'Tired of burying our children': 4 toddlers shot in Chicago amid surge in gun violence

Grace Hauck, USA TODAY

USA TODAYJuly 2, 2020, 5:20 PM EDT

CHICAGO – Four toddlers have been shot in the past two weeks during what has been one of the deadliest periods in Chicago's history of violence against children, sparking community outrage over a lack of accountability and a long history of disinvestment in Black and brown neighborhoods.

"What was called the Windy City is now turning into the Bloody City. If we don’t stop this, then Chicago’s going to become known as not a safe place for children. Once that happens, we’ve lost the soul of our city," said Rev. Michael Pfleger, an anti-gun violence activist and priest at Saint Sabina Church in the South Side Auburn Gresham neighborhood.

"I've been here 45 years, and I’ve never seen the meshing together of hopelessness, despair and anger all together at this level. Because of that, we have the fallout of unacceptable behavior," Pfleger said.

More than 100 people were shot over Father's Day weekend, including at least 12 minors, five of whom died, according to data maintained by the Chicago Sun-Times. The Sun-Times weekend totals include incidents that happen on Mondays, while Chicago police weekend totals do not.


Jasean Francis, 17, and Charles Riley, 16, were fatally shot that Saturday evening in South Chicago, according to police. About an hour later, Mekhi James, 3, was fatally shot while sitting in the backseat of his father's car in Austin. Amaria Jones, 13, was fatally shot inside her South Austin home while showing her mother a TikTok dance, according to family. Michael Ike, 15, was fatally shot in Smith Park. That Monday, another 3-year-old girl was also shot in Chicago Lawn.

"Our city's collective heart breaks to hear the unfathomable news of a 3-year-old boy who was shot and killed tonight on Chicago's West Side," Mayor Lori Lightfoot wrote on Twitter. "There are simply no words to describe such a heinous, unconscionable act of cowardice to shoot at a toddler."

James had been returning home from getting a haircut, according to Cynthia Williams, CEO of The Austin People's Action Center.

"I heard the gunshots ringing out, thinking they were fireworks – never did I imagine that one of those bullets took the life of a 3-year-old innocent baby," Williams said in a statement. "I cannot get the sound of those gunshots out of my head."

Jones was the youngest of five children and wanted to be a lawyer, according to her family. West Side Pastor Ira Acree was expected to deliver Jones' eulogy Friday.

"She had vision. She had ambition. And she was able to see beyond the challenges of her own immediate context. She wanted to be a lawyer and showed promise in school," Acree said. "But her life was taken away. The hope thief came and took her away before she really began to live."

The violence continued last weekend – when more than 63 people were shot, 16 of them fatally – and into this week, according to the Sun-Times tracker.

On Saturday, Sincere Gaston, 20 months old, was shot and killed while riding in a car with his mother on the way home from the laundromat. Hours later, Lena Nunez, 10, was killed by a stray bullet that went through her grandmother’s apartment window in Logan Square. Late that night, an 8-year-old girl was sitting on a couch in West Englewood when a stray bullet came through the window and grazed her head.

"The pain of losing a child never goes away," Lightfoot said on Twitter Saturday. "As a mother, I am tired of the funerals. I am tired of burying our children."

The mayor wrote that it's "on all of us to double down on our all-hands-on-deck public safety efforts" and to work with police officers, street outreach teams, trauma support workers, community and faith-based partners.

Gaston's father is a member of Chicago CRED, one of the many community organizations working to combat gun violence in the city.

"The heartbreaking murder of a one-year-old child whose father is in our program is forcing us to reflect on just how broken our society has become. The economy, the criminal justice system, and the community have all failed this innocent child and far too many others caught in the cross-fire of gun violence," Chicago CRED said in a statement.

The violence continued this week. On Tuesday night, a 3-year-old girl was playing in a yard in West Englewood when she was shot in the chest as a gunman in a passing car opened fire, minutes after a 15-year-old boy was shot blocks away.

