the finger-pointers, that will be enough.

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