Violence in Chicago: A call to action but by whom?
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan traveled to Chicago Wednesday to talk about the rise in youth violence in that city and the brutal beating death of an honor student outside of a South Chicago high school last month.
As former CEO of Chicago Public Schools, Duncan has been criticized for school closings that some allege have worsened gang violence. Critics say feuding gangs now share the same school or cross “enemy territory” to get to school, increasing opportunities for confrontations. (See post a bit below on this issue.)
Honor student Derrion Albert was caught in the middle of one of those fights as he walked to his school bus and was beaten to death, a tragedy captured on a ubiquitous cell phone camera and broadcast to a shocked nation.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Ed Secretary Arne Duncan in Chicago this week. (AP Photo/John Smierciak)
Holder called the boy’s death “a call to action.”
But what sort of action? What can the federal government do to quell youth violence?
“Youth violence is not a Chicago problem any more than it is a black problem, a white problem or a Hispanic problem,” said Holder.
Is it a federal problem?
About 70 students have been murdered since the start of 2007 school term, mostly in their neighborhoods on the way to or from school, according to the New York Times.
What can the schools do when the communities around them are so unsafe that students are kicked to death walking to the school bus? Isn’t this a crisis for law enforcement rather than schools?
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32 comments Add your comment
lets call a spade a spade
October 8th, 2009
4:54 pm
“Youth violence is not a Chicago problem any more than it is a black problem, a white problem or a Hispanic problem,” said Holder”
BS!!!
Show me a predominately white school district that has suffered the same loss of life that CPS or even APS has suffered in the past couple of years and I’ll donate $200.00 to the charity of your choice!
Maureen Downey
October 8th, 2009
4:57 pm
Let’s call,
Given all the high school mass shootings in recent years – all by white shooters in largely white districts — I think you could be out $200.
Certainly, you would consider a student opening fire on his classmates and killing several of them school violence?
Maureen
Shananeeeeee Fananeeeeeeee
October 8th, 2009
5:04 pm
Obama didn’t do anything about it when he was there so don’t expect any of his cronies to do better. Obama is as corrupt as they come, period.
JImmy-O
October 8th, 2009
6:33 pm
Why not ask Santy-Cause if he’ll send a new president instead of a lump of coal. Or did he already do that.
Devildog
October 8th, 2009
6:50 pm
MD
North Springs High might have stumbled onto something: Two students got in a fight, someone called the cops. The fight was over when the cops got there, but they arrested both fighters. Principals today are still using old methods to handle a new problem. They try to handle it in-house and they aren’t equipped.
Suspension? The kids look at it as a holiday. In-school suspension? As long as the little darlings must spend the entire day doing absolutely nothing–not even schoolwork. Make them sit, stay awake and stare at the walls. Occasional bathroom breaks only. Oh, and lunch. I guess we HAVE to feed them.
Better yet, call the cops on every incident, put the little trouble makers in jail and let their parents deal with the hard facts of school violence. If it’s the only way to get parents involved, so be it.
lets call a spade a spade
October 8th, 2009
6:57 pm
Maureen please reread my post and no I wouldn’t be out of money. You keep presenting aberrations versus common occurrences of school violence and portraying them as one and the same. Typical liberal jibba jabba.
Devildog
October 8th, 2009
8:58 pm
Oh Spade, you nailed it!!!!!
ScienceTeacher671
October 8th, 2009
9:10 pm
Since it’s happening on the street and not in the schools, yes, it does sound like a law enforcement problem to me.
Blackberry Curve, J. D.
October 9th, 2009
12:18 am
Spade: I have to admit that you are consistent and most of the times right on target. The journalistic world (”We have to be politically correct!”) really does not want to hear the truth. From Vidalia to Fayetteville and from Avondale Estates to Columbus, you are telling the truth. The King is naked but…shhh! No one can say this! Who subscribes to this paper? Who? Oh, I am sorry. We need to be politically correct. Merciful? Yes. But, also politically correct. How would Soren have functioned in this society? Fear and trembling, baby, fear and trembling. In Denmark, they said, “Don’t go the way of Soren.” But, now he is considered “the father of existentialism.” You, ole Spade, may really be the “the father of educational honesty.”
Dr. Craig Spinks /Augusta
October 9th, 2009
1:45 am
“What can the schools do when the communities around them are so unsafe…?” Reach out to the police, to their courageous neighbors, to concerned and intrepid residents of other areas of their school districts and work with these people to take back the streets surrounding these schools as well as the classrooms, hallways, restrooms, cafeteria, etc. within them.
jim d
October 9th, 2009
7:06 am
last time i looked assult wasn’t a federal crime in most instances—-it is state laws being violated—so who should deal with the problem?? state and local law enforcement.
jim d
October 9th, 2009
8:07 am
Spade,
I CALL!
