It is heartbreaking. Grandmother's being shot and killed just standing outside. A little girl selling candy shot and killed. And on and on.
I know other cities, large and small, have gang problems, but Chicago's just seems so pervasive and out of control. To date in 2012 there have been 419 murders.
"Don't shoot, I want to grow up" is a common phrase among children. :-(
It's really awful and one of the top three reasons why we left the city. It is very much out of control. My husband was mugged and beaten at gun/knife point, and he's pretty certain it was part of a gang initiation. We lived in fear after that, but it's nothing compared to what people in poorer neighborhoods live with every day. It will only get worse, especially with the school closings in low income areas (thanks, Rahm). It's forcing gang members into different schools, and that is creating a lot of tension and violence between the different gangs.
The fact that there are places that are basically warzones in this country and no one addresses makes me crazy.
I honestly believe the lack of real concern is because these people are poor and brown. The causes are deep and complicated and we haven't even tried to address them. Most politicians and lawmakers have no idea of what that life is like and these people aren't even on their radar.
Romney's mind would be blown if he had to live one day on the South Side.
I saw it too. I am not going to pretend to know the solutions needed to stop the violence, but as long as the violence continues, kids are going to grow up to become gang members. That cycle needs to stop. Those poor families.
And I heard there are about 100,000 gang members in Chicago. That is insane. Naive question I'm sure, but what causes such a huge number of kids to join gangs? I'm thinking peer pressure, bad situation at home, and no adult role models to help these kids see that there are better opportunities out there. But 100,000...I don't know why that number shocked me but it did.
The WSJ is reporting this morning that Chicago is proposing a tax on guns and bullets to help offset the cost of treating victims of gun violence because it is getting so expensive.
The WSJ is reporting this morning that Chicago is proposing a tax on guns and bullets to help offset the cost of treating victims of gun violence because it is getting so expensive.
That seems...odd. My initial reaction is that this is punishing people who are legally purchasing their guns and bullets because I am fairly certain gang members aren't going through the proper channels to obtain their guns.
The WSJ is reporting this morning that Chicago is proposing a tax on guns and bullets to help offset the cost of treating victims of gun violence because it is getting so expensive.
That seems...odd. My initial reaction is that this is punishing people who are legally purchasing their guns and bullets because I am fairly certain gang members aren't going through the proper channels to obtain their guns.
That seems...odd. My initial reaction is that this is punishing people who are legally purchasing their guns and bullets because I am fairly certain gang members aren't going through the proper channels to obtain their guns.
Post by Daria Morgandorffer on Oct 19, 2012 9:28:05 GMT -5
When I was pregnant and on my way to my Midwife's office, I took a wrong turn and got lost in an extremely dangerous area. I got pulled over for absolutely no reason, and the two female cops yelled at me for being alone in that area and escorted me out of the danger zone. It was unreal.
When I was pregnant and on my way to my Midwife's office, I took a wrong turn and got lost in an extremely dangerous area. I got pulled over for absolutely no reason, and the two female cops yelled at me for being alone in that area and escorted me out of the danger zone. It was unreal.
And not to pick on you at all, so please do not be in ANY way offended, but this goes SQUARELY back to Summer's point. Oh look little lost white lady, the minorities are killing each other, we don't want anything to happen to you.
Let this happen in the rich, upper-crust areas of town, then you'll see some heads rolling and folks getting locked the hell up.
SBP - that's fine, you live there, I don't so I can't speak to that. It's just my reaction.
But, since you are in this thread, let me ask this, are there issues with gang members rolling thru the "nice" areas of town targeting people too? Because all I ever see in the media is that black and brown folks are getting shot.
And not to pick on you at all, so please do not be in ANY way offended, but this goes SQUARELY back to Summer's point. Oh look little lost white lady, the minorities are killing each other, we don't want anything to happen to you.
Let this happen in the rich, upper-crust areas of town, then you'll see some heads rolling and folks getting locked the hell up.
I'm going to disagree with this only because of the culture of Chicago. The racial tension here are pretty palpable. It's not just that Daria might have gotten caught in the cross fires of the black on black crime that no one cares about... It's that because she was white, she might have been targeted. We can go 9 rounds about the political correctness of this, but the reality of the racial situation in Chicago is that if you are a "white lady", you don't go traipsing around in Englewood or something. That is not a good idea.
