By Will Brown
Chances are if you watched the Disney Channel in the 90s,
you knew who Lee Thompson Young was. He was a good-looking child actor who
most girls ogled over.
Young was the main character on the network’s show “The
Famous Jett Jackson” an actor who played an actor who lived in a small Southern
town where his family and friends kept him humble.
Young committed suicide Monday. He was 29.
In light of Thompson’s death, social media lit up with
tributes and surprise from people who grew up believing Jett Jackson was not
the type who no longer wanted to live. His death put into perspective the
phrase “kill yourself.” Sometimes people throw it out there as an insult, or a
way to remind someone to sit down and stop being ridiculous.
After a good friend
asked me whether I knew anyone who has killed themselves, I reexamined my
levity about Monday’s news, as well my tongue-in-cheek demand that people
occasionally “do us a favor and kill yourself.” The fact Young’s mother is a
religion professor at my alma mater further shamed me.
Suicide is not a joke, especially for black men. In 2010,
2,144 African Americans committed suicide, more than 80 percent of those deaths
were men — like Thompson.
What does Young have in common with the 1936 Heisman trophy
winner, Florida’s fifth governor, Bernie Madoff’s oldest son and Meriwether
Lewis, one of the men Thomas Jefferson trusted to map out the Louisiana
Purchase? Don’t rack your brain thinking about it, the answer is suicide.
Some news outlets do not mention suicides. Others mention
someone died, but not their cause of death. Celebrities, and pseudo
celebrities, are not the only people who take their lives. Those are the deaths
that receive the most attention.
Knowing that 105 people commit suicide daily is not as
sobering
as the fact there are hundreds of thousands of suicide attempts in America each year.
| If you know someone needs help, offer it. Facebook tributes in death are not as valuable as conversations in life. If you need assistance, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). |
The
American Association of Suicidology reports 38,364 people killed themselves in
2010, the most recent year statistics are available. White men accounted
for 27,422 suicides in 2010, far and away the most of any demographic.
Family, friends as well as spiritual leaders are great
resources to rely on in most circumstances. Mental health is not one of them.
The National Association of Mental Illness found African Americans tend to rely
on them, as opposed to licensed professionals. Part
of it is due to the stigma surrounding mental health.
Weakness is frowned upon because it does not mesh with the
protestant work ethic that so many falsely believe is what built America from
an agrarian society to the world’s preeminent superpower. Asking for assistance
is not a weakness. It’s an admission of strength.
Of course, all of that is easier said than done. Few want to
be labeled as the person who sought counseling for a mental health issue. That
means they suffer in silence.
Reality is suicide deaths outnumber murders in the United
States by a 2:1 margin. The Centers for Disease Control found there were 16,259
murders in 2010. Suicide may be a more personal form of violence, yet both
forms of violence leave people grieving in the finality of death.
Some may argue that suicide is the coward’s way out because
other people are left to grieve over a person who decided to end their life.
It’s hard to refute that argument. But the next time calling a suicidal person
a coward crosses your consciousness; ask yourself how you can help someone who
is going through a difficult time. It may save someone’s life.
Laughs and liveliness,
-Wb
