Similar level of violence observed throughout Sub-Saharan Africa,Haiti, Detroit, E. St Louis, Oakland, and in the more “diverse” areas of South America.
Twenty-five Chicago Public School students have been murdered thisyear. As shocking as that number is, there is another figure that’svery disturbing as well: the number of students who have been shot in a16-month period is enough to fill an elementary school – 508 students,according to school officials. CBS station WBBM-TV in Chicago’s ChiefCorrespondent Jay Levine asks why, and what is being done to stop it.
Think about it. By this time tomorrow, odds are at least one ChicagoPublic School student will have been shot. By this time next week,there’ll be seven. It’s a staggering, frightening, shameful statisticthat judging from the reaction we got, those who could do somethingaren’t anxious to talk about.
“No one really wants to address this but we need to call for a state of emergency,” said Pastor Roosevelt Watkins. […]
But it’s not only a police problem.
“There’s a fear in the neighborhood because the people fearretaliation,” Pastor Watkins said. “We need to go back to the oldschool way where we had neighbors knowing each other, buildingneighborhood block clubs.”
There’s plenty of blame to go around – from neighbors’ blind eyes tobroken families to schools without truant officers to police manpower.Until everyone starts working together, joining forces instead ofpointing fingers, the shooting will undoubtedly continue.