We can talk about causes, effects, blame, whatever. But Daria needed to be redirected. I'm assuming she was either lost around Chicago and Sedgewick or somewhere around S. 35th and State. Either way, she needed to not be there.
Yea, that was the general area if I recall correctly. I have no idea how I ended up over there but I don't generally drive in the city so I got all sorts of turned around.
I was really taken aback when the cops told me that they had only stopped me to direct me out of the area. I was really pissed off at the time because I was hungry and running late to the midwife consultation and I thought they were going to harass me for a blinker or something. Never did I think they were just going to escort me out. I don't think I've ever felt so uncomfortable as I was when everyone on the street was looking at the little white girl being escorted out of the area.
I've heard of this happening to other women too, so apparently it's a thing.
When Daley was mayor he tore down Cabrini Green and tried to disperse gangs from there, right? That was about 10 years ago? If I recall correctly from my family in Chicago it worked well for awhile but then new gangs formed and things are even worse. Chicago has a lot of problems and although I'm not crazy about the Daleys or Rahm, they've really busted their asses to fix things, from what my relatives have said. There are no easy solutions.
There is an interesting documentary called "The Interrupters" about a group of volunteers (mostly ex-gang members) that walk around the streets and try to stop bad situations when they become tense. It talks about closing down schools and how that has forced the different gangs to be together (like mentioned above). It seems the The Interrupters tried to warn people about what an awful idea it was. What really struck me about this documentary was how helpless the scenario seems.
Post by cookiemdough on Oct 19, 2012 10:13:57 GMT -5
This is so interesting to me. DC I guess is different. Even for neighborhoods that are adjacent, black on white crime is fairly low. Generally when there are early stages of gentrification, the ones to bite the bullet are young white people moving in.
This is so interesting to me. DC I guess is different. Even for neighborhoods that are adjacent, black on white crime is fairly low. Generally when there are early stages of gentrification, the ones to bite the bullet are young white people moving in.
Honestly, this is Memphis too. Crime is high, but relatively contained to person you "know." So, if there is an issue with drug/gang violence, the only person getting shot is the person who stiffed the dealer or another gang member. We do have some robberies and break-ins, but typically, you will find the break-ins occur when no one is home. Plus, I think the criminals know a lot of folks pack heat around here, and if you break in you will get shot. People using the Castle Doctrine are rarely, if ever, prosecuted.
There is an interesting documentary called "The Interrupters" about a group of volunteers (mostly ex-gang members) that walk around the streets and try to stop bad situations when they become tense. It talks about closing down schools and how that has forced the different gangs to be together (like mentioned above). It seems the The Interrupters tried to warn people about what an awful idea it was. What really struck me about this documentary was how helpless the scenario seems.
This reminds me of NYC's Guardian Angels in the 80s.
I need to show this thread to my H. He's all Chicago is AWESOME and shit. I'm just, dude no. I can't live any place where there can be snow on the ground in April. Having watched that Nightline show last night and reading this thread, I sure in the hell hope all of ya'll can eventually just move. I don't know how you save a city where you just randomly punch people for no good reason.
So, if I live in the Chi, where should I live so I don't get shot the hell up?
There's really nowhere you can go to completely escape the race issue. But there are some things you can do as a practical matter to not get caught up in it. Like not be a white dude walking through Cabrini at 2:00 in the morning or not be a white girl driving her car through Englewood. Still, I have a friend who was mugged in Old Town (yuppie ville) while getting off the L with his girlfriend at 11:00 p.m. And I was walking down Wells St. a few years ago at probably about 10:00 in the morning and had a black girl just walk up to me and punch me in the collar bone. I mean, that literally. I was walking with a friend; she was walking with a friend. She walked towards me and I thought she was going to ask for directions, but she fucking punched me and walked away...
Anyway... as a black woman I bet it would be even more complicated for you. If you were in a white neighborhood, the assumption would be that you did not live there. If you were in a poor black neighborhood, it would just be flat out dangerous regardless of your race.
My H was mugged in Bucktown at around 11PM at night. In a lit area. The dudes jumped out of their car, and my H thought they were asking for directions, so he got off of his bike. Instead, one of the guys came up and punched him straight in the jaw. The other one put his knife up to H's throat, while the oldest one just pointed his gun at him. The younger ones took his wallet, bashed him on the side of the face and on his shoulder with a metal bat and drove off.