Earlier in June, a 9-year-old girl was among four people shot in Auburn Gresham, and a 5-year-old boy was shot in the buttocks in Back of the Yards.


Ken Johnson, Director of Programs for I Grow Chicago, a group working to address the root causes of violence, said he visited the home of the wounded 8-year-old on Wednesday, the girl's ninth birthday, to deliver some food and a gift. When he arrived at the home, he could hear people singing "happy birthday" inside, Johnson said. The girl came to the door to greet him.

"Upon leaving the home, I thought about how frighteningly close this family came to possibly not being able to sing that particular song today and how many families will not be able to laugh and celebrate their loved ones after these past two violent weekends," Johnson said.

Family and community members have decried the lack of arrests in the murders. Jones' mother, Lawanda, is calling for her killer to turn themselves in. Two $25,000 rewards are are being offered for information that leads to arrests in the James and Gaston cases. Last week, a 19-year-old man was arrested and charged in the murder of the two teen boys killed over Father's Day weekend – one of the few cases to see an arrest thus far.

In advance of Fourth of July weekend, which has been historically violent, the Chicago Police Department announced plans Monday to deploy an additional 1,200 officers to "hot spots" around the city. New Police Superintendent David Brown said officers would also be arresting young people at "drug corners" in an effort to stem the surge of shootings.

"The street corner open-air drug market is the pipeline to shootings and murders in Chicago," Brown said in a press conference Monday. "When they have no consequence, violence continues. Full stop."

Brown's comments spurred backlash from activists and city residents.

"That’s unacceptable," Pfleger said. "That’s the same old policing, military mentality of locking people up. No. Just do the police job they’re supposed to do. Be vigilant in the communities. But don’t take away people’s human rights by holding them in jail til Monday."

While criminal sexual assault, robbery, aggravated battery and theft are all down this year compared to the same time last year, murder is up 34%, and shootings are up 45%, according to police data as of June 28. At least 1,364 people have been shot so far this year, and 324 people have been murdered, police report. Those numbers parallel the violence rates that Chicago saw in 2016, when the city saw an historic rise in murders.

Arrests, street stops and traffic stops all declined in June compared to the same time last year, according to police statistics. That's because fewer people have been on the streets due to the coronavirus, Brown said in the Monday press conference. While officers continued to patrol the streets, "everything else came to a stop, and these murdering, evil bastards have taken advantage of that," he said.

Officer morale has also been down in recent weeks, as a result of heightened tensions amid police brutality protests, increased confrontations involving firearms and the murders of children, First Deputy Anthony Riccio said.
'We must address the root issues'

On Wednesday, communities on the South and West sides came together to mourn the children lost and discuss how to address the surge in gun violence.

Residents of the Austin neighborhood held a discussion with faith and community leaders to brainstorm solutions. Community members in Auburn Gresham painted the words "demand justice" along the street. In Englewood, Gaston's family and community organizations came together for a vigil, where they released doves and balloons in his memory.

"The shootings, violence and deaths in communities within and outside of Englewood are the result of much more than drug/gang conflicts or the proliferation of illegal guns or criminal sentencing and bond amounts," Johnson said. "I believe that we must address the root issues that continue to plague our most challenged communities; poverty, lack of education, jobs resources and the resultant social inequality."

Anti-gun violence activists, led by Pfleger, planned to hold a rally Thursday night to "demand killings of all black lives stop."

"We believe that, number one, federal, state, county and city governments fail to give the investment and the resources that our communities need – that they’re killing us. We can’t continue to have abandoned and neglected neighborhoods that look like third-world countries," Pfleger said. "People are no longer going to tolerate this neglect, which was put in our face again with COVID-19."

More than 52,000 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in Chicago, and 2,611 have died. A USA TODAY analysis of ZIP code data found that, in Chicago and nationwide, low-income and minority communities have been disproportionately affected by the virus.

Pfleger said the activists were also demanding an end to police brutality and calling on communities to "speak out and take responsibility for our blocks."

