Violence in our city A person experiences violence regardless of his or her geographical location. Violence is catastrophic, toxic and dramatically impactful on a community. Violence is a product of misbehavior and lack of emotional outlets. People bring violence to the streets of Chicago because they believe that actions speak louder than words. People solve confrontation on the streets with the pull of a trigger rather than taking a minute to talk it out. Many Chicagoans have become numb to the headlines that read- “40 shot and 4 killed this weekend” or “She didn’t have a chance.” Chicagoans shake their heads and scoff, while saying “There goes another one.” How could traumatic events become ordinary? Community members continuously march for justice and peace in their neighborhoods while city officials create new programs and jobs to keep young …show more content…
people off the streets, but that doesn’t seem to work. Young people have discovered easier ways to make money as well as more convenient ways to utilize their free time. Selling loose squares is easier than selling papers, and “turning up smoking on some dope” is a more desired way to spend their day. Being brought up in an impoverished community often leads to violence, which cause one to view violence as a solution rather than a problem due to a lack of education. A community influences one’s upbringing. There are many events in a child’s life that have a lasting impact on his or her growth long term. Growing up in poverty is one of them. Poverty has a strong effect on a child’s upbringing that can ultimately affect the child’s well-being in the distant future. A study by Northwestern University, as cited in Stromberg, 2013, has proven that children who are born into impoverished communities suffer from damage to their cognition skills. Cognition is the process of acquiring knowledge therefore it is critical for a child to possess this skill. Interruption of this skill is caused by stress that a child is under when living in such a community. Dialogue from The Interrupters (2011) that shows the effect of limited cognitive skills and how it causes violence is observed when Ammena is explaining the emotions of Dee after his miscommunication. “Dee, was in the heat of the moment, that adrenaline was still going, that I’m gonna fuck them up. I’m gonna get them back.” When living in an impoverished area, a child may be exposed to noise, violence and family separation. These misfortunes then alter the development of the child’s brain. Leaving the child behind and unresponsive to information beginning taught and told to them. Children who are in impoverished areas also have poor auditory comprehension skills, which was also studied and proven by Northwestern University (Stromberg, 2013). A child raised in a low-income community may find themselves distracted by surrounding noises. This matter is rooted in the loud streets of urban communities. These misfortunes are attached to these children from a very young age. These setbacks ultimately make it harder for a child to succeed, which is why many young people turn to violence because they feel as if that is all they have. They are unable to solve their problems in a mature manner. They do as they have seen the people around them do. They try to rise above their setbacks but go about it all wrong. Young people have lost hope. However, everyone is capable of being successful regardless of their setbacks. There is more to ones future then the block they live on. Many will find themselves growing up in an area with a zip code that is interpreted as unsuccessful. A shameful zip code is a result of poverty and a bad reputation. For example, young people growing up on 77th and Halsted might be caught rapping a line from Kanye West’s song “New God Flow”, “I’m from the 312 where the cops don’t come through and dreams don't come true." Many young people turn to violence because that is all they know. This neighborhood in Chicago has a very low-income rate. Neighborhood Scout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 99.4% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 77.3% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 98.9% of U.S. neighborhoods. The correlation between impoverished areas and the location of high crimes is evident. Impoverished communities are ranked as the most violent. Their violent ways are established from their surroundings. These statistically are entirely too high, double digits above fifty are unacceptable. Poverty does cause violence, but that can be changed. Rags to riches is possible if one desires to succeed and rise above. Englewood is another high crime community, but that did not stop Derrick Rose or Jabari Parker. These men yearned for success and wanted to be more than just “another brotha from the hood.” Young people need knowledge, which is why they should be attending school. For goals to be made and reached knowledge is needed in addition to positivity being displayed around them. When thinking how to bring change, are the streets the problem or is it the people on the streets? The strength of the gun is found in the trigger. The gun will not fire unless the trigger is pulled back. Killing someone doesn’t show strength; it shows weakness. The shooters are so weak that they are unable to solve their own problems or rise above; therefore, they pull the trigger. The bullet is their resolution, and death is their reward. Hearing the victim’s inhale one last time confirms their problems have been resolved until the shooters are nearly out of breath as they run and hide from the police. Although they may think their problem is solved by the death of their victim, they created a new problem. The shooter caused pain and suffering to more than just the victim. So now they must face time behind bars, leaving them to reflect on what they have done. Others may turn to violence because they are disadvantaged intellectually and educationally.
