While the nation revolts in anger against the violence being perpetrated on Blacks, one city not getting the attention it should is Chicago. Eighty people shot, 14 killed on the July 4th weekend? How does that not get our attention?
I followed the on-going deaths closely a year or so ago. Many of those murders were of Blacks. Few of them were solved. Chicago had more unsolved murders than most anyplace in the country. (Perhaps official counts have come down under new Mayor Lori Lightfoot, but I read a story of how the figures are being manipulated.)
Name their names? List the names of the 14 killed next time you go protesting, if you will. Those who killed George Floyd are at least brought to justice. Those being killed in Chicago are not being prosecuted because they are not being caught. Some suggest it is because not enough manpower is being assigned to those parts of the town, because they are just poor Black communities. If it were happening in the richer parts of town, justice would come down. Defund our police? Chicago seems to need more, not fewer police.
"The Windy City is becoming the Bloody City," said the Rev. Michael Pleger, noting Chicago is the experiencing its worst violence it has had in his 45 years there.
If we are going to curb the killings in Chicago, we need to start catching and prosecuting the killers. The killing won't stop if they know they can get away with it.
What can be done? Place a cop -- literally -- on every corner. If something goes down, they are right there to catch it. I read how there are 12,000 cops in Chicago. If that is not enough, hire more.
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