Seven year-old Julian King was found dead in an abandoned vehicle on the west side of Chicago. He had been shot in the face.
Lately, for those of us living within an hour's drive from Chicago, it is not shocking to learn that a child has been murdered on the South or West side of the city. For the better part of almost two years, it seems criminals have taken the NO Child Left Behind mandate seriously.
At last count, more than 30 Chicago Public School kids have been killed in the past year.
But Julian's death has made national news. See, he wasn't just another happy-go-lucky Chicago kid. He was the nephew of an Oscar winning actress and rising star in the music industry, Jennifer Hudson. Sadly, Ms. Hudson's mother and brother were also found murdered a couple of days earlier.
It hurts even when God takes a child's life without any explanation. It is worse when a child's life is taken by others. It is more sad when that child's death is given more attention only because he or she may be related to a popular public figure. It is most sad when the life expectancy of a demographic is directly correlated to the neighborhood they live. Who wants to tell a child that to live a long life, you need to move? No one does, but it's a reality.
Yes, many of us may have been told to go away to college, see the world, learn a lot. But not just to make it to see your 18th birthday.
Kids in Iraq have a greater chance of living to voting age than some Chicago kids. That's because we're spending billions of dollars to protect their neighborhoods.
Make a dollar; call United Van Lines; move out. That is the key to survival.
Look at the gangsta rappers. They don't live in the hoods they rap about or depict in their videos. No, no. And they don't marry the girls in their videos either.
Not even the mayor of Chicago will admit that moving out of some parts of his city is the only way to survive, and he has been the mayor of his city longer than any other man. He works harder to maintain better relations with a sister city in Ireland than he does with certain parts of his own city.
By the way, Julian's former hometown has a ban on private citizens owning guns. Go figure.
How's that bull crap working, Mayor Daley?
Here is an interesting stat to chew on. Over 100,000 black kids will be killed in Chicago before the Cubs win a World Series.
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Comments
What we have is a situation when systemically racist policies (although their often thought to be race neutral) meet the staggering apathy and hopelessness of a community. And that truly is sad.
You miscontrued my point. I was not blaming rappers for anything. I actually credited rappers for having the common sense to flee their crime ridden communities to preserve their own lives.
Yes, whites kill whites. But they do it in small bunches periodically. Blacks kill blacks daily as if it's tradition. Compare and contrast white/white killings to black/black killings. There is no comparison.
No racial policy makes a black person kill another black person. MY nephew was just a coward when he shot and killed an innocent, mentally ill black youth.
If just two white kids had been violently killed in Mayor Daley's hood, there would be more cops there than soldiers used in the Iraqi surge.
I work with 30-60 black youth on a daily basis. Not one days goes by without my thanking them for respecting each other and for not acting like they are from Chicago.
By the way, we can see Chicago from our front porch in Kankakee.
When Kanye West said Bush doesn't care about blacks, I think he was off base. He should have looked at the absence of real concern by his own mayor.
I think you're right. For people who live in those parts of Chicago that you describe, the safest thing might be to just move.
What you say is so true. And it amazes me that we will spend so much money AROUND the world and we seem to neglect our own. And I support those initiatives as well. But we need to have a focus to rescue, support, mentor save our kids.
Did you hear about the sex trafficking here in California? 47 children. The 47 children ranged in age from 13 to 17, and all but one are female. 10 had been reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
How do you shoot a child in the face. The world should be enraged.
Even in early 20th century America in the European-immigrant communities (Italian, Jewish, Irish), we see violence was in direct proportion to the opportunity they had or did not have in society. Although, personal responsibility is key, but our choices do not happen in a policy-free or injustice-free vacuum.
With that being said, I am offering some "explanations" not "excuses." Because I have gone to far too many funerals in my lifetime; I've seen far too many lives snuffed out before they were 18; and have raised 3 children (24, 20, 19 and still raising a 4th, age 7) that I hold to the highest standards of achievement and caring, to make any excuses for the pain and suffering these acts of violence cause.
I don't think that our views are in opposition to one another, I just wanted to add my perspective to what I believe is a very well-written and impassioned piece.
Edward: I knew we agreed on a lot. I belive we have both seen many of the same tragedies. By the grace of something, we both survived. I had my step-dad. Continued success to you.
Karol: I did not hear anything about the child sex trade. In Cali? No, way. Jesus comes to mind when I do, though. I could be off a bit, but I think he said something about child abusers to the effect: "tying a rope with a big brick around their legs and tossing their asses in the deepest part of the Pacific." But our advanced civilization doesn't seem to permit us to protect out young.
If Calif folks would stay out of grown gay folks bedrooms, they could do more to protect its children citizens.
Umbrel: Perental supervision is almost an oxymoron these days.
Thank you all.