Being unable to think complexly limits the amount of possible solutions to a problem. Violence is the popular solution to many problems because it is the easiest. But to think at a more complicated level, one must possess cognitive skills. However, most shooters thinking in such a way lack cognitive skills and related to their development. Therefore, it is a cause and effect situation leading to the pull of the trigger. Shooters pull the trigger back for a quick resolution and euphoric rush, which is only temporary. Then, subsequently, they feel nothing more than shame as their punishment is set before them. Flamo says it’s best in The Interrupters (2011) when he reflects on his life, “Like, wasn’t none of that worth it. ‘Cause out all the stuff I had to do and done back then, I ain’t got nothin’ to show for. None that I done negative. My friends in jail. My friends, drug addicts or whatever.” This proves that in the moment it may seem to be the best solution, but it is not. The shooters need to think long term and
rationally. Violence is not the answer and it never has been and this plague of innocent and irrational deaths need to stop. The best solution to this problem is to want more—more knowledge, more positive role models, and more community support. Young people should not only want this for themselves, but for others around them. They should be the constructive influencers of their communities rather than being influenced by the negative. Regardless of their zip code and setbacks they should rise above. Being brought up in an impoverished community often leads to violence, which cause one to view violence as a solution rather than a problem, due to a lack of education. By trading in the guns and harsh ways for knowledge and positive role models, the community will be given brighter hope for the future. Young people need to be given a better chance and be taught to obtain positive life goals. It is time to change the way things are done. A new foundation needs to be set to create a safer place and a positive reputation.
As described in the film “Tough Guise 2”, the U.S. is both obsessed with and is a victim of its own culture. On one hand, movies and video games that glamorize violence and books that argue that violence. Additionally, many other films and books highlight that violence is a core aspect of male masculinity and argues that men are losing it through the empowerment of women and the loss of employment. At the same time, the United States has suffered through countless gun-related deaths and the mainstreaming of media such as Bum Fights, where actual homeless people are assaulted on camera. But due to the politicization of the issue of violence and the news media to properly explain the issue to the U.S., many people are taught that violence stems from the youth, which is only part of the broader picture. Instead of identifying and preventing the largest source of violence in the country, young white males, the focus is instead shifted toward the potential of violence of young men of color in poor urban
When help presented itself, many of the people at least made an effort to change and realize that violence was not the answer. The amount of people that are shot and killed in Chicago is a surprising number. Many of the violence does not come from someone necessarily being a bad person, but someone who is unwilling to back down from any situation (Kotlowitz, 2012). In Chicago many believe that “death before dishonor” is a good motto to live life by (Kotlowitz, 2012). The funerals that people attend are just a reminder to them, that one day the way they live their lives on the street will catch up to them (Kotlowitz, 2012). The violence interrupters are working hard in Chicago to help the people in the society, but if people do not want to change it is hard to make a difference (Kotlowitz, 2012). The people in Chicago also have to put in the work to make the community a better place, so that they feel safe leaving their houses instead of feeling like “every time [they] go outside somebody is going to get killed” (Kotlowitz,
The increase in population due to the Great Migration led Chicago to be the nation’s fastest growing city. In the city, homicide rates increased dramatically. The nature of homicide among African Americans in Chicago changed when the traditional impulsive violence between young boys became family violence or fights with acquaintances. Essentially, the Southern African Americans who moved to northern cities for freedom still experienced discrimination in jobs and housing from whites living in the neighborhoods prior. Many of them became frustrated about this and proceeded to demonstrate that through violence. In result of the increased violence, juvenile courts were developed. To address the concerns of juvenile delinquency, Chicago initially advocated courts to punish them for the acts of violence. The courts were filled with cases of violence between races due to the increasing racial tensions in neighborhoods throughout Chicago. Often, racist comments would be made, or an African American would fight against segregation or speak out and there would be a fight. Acts of violence became more and more common throughout the city and the juvenile courts were only one way to attempt to solve it. In Standing at Armageddon: A Grassroots History of the Progressive Era, it is said that the violence in Chicago was “the
On a sunny spring day in April 1999, a suburban school named Columbine High in Littleton, Colorado found itself under attack by two of its own students. (http://www.knowgangs.com) In less than fifteen minutes of the first lunch period on that Tuesday, two armed students killed thirteen and wounded twenty-one fellow classmates before they turned the guns on themselves - the most devastating school shooting in U.S. history. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the only school shooting; about thirty-five students die every year from school shootings. This generation comes from violence, hatred, and ignorance- the three principal factors that cause school shootings.
