August 18, 2008
A lament for Howard Scott.
Howard Scott is only 17, but he may be serving three life sentences. I knew him. I could see he was going to have a troubled future. He was sixteen and already had two children, at least that is what I was told. One day he told me his girlfriend had a miscarriage. I lamented then as well as now.
Maybe he’s just a statistic now. Another young black man who made bad decisions and will pay for the rest of his life, but I think anyone who knew him could see it coming. I don’t want to excuse him for his actions, but I can’t believe someone that young could exist in the world Howard Scott must have grown up in and realize where his life was going. Young people are full of passion and foolishness, so as adults, we must be the ones who reveal the truth.
I should say at this point that I have complete sympathy for the parents of Tyler Binstead. When I was Scott’s age I knew a boy and his girlfriend who were involved in a similar situation. The girl survived, but was nearly beaten to death and the boy’s body was recovered several days later after the police were able to find it in a rock quarry. It was the first time I knew someone who was murdered. So, for the Binstead’s I feel your pain and you are not alone.
However, because I knew Mr. Scott, I know his story is a tragedy as well. I’m sorry I couldn’t help him see the light.
The truth of what happened that day may never come to light, but the truth that both Tyler and Howard, for all intents and purposes, are dead is undeniable and it is a tragedy.
You can read the article in the Times Dispatch, but it is here at Southside Richmond that I will be trying to pull the community together . . . I want to say what my reason is for making this effort, I want to say that it is in order to prevent more stories like this, I want to say to save people from becoming a Binstead or a Scott, but it seems impossible or phony . . . I’m not a savior or hero, but I believe in doing what is right, and more than anything what is right is healing Richmond.
If you choose to comment, I only ask that you respect the humans involved, for I understand the feelings of both sides, the victim and the assailant, and it is very personal. Maybe you’re thinking Scott was an animal and he deserves what he got, but I knew him and he wasn’t an animal. However, I never liked him. He was angry, rude, self-centered, and miserable, but even still, he was a young man who needed guidance and someone to love him. I’d like to think that under better circumstances Mr. Scott would have made better choices.
How did it come to be? I don’t believe that people are born evil or good. I do believe some people are insane and harm others because of that, but Mr. Scott isn’t insane. I don’t think the average person can imagine his life. Sadly, the situation he grew up in and the decisions he made are not entirely uncommon in Richmond.
Let’s work together to make Richmond a place that doesn’t raise tragedies.
Where did Mr. Scott go to school?
Oh boy, there are so many ways we could open this discussion….To me, it comes down to finding solutions within the black community. Solutions for unwed, single mother households, teen pregnancy, rising incarceration statistics, poor graduation rates, etc….Frankly, I honestly believe it starts with a lack of real leadership within the Afro-American community. There is also a dearth of positive black role models. SOMEONE needs to step up and tell young black men (like the one in the article) that life has a lot to offer regardless of your skin color. Opportunity is there for everyone *IF* you are willing to go after it and work your ass off. The cycle of drugs and crime and poverty and incarceration has GOT to stop and I believe it begins the day a child is brought into the world.
After reading the Times Dispatch article I noticed there was no mention of Mr. Scott apoligizing for his actions. No mention of any remorse. Is this just not being reported by the news?
As far as sympathy for Mr. Scott well I am sorry he did not have the best of role models, parents or guidence but that still is no excuse for robbing people. No matter what a person was raised in they know right and wrong. I have not seen anything about his situation prior too the robbery/homicide but I did read that when he was arrested he was setting next to a bag of phones presumably stolen form other victims with a bit more luck than Tyler Binstead, a young man trying to better himself by going to college. Has anyone talked or reported about his life and upbringing? Maybe he didn’t have it any better than Mr. Scott. Or maybe he worked hard and made it to college and was fortunate to have parents who did the same and were able to afford a education for there son.
I am a journalism professor at JMU and a freelance magazine writer. I am trying to write a story for Richmond Magazine on exactly what the author of the column is talking about–the impact of this on Howard Scott’s family. In these types of cases, the media most often focuses on the pain of the victims’ families, and that’s understandable. But in this case, Mr. Scott’s family has certainly suffered as well, and this story is rarely told.
If you have any suggestions about how I might go about covering this side of the story, please let me know.
yall dnt no him 4 2 sitting there talkn bout him and he didnt kill him he was wit people he didnt even no hes not a bad person and 4 all yall that keep runnin yall mouth need 2 mine yo own business and 4 da person who said they no him no u dnt no him he had 2 kids at the 17 so i would like if yall mine yall own business