"This July Fourth weekend, we got to start here. This has always been a bad weekend in violence. We must turn that around. The last two weekends have been absolutely horrible and unacceptable," he said. "The community must draw a line."

Chicago CRED said it planned to have hundreds of people on the streets this weekend to mediate disputes, protect families and create a "positive presence" in our neighborhoods.

"It's time to rethink public safety, refocus police on only the most violent crimes and use social service agencies and outreach workers to help address community issues," CRED said. "We hope not only to save lives this weekend but also to help steer young men at risk towards a safer path in life."

As part of her plan to invest in the city's South and West sides, Lightfoot this week announced the recipients of $11 million in grant funding to support projects in two neighborhoods. She also announced project finalists for $5.4 million in grants to small businesses; nearly 90% are minority-owned, and half are located along commercial corridors being targeted through the investment program, according to the mayor's office.

"For all of our focus on this weekend of public safety, (it) doesn't end this weekend, or this summer, or this year," Lightfoot said in a press conference Thursday. "If we are truly to reduce the epidemic of gun violence and make every neighborhood safe and secure, we need to continue working to reverse the circumstances that underpin it – the circumstances that lead people to feel like their only option is the street, gangs and drugs."

Chicago's beaches were expected to remain closed over the weekend, when temperatures could climb into the 90s, and all firework shows were cancelled.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chicago shootings: Toddlers, minors killed; communities seek solutions


https://www.yahoo.com/news/tired-burying-children-chicago-sees-194406220.html

I’ve heard that there have been more gun purchases in Illinois in 2019 then any other state based on background checks.

It's about time liberals started arming themselves.

All of these topics are deserving of discussion. The problem is when people act like we should do nothing to address other problems now.

I've accomplished something nobody on this board could ever have imagined happening. A feat unimaginable throughout time and space.

I've gotten you and vers on the same side.

You're welcome.

I agree with Glenn. An interesting topic of discussion.

I don't think this will get much traction on here.

What exactly is that cause you keep talking about again?

I agree with Glenn. An interesting topic of discussion.

I've brought up Chicago twice. Like in the history of this board. Twice. Yet, you and Rocket act like it is the norm.

I brought it up this time because I knew you guys would ignore the murder of children. They aren't important to you.

Getting a guaranteed income is more important. Defunding the police is more important. Y'all keep driving away those that actually supported the cause. Great strategy.

j/c

It's surprising how little attention this thread is getting.

Another bloody and deadly weekend in Chicago...it must be time to tear down another statue and paint the streets in support of fewer $$$ for law enforcement.

Look away...look the other way.

We have different causes. I'm good w/that. And I will continue to oppose your cause of hate, bias, and division.

Look away...look the other way.

j/c

It's surprising how little attention this thread is getting.

Another bloody and deadly weekend in Chicago...it must be time to tear down another statue and paint the streets in support of fewer $$$ for law enforcement.

Look away...look the other way.

I think you're onto something. When you make a claim to be a self appointed expert on the black community, you should be telling them when to protest, how to protest, where to protest and what to protest.

That's how to support them.

Yeah, dictating what another race of people should be protesting and concerned with certainly makes for an interesting conversation.

"...self appointed expert on the black community..."

It's over-the-top rhetoric like that that keeps real discussion and change from having a chance.

"...self appointed expert on the black community..."

It's over-the-top rhetoric like that that keeps real discussion and change from having a chance.

To my white friends. If you think you know what it's like to be black in this world, I challenge you to read the profound and transformational post below. I am so grateful I did.

This is from Caroline Crockett Brock's facebook page:

I am a 45 year old white woman living in the south, and today was the first time I spoke frankly about racism with a black man.

When Ernest, my appliance repairman, came to the front door, I welcomed him in. As this was his second visit and we’d established a friendly rapport, I asked him how he was feeling in the current national climate.

Naturally, he assumed I was talking about the coronavirus, because what white person actually addresses racism head on, in person, in their own home? When Ernest realized I wanted to know about his experience with racism, he began answering my questions.

