The mainstream media in general and The Commercial Appeal in particularlove to run stories that portray African-Americans, either individualsor the entire race, as victims. And yet they absolutely refuse to assign anyblame whatsoever to blacks for the environment they help create andperpetuate.
What does a city say to a young Memphis mother who is hit by anerrant bullet while sitting at home and then must lie down wounded onthe floor to protect her baby from other gunshots whizzing through thewalls?
What do you say to her, Mr. New Mayor? What do you say, honored church leader? What do you say, caring Memphian?
The Commercial Appeal spent weeks this summer and fall observing andliving in a place that 10 years of police records shows as the mostviolent neighborhood in the city. How violent? An analysis of crimereports for the 1300 block of Clementine reveal that an average of oneviolent crime has been reported every other day in that neighborhoodfor a decade.
The harrowing account of house cleaner Qunettia Robinson capturesthe personal cost of living in a crime-riddled apartment complex. Buther Clementine neighborhood is not unique. Research by the newspaperfound 40 city neighborhoods, which are home to more than 30,000 people,that suffer from similar patterns of violent crime.
Tough as those numbers seem, the statistics don’t begin to show theextensive, corrosive effects crime inflicts on the rest of Memphis. Thethousands of people living in fear. The pressures building for peopleto move away. The unintended consequences that crop up whenever morepeople pack guns and look suspiciously at their fellow Memphians.
Of course many in Memphis say they want to fight back. But toooften, the notion of fighting back starts — and ends — with quick-fixsolutions. More cops, more jails, more guns in private hands.
The problem is bigger than quick fixes. Hiring 300 more cops mayhelp, but the law enforcement dollars will run out and the jobapplicant pool will dry up before the waves of crime subside. It’sunworkable to suggest Memphis simply lock up every criminal in ourmidst. True enough, tougher sentencing laws for habitual and violentcriminals can help, but honestly, Memphis has too many criminals forthis to be the sole solution.
One study by Shelby County crime data expert John Harvey has tracked15,000 people living in Memphis who have been arrested 10 times ormore. Housing them in the county jail costs roughly $100 a day. If all15,000 were locked up tomorrow, that’s $1.5 million a day. A year ofincarceration for these repeat offenders would run a cool $547 million!
And telling every mom to get a gun? Well, it wouldn’t help the momin today’s story who got shot through the wall of her apartment. Itwon’t stop the criminal element from getting more guns for theirnefarious work. Guns, by themselves, won’t solve this cancer of crime,either.
And the cancer is growing. Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. BillGibbons just released his office’s annual report. Its statistics on therapid rise in juvenile crime offer a disturbing picture of what’scoming.
The DA’s office only prosecutes juveniles who are involved in felonycrimes or gun crimes. The number of those serious cases has jumped 50percent in just one year.
We’re cultivating an entirely new generation of potential criminalsright now. They are the kids coming up in through a maze of violent,drug-ridden, dysfunctional homes. A recent study of the kids showing upin a Memphis drug court found that those who had been busted for drugshad a sad history. Those who end up in drug court most often have beenthrough multiple sex partners, experienced violence in their homes,suffered from serious mental health problems and have terriblyabscessed and broken teeth.
Put this small study of 100 troubled kids in Memphis into this larger context:
— One in four African-American males who drop out of high schoolnationally end up in prison or mental wards, according to a studyreleased just a few days ago.
— In Memphis today, 40 percent of all African-American boys who begin high school don’t graduate with their class.
Memphis can’t prosper with these facts. How do you attract jobs,keep talented people and grow healthy neighborhoods when the tsunami ofat-risk, future offenders continues to build?
The Commercial Appeal’s ongoing series on crime in Memphis suggests one thing: It’s time to get real.
Hard, expensive interventions into damaging life cycles need tostart now. Things like fewer babies born to moms who can’t take care ofthem; more early-childhood education for kids from birth to age 3 whoselives already are at risk of being damaged; churches talking straightabout sex, drugs and family structures; stronger interventions injuvenile lives at risk; longer jail time for the incorrigibles.
It’s not a silver bullet we need. It’s an army of effort,coordinated, well-funded. Operation: Safe Community is a fine start.But it’s not enough. Too many political leaders, clergy and communityaction groups are hoarding their own money and pet ideas, or simplydodging the issues.
We don’t need more calls for blessings. We need a gut check. Have wegot the will to work together to reduce crime? Until the city unifiesto meet this scourge, the social, economic and personal facts of lifein Memphis aren’t likely to change.
Chris Peck is editor of The Commercial Appeal. Contact him at 529-2390 or at peck@commercialappeal.com.