Send the check to BSA Northeast Ga.Council in Jefferson. (BTW, they will accept a credit card over the phone)
The Virginia Tech massacre in April, 2007, was the deadliest school shooting in US history, killing 32 people
you will also find a decade old study that indicates race is only a minor factor with little differences in violent crimes between whites and african americans teeens. Here’s the link and thanks for your contribution to Scouting.
http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/youthviolence/surgeongeneral/SG_Site/chapter2/sec12.asp
Obama Wins Nobel Prize…But Did He Bring Peace To Chicago? « Autographed Letter Signed
October 9th, 2009
9:51 am
[...] From the Atlanta Journal Constitition: [...]
lynn
October 9th, 2009
10:22 am
When Columbine happened, a wise woman (my mother) pointed out to me, that African American students don’t seem to bring the hard violence into the schools. It is certainly on the streets, but violent AA students don’t seem to have it out for everyone — just their perceived enemies. Unfortunately, far to often innocent victims are caught up in these drug/gang wars. But AA students aren’t shooting up their classrooms and their schools.
What bothers me the most about the assertion that much of this is related to students crossing into rival gang territory is the attitude that it is ok to have “rival gang territory. Why not start trying to address the gang problem in full force.
lets call a spade a spade
October 9th, 2009
11:19 am
jim d
Thanks but no thanks. Once again like Maureen you are bringing up an aberration and comparing it to COMMON EVERYDAY VIOLENCE that occurs in majority black schools. As for your link you provided didn’t you once say on this site that for every link of research provided you could provide several that refute it? Have a nice day.
jim d
October 9th, 2009
12:04 pm
better yet–u provide the rebuttal. The site I sent you to was tha cdc. Come up with a better one that says otherwise.
Besides the Scouts could use your help.
lets call a spade a spade
October 9th, 2009
12:27 pm
jim d
hows this: http://www.colorofcrime.com/colorofcrime2005.pdf
I do find it interesting that in this discussion of SCHOOL violence you present a link about YOUTH violence. My original statement was that MAJORITY WHITE SCHOOLS do not have the level of violence that MAJORITY BLACK schools do. Of course I knew that the inevitable references to Columbine and Virgina Tech, wasn’t the perp Korean?, would come up. A classical liberal subterfuge of ignoring the forest because the trees are in the way. Tell your Boy Scouts that they need to hold more bake sales!
jim d
October 9th, 2009
3:00 pm
They are out selling popcorn right now—go ahead and buy some from a local scout–i promise he won’t hurt you!
jim d
October 9th, 2009
3:06 pm
spade lets think this thing thru-
-it stands to reason since the majority in the country is caucassion that the numbers of violent crimes would be caused by the majority–right? and since all of these teens are supposed to be in school we can assumethen that the majority of schools are not AA.. Since the whites in report commited roughly the same number of offenses–we can then asssume it is not an issue of skin color.
PAY UP WELCHER????
Maureen Downey
October 9th, 2009
3:41 pm
Jim d, I’ve already ordered the chocolate popcorn. from a local Scout. I think we should it call it even if Spade will pick up the $20 cost and I’ll split the tin with you.
Maureen
lets call a spade a spade
October 9th, 2009
4:22 pm
jim d and Maureen…classical liberal jibba jabba! Have a nice day yall!
http://www.seattlepi.com/jamieson/323086_robert10x.html
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/18556245/detail.html
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/may/13/record-36-students-killed-this-school-year-across-/
http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/0/2/2/2/3/p22233_index.html
Jeffrey
October 9th, 2009
6:50 pm
The problem is not race. The problem is pastors and parents who are letting the government schools do their jobs for them and, like pimps, only let others abuse their kids if there is money involved in the transaction.
jim d
October 9th, 2009
9:00 pm
mo,
My local scout already hit me for my standing order–i will have plenty of tins available very soon.
jim d
October 10th, 2009
5:57 am
spade
you just dont get it do you/?
you asked for one school—i provided a national picture.
you contend that minority students are committing moreviolent crimes in schools than whites are despite evidence that indicates otherwise.
had you contended that AA students committed more violent incidents PER CAPITA i would have had to agree. but that was not your claim . So if your beef is sending a check to the charity I chose go ahead and pick one you like and send the check.
