Chicago Gang Violence

[Jenksismyhero]

Pretty f'n sad right here:

 

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/09/27/kil...alter-jacobson/

 

CHICAGO (CBS) — Gangbangers in Chicago: What makes them tick, what are they thinking?

 

CBS 2’s Walter Jacobson sat down with gang members in Chicago’s troubled Englewood neighborhood to try to find some answers.

 

Some of the responses he received were not encouraging.

 

“There’s no solution to the violence,” one gang member tells him. “Killing, killing is the solution.”

 

 

Jacobson asked the young man if he would kill personally, if he had to.

 

“I’ve never killed before, but if I had a gun in my possession,” he said.

 

Jacobson says he has been walking the blocks for many years, but the state of despair never changes – poverty, sticks and stains.

 

The gang members do not like the state of affairs any more than anyone else.

 

“We’ve got to eat. We want to. We want money. We want to get fresh, we want fresh eggs almost every day. We want all that,” another young man said.

 

But where do they get the money they need? The young man answered bluntly.

 

 

“Rob, steal and kill. That’s the only way. We didn’t grow up in Beverly Hills. We don’t get it handed to us,” he said.

 

“We ain’t living in Hyde Park,” added a third young man. The home of the University of Chicago is only a couple of miles away from Englewood – geographically, at least.

 

But given the state of their impoverished Englewood neighborhood, where is the money they can get?

 

“Selling drugs,” a young man replied. “In our neighborhood, I ain’t going to lie to you. That’s where the money comes from.”

 

Some of the young men were brought into gangs as children. Isn’t that pretty young to play gang warfare?

 

A young man answered: “I chose the gang. I didn’t have to choose anything. I was only 10. My OG (old gangster) gave me everything. But I just went on my own and I chose to get in the gang. We was whipping everybody in the neighborhood. Respect. I was getting money.”

 

The gang members also said they are at war with the Chicago Police Department.

 

“The police hate us,” a young man said. “Every time they ride past us, they shoot us down and do all that. Do what you want to do, I don’t care about you all, keep riding. Who are you all? We’re not scare of you all. I’ll fight you too. Take that badge off.”

 

But he says the police cannot catch them or exact any consequences.

 

“I laugh at the police,” he said. “They’re a joke to me.”

 

And where would the young men like to be in 10 years?

 

One of them replied, “in a mansion, with a lot of cars, and a lot of women.”

 

Another said, “I just hope I’m still living.”

[flippedoutpunk]

That is very sad. I have family members that came from El Salvador not speaking any english and are now making 6 figures running their own businesses, thanks for handing it to them America! Who needs hard work when you can just kill all the hard workers.

[Iwritecode]

That is very sad. I have family members that came from El Salvador not speaking any english and are now making 6 figures running their own businesses, thanks for handing it to them America! Who needs hard work when you can just kill all the hard workers.

 

Do they pay taxes on their business? I ask because I know somebody that refuses to believe that "7 year tax break" rumor is a complete myth.

[flippedoutpunk]

Do they pay taxes on their business? I ask because I know somebody that refuses to believe that "7 year tax break" rumor is a complete myth.

 

Im not quite sure, I will ask them later today and get back to you.

 

[StrangeSox]

I'm going to link this again because it damn near brought me to tears several times.

 

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/interrupters/

[StrangeSox]

Probably related to the deeper causes of the poverty-violence cycle:

 

Chicago Is Still America's Most Segregated City

 

 

[mr_genius]

Probably related to the deeper causes of the poverty-violence cycle:

 

Chicago Is Still America's Most Segregated City

 

 

U should move to englewood. Lessen the segregation

[RockRaines]

Parenting. These kids are idiots because their parents are idiots.

[flippedoutpunk]

I agree that Chicago is a hugely segregated city, but a lot of it is by choice, at least from my experience. When my grandparents came here from mexico and el salvador, they wanted to be in a neighborhood that is populated by their own countrymen so as to still have a way to feel at home. The supermarkets are all spanish speaking, serve meats and ingredients for salvadoran dishes. Family members like the ones i mentioned earlier that run their own businesses did the same, but then once they started to make very good money, assimilated in the higher end neighborhoods, the roscoe villages, the river norths, etc. only for the reason that their kids can go to good schools and be surrounded by kids that also have wealthy parents and are more likely to actually do something with their lives.

 

Also, those wealthy family members spent their childhoods running away from drug cartels and violence in their countries too, so much so that they can tell me to this day about who is it on the news that got murdered by the cartel and why they were killed based on the manner of which their bodies are disposed.

Edited September 28, 2012 by flippedoutpunk

[Jenksismyhero]

Probably related to the deeper causes of the poverty-violence cycle:

 

Chicago Is Still America's Most Segregated City

 

 

You can get out of those neighborhoods if you want to. Difficult, sure. But possible. The problem, obviously, is the parents. Young people having kids out of wedlock = cycle of poverty and violence. Goes for any race in any crappy neighborhood.

[flippedoutpunk]

You can get out of those neighborhoods if you want to. Difficult, sure. But possible.

 

Yep, what kills me is that my college professors all make it seem like minorities living in bad neighborhoods have an impossible wall keeping them from any type of success, which is flat out untrue and when i tell them my about family's success stories they look at me as if I believe that the world is flat.

[RockRaines]

Yep, what kills me is that my college professors all make it seem like minorities living in bad neighborhoods have an impossible wall keeping them from any type of success, which is flat out untrue and when i tell them my about family's success stories they look at me as if I believe that the world is flat.