What’s it like for you on a day-to-day basis as a black man? Do cops ever give you any trouble?

The answers were illuminating.

Ernest, a middle-aged, friendly, successful business owner, gets pulled over in Myrtle Beach at least 6 times a year. He doesn’t get pulled over for traffic violations, but on the suspicion of him being a suspect in one crime or another.

Mind you, he is in uniform, driving in a work van clearly marked with his business on the side. They ask him about the boxes in his car--parts and pieces of appliances. They ask to see his invoices and ask him why there is money and checks in his invoice clipboard. They ask if he’s selling drugs. These cops get angry if he asks for a badge number or pushes back in any way. Every time he is the one who has to explain himself, although they have no real cause to question him.

Ernest used to help folks out after dark with emergencies. Not anymore. He does not work past dinnertime, not because he doesn’t need the business, but because it isn’t safe for him to be out after dark. He says “There’s nothing out there in the world for me past dark”.

Let me say that again. Ernest, a middle aged black man in uniform cannot work past dark in Myrtle Beach in 2020 because it’s not safe for him. He did not say this with any kind of agenda. It was a quiet, matter of fact truth.

A truth that needs to be heard.

When I asked Ernest what ethnic terms he gets offended at, he said that the most offensive term people use is ‘boy’.

Ernest has a bachelors in electronics and an associates in HVAC. He is not a ‘boy’, and the term ‘boy’ in the south implies inferiority in station and status. He came to Myrtle Beach and got a job at Hobart. The supervisor repeatedly used the term ‘boy’. Ernest complained. After several complaints Ernest was fired.

Ernest says most white people are a little scared of him, and he’s often put in a position where he has to prove himself, as though he’s not qualified to repair appliances.

After getting a job for 2 years at Sears appliance, Ernest started his own company, one he’s been running for several years. He is the best repairman we’ve had, and has taught me about washer dryers and how to maintain them myself, even helping me with another washer/dryer set and a dishwasher without charging me. I highly recommend his company, Grand Strand Appliance.

Ernest doesn’t have hope that racism will change, no matter who the president is. His dad taught him “It’s a white man’s world”, and he’s done his best to live within it.

When I asked him what I could do, he said, “everyone needs to pray and realize we’re all just one country and one people”.

I am a 45 year old white woman living in the south. I can begin healing our country by talking frankly with African Americans in my world---by LISTENING to their lived experience and speaking up. I can help by actively promoting black owned businesses. That’s what I can do today.

Let’s start by listening and lifting up. It’s that simple.
#listenandlift

=====

Edit: I asked Ernest if I could take his picture and post our conversation on facebook. He thought it was a great idea. As he left my house an hour later, he looked me in the eye and said, "If you ever march, or have a meeting on this topic, or want to change things in Myrtle Beach, I'll stand with you."
What a great idea. Let's begin standing together.
===

Edit: 1pm EST on 6/1. Ernest just called me and we had one of the sweetest moments, both laughing and crying about the response to this post. He started the conversation by saying, "Caroline, I don't know if I should kill you or kiss you--my phone is ringing off the hook!"

He doesn't have a FB profile, so he's coming over later so I can help him set one up. He's been absolutely overwhelmed, as have I, with the response. We're going to be sitting down together to read your comments. They mean so much. In addition, the Myrtle Beach city manager has contacted me and I'm getting all of us together to be sure this doesn't happen in our city any longer. THANK YOU WORLD.

Edit 6/2 9am. Just got off the phone with Ernest and the local news. They will be interviewing us today, and it will be on the local news in Myrtle beach tonight. I'll post it on my page later.

This is how we change our country. Normal folks. One town at a time.

Then maybe you should be standing with them in opposition to police brutality. Maybe you should see the importance of building trust between the police and the black community and how much that in and of itself could help improve the black community. Maybe you should see that only a small percentage of the protestors were involved in criminal activity and their actual message is an important one rather than try to distract from their message.

