Its not just a song that William Shatner resurrected. Its a sentence that many inner-city people utter every day of their lives. Its a way of life. My co-host Edmond Easton recently wrote an article about the death of Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor that detailed the tragedy. Its been analyzed and gone over hundreds of times. What most people can chalk it up to is jealousy. Those kids went into Taylor’s house to rob him, not knowing he was home. They were shocked to see him there and shot two bullets blindly into Taylor. Some say Taylor’s death is a product of his fame and his environment. But what was he supposed to do? Not be so great at football? Don’t make it the NFL?

Normally, its not my style to beat a dead horse, so to speak. Sean Taylor’s death really made me think about other situations that happened that didn’t get as much attention. One situation in particular is what happened with the prized high school running back from California, Jamiel Andre Shaw, or Jas for short. Shaw was an exciting young prospect who was gunned down a few yards from his home. Shaw, who was described as “a Houdini on the football field” was being recruited by Arizona and Stanford. Jamiel rushed for over 1,000 yards, with an average of 14 yards per carry and 10 touchdowns. Off the field, he was just a regular high school student. Not a gang member, just a regular kid who one day dreamt of becoming a sports agent. What did he do to deserve getting shot? Absolutely nothing. Two latino gangmembers in a car asked him where he was from, to find out if he had any gang affiliation, and they shot him when he didn’t answer. Blocks away from his house.

These two unrelated deaths are signs of what the world has become. A world where 24 year old man can die because of who he is and what he has. A world where a 17 year old kid can die because of where he lives. Shaw’s parents, Jamiel Sr. and Anita Shaw, tried all they could to get Jamiel through high school and into college. They kept him safe for as long as they could. His father was quoted in the news, asking the public for help. “This is not Iraq; this is L.A., you should be able to walk down the damn street — you should be able to walk the street without getting killed. Somebody’s seen what happened: Somebody knows. Please help us.”

In reality, there is nothing we can do to stop it. Its one of those things where people who aren’t directly affected will see these stories, feel bad for a little while and go back to their lives. The police can’t do much more than suppress it as much as they can. The government can’t do much more than try to make stricter gun laws. In the end, its all just a lesson in futility.