FLAWoodLayer
October 10th, 2009
9:49 am
I love the typical racist assertions that one gets on the internet. Spade, put white folks in the same historical circumstances as African-Americans with slavery and Jim Crow segregation and tell me if they don’t also suffer from similar economic and psychological trauma. Read “The Debt” by Randall Robinson a very short read. Alas, I’m probably just wasting my time trying to reason with the irrational.
Gangs are a serious issue and something has to be done. Why do we tolerate this? Why are the gangs not labelled terrorist organizations? The FBI infiltrated and destroyed various organizations in the 1960s and 1970s including the Brown Berets and the Black Panthers. However, those groups actually had a positive agenda for their own ethnic groups. One of self-help and ethnic pride. They were snuffed out. Yet, the Gangsta Disciples, Sur 13, the Crips, etc live and grow. Why is there no COINTELPRO for them?
lets call a spade a spade
October 10th, 2009
10:51 am
@flawoodlayer
I have no desire to read anything by Randall “reparations now” Robinson
@jim d
I said that white districts do not have the violence that majority black schools do. Leave the strawman in the field!
jim d
October 10th, 2009
2:50 pm
Nothing I provide you will convince you of the error bigotted in your thinking. Nonetheless here’s a link you might find of interest.
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2003/schoolcrime/pdf/2003009_1.pdf
plese note table 2.1
thank you and have a nice life
lets call a spade a spade
October 10th, 2009
9:00 pm
@jim d
Nothing I provide you will convince you of the error bigotted in your thinking. Nonetheless here’s a link you might find of interest.
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2003/schoolcrime/pdf/2003009_1.pdf
plese note table 2.1
thank you and have a nice life”
1. Learn how to spell.
2. Can you say proportional?
3. No need to thank me for anything.
Lee
October 10th, 2009
10:25 pm
Jim D, Please note the tables in Section 7.x, which gives the statistics based on the racial makeup of the school. In every case, as the percentage of minority enrolment increases, so does the crime index.
Thanks for proving Spade’s point.
Don’t worry, have you noticed the demographics of your beloved Gwinnett? Dekalb county is headed your way – along with all the associated problems of high minority enrollment. Have you paid attention to what happened to Clayton?
jim d
October 11th, 2009
11:45 am
Again Lee,
that was not spades contention
Hay Maker
October 12th, 2009
6:33 am
You kmow it is a same that it has taken 50 years for someone to say that there is a problem in Chicago’ and any other big city in america. Lets start from the top. Black people have to do a better job of raising our kids. Now what does that mean? It means being a parent and not trying to be our childrens friend all the time. It means knowing who our kids hang out with when they are not in the house it means if our kid is having a problem in school we have to get up off our ass and go on down there and find out what the problem is. It means that we are not to let our kids listen to music that we know that they should not be listing to just because everone else is listing to it does not mean that my kid will be listing to it. We do not need to let our young kids look at movies that have all this killing and sex in it . I recently saw an 11 year old girl watching a picture called Hung on HBO come on now people we know better. In short parents keep your children close no teenage night clubs no staying over might at there friends house keep your kids at home. Education our kids have to finish high school I don’t care what it takes they have to finish if not we are opening them up to a life of want and failuar and your child will be in jail and so will you because when our kids are in jail so are we. The drop outs are the ones out here killing people they feel that no one cares about them so they don’t care about anyone else. These kids will kill you they don’t think like adults who have something to lose. As black people we can no longer make excuses for these black kids that are killing our kids’ are we just going to read’ and watch the news every day to see who got killed last night until it is one of our kids.Let me tell you something they are all our kids and the problem is ours these parents that you see crying on TV about there kid getting killed know that they are all alone because none of us will go and show our out rage about it or are we just glad tha it was not our kid this time. Well let me tell you something believe me your next. We can not depend on the goverment to protect our kids we have to do it. I know it sounds simple but if we all start here we can change what is going on with our black kids.Just because a black person calls you brother does not mean that he or she is your brother lets stop the madness lets stop excepting that it is just the way it is no other race of people on the face of this earth is killing each other like we are think about that so why are we. We use to have the church to turn to as a second home not any more the kids who are out here killing don’t go to church. I am not suggesting that the church is the answer I live in Atlanta and the church here are worse than the streets. What I am saying is as parents we have to be responsable for our own kids.
FLAWoodLayer
October 12th, 2009
9:06 am
Like I thought no reason wasting my time. Funny how spade did not counter anything I noted. Could it be because its true? You don’t have to support reparations to note the effect of slavery and Jim Crow segregation on African-Americans. The problem is you are afraid to acknowledge that your own racist assumptions may be challenged. Sad.