Wrongs being righted is a good thing. It may not be at the top in the order of priorities you see as to address black communities, but let me try to explain this again.

It's not up to any of us to tell people when, where, what or how to protest. That has gone on long enough. " Kaepernick shouldn't kneel during the anthem". " Kaepernick should do it on his own time." "There are more important things black people should be protesting."

They have been hearing objections to when, where and how they express themselves since the civil rights movement and before.

Are there other problems withing the black community? Of course there are. Do you think they are unaware of that?

So the choice is simple. You either support their efforts or you choose to try and dictate the conversation away from that. You either support their efforts or you try dictate to them what they should be more worried about.

I'm one who is willing to support their efforts and not make claims about what they should be doing. I'm one who believes all improvement is good improvement. As such I'll support such improvement.

The things I've mentioned doesn't take an expert to understand. It's a basic principal. It seems that since you claim to be so focused on accountability maybe we should hold the authority figures to the same standard.

Did you ever stop to think that if we don't hold the police accountable, why should they feel the need to be accountable?

So Pit, Rocket, Swish, etc...........

The problem is that it all has to work both ways for it to work.

If "black people" shouldn't be held accountable if police aren't held accountable, shouldn't it also stand, with your logic, that if "black people" aren't held accountable, police shouldn't be held accountable? (I use "black people" to echo BLM's language)

How about we hold everybody accountable for their own actions?

If white people can't tell black people how to protest, why can black people tell white people how to protest?

You have to be okay with People kneeling during the anthem. You have to say black lives matter, not all lives matter.

You complain about people trying to deflect from certain issues, but they aren't discrete issues. They interact with each other. You can't fix one of them by making a connected issue worse.

Complaining about an action from another group, while excusing or ignoring the same action in your group doesn't generally work well. As your logic went, if "they" aren't going to stop their brutality, why should "we" stop ours? The two problems are connected by brutality itself. The two sides complain about the same things, but only when the other side is doing it. The response is all too frequently to do the same thing they were complaining about the other side doing. You're racist, we're going to make stirring chants supporting our race/group and throw around demeaning generalities about your race/group in response.

It doesn't go away because both sides see their response as justified by the others same action. They don't seem to realize that their actions are causing the response, those actions causing the same response, in a vicious circle.

I thought we established with our rules of our gang that we wouldn’t engage fence riders?

Also, if we don’t like fence riders...why did we let Pit in?!

i have way more positive discussions with trump supporters than i do fence riders like yall. especially you, Vers.

so if you want me to listen to anything, jump off your high horse and savior complex, and then MAYBE ill consider it.

til then, kiss my black ass.

im not exaggerating when i say i much rather have this convo about black crime with Peen, TB, 40, and GM 10/10 over you. and it aint close.

why? because their opinion and behavior doesnt constantly change depending on the political climate. you go around in circles so freaking much on this board that nobody can actually describe what you stand for.

go read all your post since we've been here. your opinions literally change depending on who you're talking to. you and Bull are the same freaking person, like twins. i swear to god. i dont know what yall actually stand for.

It's odd how I was hailed as a moderate and OCD made it sound like I was pond scum for promoting candidates like Mayor Pete, Amy Klobuchar and Biden. (in that order)

Now I'm some alt left, radical progressive.

You keep beating the drum of Chicago like all the rest of the right wing does. You have no idea how much you resemble them these days do you?

Why don't you actually look at the murder rate per capita in American communities. It will show you that you're being nothing but a parrot.

Many communities have a higher murder rate than Chicago. Even many major cities have a higher murder rate than Chicago.

But you just keep trying to create distractions to take away from the changes people are trying make right now. You've gotten very good at it. Kudos.

Here we certainly have some common ground at least to an extent. But let me ask you this. Are every day citizens working for our government? Do they join in and choose a profession to "protect and serve" our society? You see, the police have an entire system standing behind them to enforce accountability from our citizens. The police have internal affairs where some police get to decide the actions of other police. If we expect the same sort of accountability from both, maybe we need to change the way the system works. But then that's the issue here isn't it?

