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Darrent Williams, a second-year cornerback for the NFL's Denver Broncos, died of a drive-by shooting while in his stretch limosine this morning in Denver.

As always happens when a young person is cut down in the prime of their life, the first question is "why?"

My attention is drawn to an article written by Byron Williams, a pastor from Oakland:

Black culture today, for all intents and purposes, is thug culture.

While not a blanket statement, we would be fooling ourselves if we did not acknowledge that this is the reality for too many young African Americans, regardless of economic status. For every African-American parent who spends painstaking hours trying to invoke messages of responsibility and hard work, there are larger, more influential forces overtly and covertly saying such things are reserved for "whites only."

How did we go from aspiring to excellence to glorifying debased and otherwise degrading behavior? Can this all be blamed on racism or the lack of affirmative action?

Today's so-called black culture finds its roots in prison behavior.

This does not mean that young whites and other groups do not engage in similar practices. What I am witnessing through personal, nonscientific observation is a black community embracing these behaviors so that they become synonymous with who they are. There appears to be no line of demarcation that separates the cultural statement de jour from their reality.

I do not know if Pastor Williams is black or white, although he is writing in a newspaper for the California Bay Area black community.  I do know that he is absolutely right.

Darrent Williams, rest in peace.