Chicago’s Gun Violence — a reflection

We’ve been here before and know the way out.

A 1939 Home Owners’ Loan Corporation “Residential Security Map” of Chicago shows discrimination against low-income and minority neighborhoods. The residents of the areas marked in red were denied FHA-backed mortgages. Photograph by Frankie Dintino

It was my last semester in college, mid-week, the sun was shining bright through the windows of Ellis Library. I was researching The Gettysburg campaign for a course presentation, when I read the news, “Student Hadiya Pendleton shot dead after she performs in Obama inauguration.” As I continued the article my mind raced: did I miss something last week? Was she killed in DC? These questions would be answered just a few sentences later. The gut wrenching truth would reveal that a beautiful 15-year old girl, whose future had been brighter than the sun, was shot in the back while with her friends after school in a nearby park in Chicago.

…eight-years later, few past memories make me so angry.

In writing this reflection I strongly wish I could write that Hadiya was the last child casualty of this Great Plague — regrettably, that wouldn’t be so.

An honest reflection requires identifying truths and the most important is this: in Chicago the highest concentration of gun violence happens on Chicago’s South and West sides, specifically Chicago Black neighborhoods that are economically distressed. The Chicago Tribune, a local publication that tracks Chicago Violence provides a heat map of shooting incidents here. However, this American…