So while we certainly agree that everyone is accountable for their own actions, we may disagree on what we should expect from those who have chosen to serve and protect. One would think they should be held to higher standard than those they are supposed to be "protecting us from".



So you don't see the KKK and white supremacists still being issue permits to protest? You don't see them getting police protection for their rallies?

Those who generally have a problem with terms like "Black Lives Matter" haven't bothered to actually look at the meaning behind it. But the left could certainly do a better job of how they package their message.



Actually building a higher level of trust between the police and the black community would help address and make a lot of issues better. Somewhere building blocks must be laid in order to build a foundation on. I do think distractions being made upon "which building blocks should be laid first" is counterproductive.



I'm not really sure why you think that the police who hold all the power and are sworn to protect and serve shouldn't be the ones who are willing to step up to the plate and accept accountability.

I'm also not sure why you think those that have undergone centuries of oppression would not be angry. Once again it seems from my point of view you expect everyone in the street to be as accountable if not more accountable than police officers. I mean if that were the case, we wouldn't need police officers in the first place.



Yet the police and the white race haven't undergone the conditions of the black community. Police brutality has been something left pretty much unchecked for generations. Maybe if people had taken notice generations ago, decades ago or even years ago it would not have come to this.

Do I agree with every tactic being used to fight against it, certainly not. Do I understand why it's gotten to the point where it's been ignored for so long people are willing to do almost anything to bring about a change to it? Most certainly.

now if any trump supporter want my honest assessment on black crime (again, sigh), let me know and ill drop some knowledge.

Wow, you are half human. And a trump supporter. Rare breed.

j/c:

--More money is allocated for educational purposes to the lower-economic schools. That is a fact.

but when guys like Clem, myself, and the white guys who constantly get labeled as having white guilt try to explain to you guys the very EASY steps we can take to atleast get the ball rolling in the right direction, we get NOTHING but pushback and lip service.

I will listen to rational comments and ideas and try to learn what can be done.

This problem has existed for a long, long time. I'm disappointed that discussions in this regard are more about a stance or belief than they are about solving the problem (not saying that you do/created that or that I am completely innocent in that regard).

Interesting read. I am glad that you took the time to share that. You have certainly painted a picture that has the feel of a vicious circle that is difficult - if not impossible for some - to escape.

To the quote above. I am very interested about the steps - easy or not - that can be taken to get the ball rolling in the right direction. I don't recollect reading about those specific steps...but if you write them out I WILL read them. I won't pay any attention to broad accusations or protests that I find offensive. However, I will listen to rational comments and ideas and try to learn what can be done.

This problem has existed for a long, long time. I'm disappointed that discussions in this regard are more about a stance or belief than they are about solving the problem (not saying that you do/created that or that I am completely innocent in that regard).

ive been looking at more history from those time periods.

when i look at the rise of those post-civil war european immigrants....i mean the time period was very different. and so i get why white americans have such a do or die mentality when it comes to making in america.

prior to the 1930's, you really did have to make it on your own. government was not coming through to save the day, and you really did have to pick yourself up by the bootstraps.

i get that.

but, i bet if i explained to you that this environment is the perfect recipe for good old fashion tribalism, you would agree with me. i mean after all, that environment led to italian, irish, and other ethnic mobs/gangs.

yet somehow, black gangs dont get that same level of understanding from white americans in this country. there is a lot of disdain shown to them that isnt shown to those european mobs, and a lot of that has to do with where they come from, and HOW they came here.

black americans are the ONLY demographic that did not voluntarily come to America on our own. we were forced here, those europeans weren't.

so i get frustrated when people say 'learn your history'. if white america knew their history, then they would know that your european ancestors brought the same bickering and tribalistic beefs to america that you had in Europe.

go look at european history while the colonies were being established.