The dramatic increase of gun violence in Chicago has many questioning the effectiveness of state policies and police tactics. For many Chicagoans, gun violence is a common occurrence and this would not be the first time in which a big spike has been observed. In fact, Chicago was doing well overall in each crime category until recently in 2016, when they ended the year with 762 homicides victims that were gun related. Towards the end of 2016, Rahm Emanuel, mayor of Chicago, had a press conference with the communities at the Malcom X College. He goes into detail of how he hopes to see a sharp decline on the heavy issue of gun violence surrounding their city. It’s an issue in which the mayor says will only work through a combined effort of its
As us Americans we are actually making the stereotype of we always carry guns around sound true to the rest of the world considering that, we are the “31% percent of all public mass shootings which at least four people are killed.” (TheWeek.com) But under a broader definition USA counted 346 mass shootings including shooting deaths of four or more victims in a 17- year period. The worst part about this information is this year we already have recorded 249 mass shootings in about 7 months close to the same amount USA counted over 17 years! This is a problem that must be solve for the safety in this country but also prevent more mass shooting from happening. “According to a Mother Jones study: Only 23 percent have been treated for mental illness.” ( Gallagher )
Attention Getter: Are all the officers who are intended to "Protect and Serve" really following through with that?
The right to bear arms is guaranteed in the constitution by the Second Amendment. Liberals are looking to amend the constitution any way they can. They want to ban handguns or at least restrict sales. Studies have shown that gun control cannot stop people from committing the crime.
Many people side against the idea that guns make our society a safer place to live. Sarah Boseley, a health editor, wrote an article about a group of scientists who looked at many different countries to see if any correlation stood between guns and safety. She says that scientists have found that “... the US, with the most guns per head in the world, has the highest rate of deaths from firearms, while Japan, which has the lowest rate of gun ownership has the least. (Boseley)” This evidence shows that the scientists have found that more guns leads to a higher death rate making society a more dangerous place. A strength of this source is how the editor shows where she got her information, but a weakness is the fact that she uses a counterargument.
Gun Control The topic of gun control has always been a touchy issue. The people for gun control will argue that taking away guns will decrease crime and homicide. The people against gun control will argue that guns are used for protection.
Guns do not cause violence, although guns are the tool that it is done with. Guns should not be banned, or made illegal. A gun can never kill simply because it is a firearm. There must always be a person behind that weapon with intent to do harm for it to be apart of violence. America is also a country founded upon the ideas that we have the right to not only defend ourselves from others, but defend ourselves from unfair governments and policing's.
Today kids worry about the quiet ones all of a sudden snapping and committing a mass shooting, the generation before us never had to worry about that occurring frequently, why? It’s because the importance of mental health is being neglected; “In Generation X, the use of mental health care services decreased by 16%...” (Psychological Today), instead of worrying about gun violence in schools; let’s reach out and talk to that kid with no friends, or stand up to the bullies that pick on the kid, th kids that generally end up being an potential shooter. Guns aren’t the ones pulling the trigger, people kill people, hatred spurs abuse to bring a gun to school and hurt other children. Additionally, the gun does not possess any hate, a gun is made
Highland High School, Forest High School, Great Mills High school are just the names of the few school shooting happened this year. There are a total of 21 school shootings in the past five months. Which is about one shooting per week. Impacting families and friends and the safety of other students every week. In attempt to solve this on going issue, thought and prayers are what people doing.
In South Carolina, a two year old managed to get a hold of a gun and accidentally shoot their grandmother ( Ingraham ). Stories like these makes it clear that not everyone can be responsible enough to become gun owners. These days, there isn’t much that’s required from a person to purchase a weapon. So it should not be a surprise for us when a deadly weapon gets into the a wrong hands. Because of this, the United States is notorious for their massacres with the murderer legally purchasing their weapons. So in conclusion, the second amendment should be tightened because it’ll prevent accidental shootings, school shootings, and massacres.
Literature Review Police Violence (Definition) Police violence towards african-americans is a major problem. Also referred to as police brutality, it is a misconduct by members of the police community towards a civilian. More specifically, it is “the use of excessive and unnecessary force by a police officer” (LegalDictionary 2017). There are many ways in which police brutality can happen.