Here’s a thought-provoking remark from the editors of the Sun-Times:
Residents in the West Side’s 60624 ZIP code wouldn’t be inflating the truth if they made that proclamation. It would be an understatement, particularly when it comes to the dangers young men face, a new study funded by the National Institutes of Health found.
The risk of men between the ages of 18 and 29 losing their lives in a shooting in this part of the city is higher than the death rate of U.S. soldiers who fought in Afghanistan or Iraq. Of the three other cities researched — Philadelphia, New York and Los Angeles — only Philadelphia has neighborhoods where the chance of a deadly encounter was higher than in recent military action overseas.
Yet the death rate is worse in the 60624 ZIP code, which includes Garfield Park, as the Sun-Times’ Frank Main points out in his story on the study.
The solutions are obvious but somehow the editors never arrive at it. There need to be other social supports than criminal gangs for young men in those zip codes. And the gangs must be removed root and branch. The first requires social change and the second requires vigorous law enforcement.
Blaming it on “systemic racism” is a cop out.
There’s another issue which may or may not be distinctive to Chicago. The street gangs and political leaders are in cahoots. They may call them “community activists” but they’re street gangs. It’s like Sinn Fein and the IRA. What’s the difference? There is none. One is political and the other the armed wing of the Irish republican movement. But one hand washes the other.
Garfield Park?? Are you sure about this? I’ve been told the real problems are in Bannockburn and Sugar Grove.
Asking for a friend (steve).
Further, we all know community organizers are saints, destined for partnership with Emil Jones………………..and the presidency.
“It’s like Sinn Fein and the IRA. What’s the difference? There is none. ”
There is a very important difference, namely the goals and purpose of the organizations.
Sinn Fein and the IRA had political goals and an actual political community and constituency. They eventually became part of the political process. Gangs, by contrast, are criminal organizations for largely criminal purposes. They are not going to become political actors representing a political community in the way that Sinn Fein did.
Chicago police estimate there are 50 to 70 gangs with 100,000 to 150,000 members. I doubt that the number of shooters is more than 1,000, otherwise the numbers of people shot each week would be very much higher than a few dozen.
The total number of shooters nationwide is likely to be 100,000 or so.
This would seem to be a manageable problem, except for the protections offered by local politicians. So, the real target is the gang-politico alliance. That puts the problem into the unsolvable category.