i mean....come on guys. really seem like you white guys favorite pastime is War. it was literally non stop. yall were hellbent on killing each other and taking over other countries while killing each other.

i mean....ok.

but because of that nonstop history amongst EUROPEANS, blacks were looked at completely differently. you guys looked at each other still as people, but we were looked at as nothing more than farm animals, because thats ALL WE WERE to white america.

and that mentality didnt end in 1865. that mentality didnt end in 1964.

need i remind you white guys on this board that in 1964 when the civil rights act was passed, the majority of white americans still supported segregation?

need i remind you that white americans soldiers treated nazi POWs better than their fellow black american soldiers?

need i remind you that black soldiers were being caught by whites and lynched after fighting in WW1?

that didnt happen to the italians. that didnt happen to the irish.

because of the way we came to this country, the way we have been viewed, and in some ways continued to be viewed, will always be different than those minority communities that came here based on an american dream.

we are the only demographic that did not come to this country with that privilege. that MUST be acknowledged.

i think one of the easiest steps to take is to the end the drug war.

and that doesnt even help just minority communities. that helps everybody.

but our communities have been devastated by unjust and racist policies to the point that it has ruined our households. people of ANY race should be going to jail for no other reason that possession and use of drugs.

but white america has got to acknowledge the blatant hypocrisy shown in the criminal justice system when its white americans vs black. white people, in charge of the criminal justice system, decided to make coke carry a less charge that crack cocaine, because whites used coke and blacks and latinos used crack cocaine. dont get me started on weed. the system wasnt designed for rehabilitation either. you guys just straight up threw us in jail.

gave us a criminal record so that we can basically never hold a decent job again, then turn around and act like its our fault.

but now look at white america's response to the drug crisis going on in their communities right now. WSU, its so bad that you guys life expectancy dropped. those are facts. and yet look how white america is treating their crisis.

fresh needles? a clean place to shoot up? more funding for rehabilitation centers? making sure their lives arent ruined over a mistake?

^^^^^ WSU, there is no way in hell you can look at that, and tell me you dont get why black america would be absolutely filled with anger over the difference in responses to drug crisis in our communities.

i refuse to believe anybody with any sort of intelligence could look at those FACTS and go "yea, that sounds fair."

decriminalize drug USE, legalized weed, tax it, throw it to the ATF, and call it a day.

nothing can be fixed if we dont get the government out of the business of creating a profit stream for the criminal justice system and private prisons.

Great. And I have no time for hateful folks like you. There was a time when I had a whole lot of hope for you. But, you just become ugly as you aged. Keep spreading hate. It will get you places.

Fine, pick St. Louis, pick Baltimore, pick Detroit, pick Birmingham.. is it the fact that he picked Chicago that is really the issue here?

those are the ones who actually dictate how that money gets distributed and managed. and as DC and...sigh, Arch, has pointed out, those are the ones deciding to take cuts of that funding, AKA red tape.

In every major city in America here are are black organizations fighting to reduce crime in their neighborhoods. I actually posted a list of them for Chicago in one of the many, "But look at black on black crimes in Chicago!" threads. But it falls on deaf ears.

People keep telling me that schools get the same funding from the government, and if that is true, why do you think there is such a difference in the appearance of the schools and their assets, outside of the sports areas? As someone who has seen and been in both, what may you have seen, read, experienced or researched that would explain this?

So fn tired of the deafness.

you missed this line,
but when you go carrying pictures of chairman Mao
you aint gonna make it with anyone anyhow

He even new that the libs then were followers of Red China as they seem to be now smh

I’ve been talking about ending the war on drugs for decades on these boards. For all the reasons mentioned and many more. I can’t tell you of all the crap I’ve taken for those views over the years here, and much like Clem, I just gave up on that conversation, as well as other obvious topics. It just gets old and you get tired of arguing the same nonsense.

I feel even more strongly than I ever have about ending this ridiculous war. It’s killing and repressing people, and I’m ashamed of us that we keep this promoting this ongoing farce.