The problem is the kids are up against it because they have zero guidance, zero role models, and subsequently zero opportunities. A little family structure goes a long way for these kids, but instead the only family they see that takes "care" of each other is the local gangs.

 

If you took a look at the difference in parent involvement in education between some of those CPS schools and a school in a nice neighborhood its ridiculous. Some of those parents send their kids to school for babysitting.

[flippedoutpunk]

The problem is the kids are up against it because they have zero guidance, zero role models, and subsequently zero opportunities. A little family structure goes a long way for these kids, but instead the only family they see that takes "care" of each other is the local gangs.

 

If you took a look at the difference in parent involvement in education between some of those CPS schools and a school in a nice neighborhood its ridiculous. Some of those parents send their kids to school for babysitting.

 

and thats another thing. in my Educational Foundations classes, the professors urge us to not blame the parents when we become teachers. So if im busting my ass in the classroom doing what I can for the kids, and then the kid goes home to a mom that doesnt care if their kid is gangbanging or hanging out with miscreants, its America's fault for oppressing the minorities for the past hundreds of years, not the parents. This is really what the professor teaches too...

[RockRaines]

and thats another thing. in my Educational Foundations classes, the professors urge us to not blame the parents when we become teachers. So if im busting my ass in the classroom doing what I can for the kids, and then the kid goes home to a mom that doesnt care if their kid is gangbanging or hanging out with miscreants, its America's fault for oppressing the minorities for the past hundreds of years, not the parents. This is really what the professor teaches too...

It works the other way too. In "wealthy" areas or areas where the parents are REALLY involved they constantly come in and blame the teachers for the kids behavior or performance in school. They are in your face 24/7 especially now that there is email. However at least those kids are presented with opportunities no matter how involved their parents actually are with them.

[bmags]

I find the framing of this as just people who work hard and those who don't to just be odd and misplaced.

[EvilMonkey]

How about gun safety classes so they actually hit the other gang bangers they are aiming at instead of some 6 year old kid sleeping 5 houses away from their target. (Make that line half-green in color)

[RockRaines]

How about gun safety classes so they actually hit the other gang bangers they are aiming at instead of some 6 year old kid sleeping 5 houses away from their target. (Make that line half-green in color)

They did find out that a large percentage of guns found involved in crimes that police have taken were from one gun shop in the area.

[DukeNukeEm]

Probably related to the deeper causes of the poverty-violence cycle:

 

Chicago Is Still America's Most Segregated City

 

If I wanted to live in a incredibly dangerous war torn hellhole I'd enlist in the army and get paid. I'd even have a better chance of surviving Afghanistan than Englewood.

[That funky motion]

It works the other way too. In "wealthy" areas or areas where the parents are REALLY involved they constantly come in and blame the teachers for the kids behavior or performance in school. They are in your face 24/7 especially now that there is email. However at least those kids are presented with opportunities no matter how involved their parents actually are with them.

I was born in Chicago (Jefferson park) and raised by just my mom. When I was 12, my mom decided to move us to Highland Park. I never got approached with drugs until then. The reason is that most parents have a nanny. Parents go on vacation and leave a nanny in charge. When I lived in Chicago, the neighborhood all knew each other and is you messed up, your parents would find out about it. In the North Shore, people ignore everything and just say, its not my kid.

 

 

[Jake]

My mom told me the neighborhood she grew up in has gotten pretty f***ed up. She was raised around the corner of Madison and Cicero. Anyone have a sense of where that's at or how it is?

[farmteam]

In the North Shore, people ignore everything and just say, its not my kid.

Don't even get me started. I'm sure NSS72 can speak to it as well.

[flippedoutpunk]

I find the framing of this as just people who work hard and those who don't to just be odd and misplaced.

 

its not "just" that, but if youre in a bad neighborhood and going to go around saying that killing is the only option you have then yes, youre absolutely wrong. Id actually say that taking someones life is harder than getting a 21 on your ACT

[flippedoutpunk]

If I wanted to live in a incredibly dangerous war torn hellhole I'd enlist in the army and get paid. I'd even have a better chance of surviving Afghanistan than Englewood.

 

Youre right about that. Only because if you roll with the army you'll have sharpshooting hillbillies by your side and some serious firepower.

[Tuna]

My mom told me the neighborhood she grew up in has gotten pretty f***ed up. She was raised around the corner of Madison and Cicero. Anyone have a sense of where that's at or how it is?

 

I know exactly where that's at and it's horrible.

 

In the article one of the subjects referenced his "OG" and the author incorrectly put (original gangster) as its meaning. That is incorrect, he's actually referring to his mother using that term and I think it speaks volumes. He's saying his mom has always given him everything he needed yet made the decision to join a gang anyway. I'm a reformed gang member and I can tell you first hand that it's a different way of life. Shootings that the general public are horrified over are nothing more than jokes at parties for these guys. They don't aim for innocent people, but don't give it much thought if they happen to get hit. It's a very selfish and lazy lifestyle.

 

[CrimsonWeltall]

I'm going to link this again because it damn near brought me to tears several times.

 

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/interrupters/

 

My organization at UIC shared office space (same floor) as this group and made software for them that they used to track their 'interrupters' and incidents of gang activity. I saw a lot of those people (Tio Hardiman, Gary Slutkin) on a daily basis.

 

Nice people, seemed very into their work.