Midnight basketball
Midnight basketball is a community-based initiative that emerged in the mid-1980s and gained prominence in the early 1990s as a potential crime-prevention strategy. The program primarily aims to engage youth in structured basketball activities during late-night hours, offering them a safe environment away from street crime. This initiative was part of a broader response to rising violent crime rates, particularly among inner-city youth, and aimed to provide constructive alternatives that would deter criminal behavior.
Supporters, including law enforcement officials and community leaders, touted the program's success in reducing various types of crime, with reports of significant decreases in youth drug-related offenses in participating neighborhoods. However, the program faced criticism from some political figures and commentators who viewed it as an ineffective use of government resources, particularly in the context of a national "tough on crime" mentality that favored punitive measures over rehabilitation. Despite its positive outcomes in some areas, funding challenges in the early twenty-first century limited the expansion and sustainability of midnight basketball programs. Overall, while the impact of midnight basketball may not have been universally recognized, many participants and advocates continue to highlight its positive influence on individual lives and community dynamics.
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Midnight basketball
Identification Crime-prevention program designed for youths
Date Began in 1985
Later considered a secondary program for attempting to control inner-city crime, midnight basketball, like other neighborhood-oriented programs in the United States, lost community support and necessary funding for its survival.
The concept of midnight basketball was first proposed in the mid-1980’s. However, it was not until the early 1990’s that midnight basketball gained notoriety as a possible crime-prevention program. President Bill Clinton’s 1994 crime bill provided funding for neighborhood crime-prevention strategies. The primary rationale for funding neighborhood programs such as midnight basketball was a proactive approach by the government and community leaders to deter crime by providing youths with character-building activities. Police chiefs, city mayors, and even Sports Illustrated praised midnight basketball for its success in aiding in the decline of violent offenses, property crimes, and nonviolent juvenile offenses.
The major flaw with midnight basketball was not found in the concept itself but rather was evident in the era in which such programs were established. The 1990’s witnessed an increase in violent crimes, especially by inner-city youth. Also, the national consensus in the 1990’s was to “get tough on crime” and punish offenders with incarceration. Midnight basketball was seen by some as a poorly developed scheme. Senator Bob Dole, the 1996 Republican presidential candidate, many members of Congress, and even radio personality Rush Limbaugh criticized governmental spending for a crime-prevention program aimed at urban neighborhoods as a waste of money and as having a potentially racist undertone.
Communities that started midnight basketball programs, such as those in Maryland, saw a 60 percent drop in youth drug-related crime. Inner-city public housing neighborhoods saw as high as a 78 percent reduction in juvenile crime. This trend was seen in Atlanta; Kansas City, Missouri; and Fort Worth, Texas.
The goal of midnight basketball programs was to remove youth from the streets and allow them to become attached to a formal group rather than criminal elements. Along with governmental funding, community support from police, businesses, and private donors funded such programs. The goal was twofold: keep participants busy and provide positive role models, and keep participants crime-free while providing job skills. Guidelines were strict, and participation in crime would often bar an individual from playing midnight basketball. Although many inner-city programs were developed in the early 1990’s, federal cutbacks and lack of city funding limited the potential growth of the midnight basketball in the early twenty-first century.
Impact
The desire for midnight basketball programs had not declined by the late 1990’s, but federal and local spending for programs deemed “expendable” had shifted to other crime-prevention programs. Nevertheless, even if the intended impact of midnight basketball was not found on a large scale, testimonials of a small percentage of Americans, including some National Basketball Association (NBA) athletes, praised midnight basketball for its positive influence on their lives.
Bibliography
Farrell Walter, et al. “Redirecting the Lives of Urban Black Males: An Assessment of Milwaukee’s Midnight Basketball League.” Journal of Community Practice 2, no. 4 (May, 1996): 91-107.
Kennedy, P., et al. “Round Midnight.” Sports Illustrated 85, no. 8 (August, 1996).