Chicago: City of Big Shoulders and Gun Violence

I just received the following notification on my news feed from the Chicago Tribune: “When Chicago reached 474 homicides for the year on Friday, it appeared the city had surpassed the toll for all of 2015.

But Police Department officials suddenly announced Friday that their homicide count for the past year was wrong. Eight more homicides actually took place, bringing the total to 481 for 2015, they said.”

How disturbing is that? Almost 500 people were shot and 90 people were killed in Chicago in August alone! Where else does that happen except maybe in a war zone?

Chicago is a great city with so much to offer. Unfortunately, there are a couple of neighborhoods on the South and West sides where the vast majority of these killing take place. The vast majority of the shootings are gang related.

Sadly, there were nearly as many killings every month in Chicago during the 1990’s. Back then the police and gang leader talked to each other and things settled down. The police department and the gangs aren’t talking anymore. The result is mind numbing, seemingly endless shootings. Many of the victims are children.

Chicago’s leaders have a deer in the headlights look to them because they have been unable to get a handle on the problem. The mayor is more concerned about making sure pensions are being funded. The police leadership can barely keep up with ongoing investigations of police officers shooting unarmed black men. Everyone seems to be distracted and unable to focus on the root cause of the gang violence.

In Chicago, many you men and women in the inner city, mostly Latino and African-American have few prospects for jobs and to get a good education. These are not new problems. They have been around for many years. Yet, city leaders seem to spend their time trying to attract new museums and tourist dollars. That’s fine, but if they don’t get the gang problem in check they will not have to worry about tourists because there won’t be any.

Chicago’s mayor has been on a mission to bring more corporate headquarters into the city with generous tax breaks. I amazed that those tax breaks don’t also include a written commitment from those corporations to help fund education and job training programs for inner city youth. It seems like such a simple idea. I’m sure some of those companies have their own programs. But it’s not enough. It has to be part of the city’s overall strategy. Encourage corporations to relocate to Chicago but also tell that the move comes with the moral obligation to help the city lift up its underprivileged. I would bet that fewer young men and women look to gangs for their support if they have better options.

Like I said, it sounds so simple. All it takes is the courage and commitment to get it done.