JD Vance said, “The reality is kids do stupid things — especially young boys. Don’t focus on what kids say in group chats, focus on the real issues.”

But see, there’s another reality here.When it’s the boys in their community, it’s “let kids be kids.”When it’s the boys in our community, they’re old enough to be charged like adults.

The irony?The “kids” JD Vance is defending are only a few years younger than him.He’s 41, calling men in their late 30s “kids.”But when our 15- and 16-year-olds make mistakes — mistakes that don’t even come close to what those men said — they’re branded criminals for life.

Let’s talk about that.

Because right now, in Texas, there are young Black students — real kids — fighting for their future. Fighting to get back into their universities after doing something reckless, dumb, immature — like kids do. But where was the grace? Where was the empathy?They didn’t get the “they’re just boys” excuse. They got punished. Publicly.They got dragged, not defended.

JD Vance wants us to “grow up” and “focus on the real issues.”But this is the real issue.When white men say racist, violent, or disgusting things, they get to be “boys.”When Black youth slip up, they get to be “felons.”

Let’s be honest: you can celebrate the man with the mustache in your group chat and still keep your job, still keep your title, still keep your dignity.But if one of us posts something out of line, you call our employers, cancel our scholarships, strip our humanity, and tell us to learn accountability.

Vance says he’s 41, a father, and that he grew up in a different world. He warns his kids to be careful online — to remember that some “scumbag” might leak what they say.But maybe that’s the problem — some of y’all never grew up. You just got older and kept the same playground logic: my mistakes are forgivable, yours are criminal.

We got brothers who’ve been in and out of jail since they were 15 for doing what these “grown kids” did in a group chat.And the system made sure they never got to recover.

So nah, JD — it’s not just about growing up.It’s about growing the hell out of the double standards that let some communities stay innocent forever while others are never allowed to be young.

Free the ones who never got to be boys.Because your boys — they’re damn near middle-aged men still being treated like children.

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