I have a friend that was attacked with a box cutter in Logan Square. There was also a rapist on the loose this past summer in LS, not to mention the fact that H was run off the road by some kid in a Mercedes who jumped out and pulled a huge knife on him.
We just didn't feel comfortable in the areas that we could afford, so we left. I wasn't moving any where south of LS, and we couldn't afford to live in Lincoln Park, Wicker Park, etc. Any time I had to venture south, I really did feel afraid. That's not unfounded, either. I had many guys try to jump me on my bike, corner me, etc. I did not feel safe as a white woman, and I hate saying that.
Really, I would only live in a wealthy neighborhood if I lived in Chicago again. Which well never happen, so yeah. We left. The gang situation is out of control, and our neighborhood also had the issue of Rahm closing the public mental health clinic. There were mentally ill patients who were just released to the streets with no where to go. I stopped going outside for most of the summer because I was so afraid after a man who was sitting outside the closed clinic chased me down the street screaming.
Chicago has a lot of issues, and it's only going to get worse.
I need to show this thread to my H. He's all Chicago is AWESOME and shit. I'm just, dude no. I can't live any place where there can be snow on the ground in April. Having watched that Nightline show last night and reading this thread, I sure in the hell hope all of ya'll can eventually just move. I don't know how you save a city where you just randomly punch people for no good reason.
You can move to Evanston (Northwestern) but they have some gangs, too these days. Evanston was the sheezy back when I grew up there. There was a fantastic racial, social mix. It was utopia. Now, not so much, but still alright sorta.
My extended fam lived on the South Side and gangs were always a problem (I still don't wear black/blue or black/red) and the city itself is super segregated like PPs have said.
When I went to U of C, the white kids had little to do with the surrounding area. I worked in the neighborhood and as a Black person found it generally easy to go in and out of both worlds and no one bothered me. Regular hood rules, Nitaw.
But the thing is, my family who live there, live there. They live in subsidized housing and its not easy just to up and move to the suburbs. So all that crime that everyone else gets to avoid, they live and raise children in.
*sidenote/anecdote: I have never met more pretentious, snobby undergrads then those that were a U of C when I was in grad school. It always blew my mind that they landed in the middle of South Side (though relatively protected). Whenever I saw them out in the community volunteering and what not, the things that came out of their mouths.....
My aunt and uncle live in the Gold Coast and violence has happened there. Doormen have been attacked and it's a serious concern that the residents in the "safe" buildings could be attacked as well.
I live in Lincoln Park. All this makes me so sad, because I adore Chicago, but we won't be settling here for all the reasons mentioned in this thread. A lot of the gang violence is seen mostly in the same areas, but its spreading and I don't feel like its going to be controlled and that it will only get worse. I generally feel comfortable and have never felt threatened by anyone downtown (I frequently walk around the loop and goldcoast by myself), and I'm a small white girl. DH and I love going to more ethnic areas for food and thus far haven't had any problems. DH was trying to get me to move to Pilsen originally, but I wasn't feeling it.
Aside from the gang violence, we've had recent cases of 'flash mob' attacks. Young people in groups charging in stores in coordinated attacks and looting, or just ambushing and robbing/beating the hell out of random people, even in real toursity/generally nice areas. Its freaky.
Chicago can be amazing--the food, the theaters, the comedy shows, the diversity of culture. And all the people I've met have been so nice--I can always ask for directions or food recomendations. I love going to Chinatown, and there are some awesome Indian restaurants around town. Every area has its own feel to it and I love that. The architecture in some areas is gorgeous. I love how I can walk/train/bus it almost anywhere I want to go.
But the violence isn't toning down, its getting worse. Also, Rahm annoys me. He keeps saying there's a ''perception problem" and not a crime problem. That overall crime has decreased. Um dude, I think don't think there's a perception problem. We have the highest murder rate of young people in the nation last I checked.
Others have already explained some of the issues there have been in controlling it. It makes me so sad.
This all makes me very sad to hear. When I think of moving back 'home' I always have Chicago in mind. It can be really great. There is so much to do and driving down Lake Shore Drive on a summer night with that skyline makes my insides warm and fuzzy.
My mom had an armed robbery a few months ago in her building in Evanston and I want to move her out. That place should be condemned it's so nasty.
How are Wilmette and Skokie these days? Can I move back and be a sell-out?
Post by iammalcolmx on Oct 19, 2012 13:19:14 GMT -5
Hypothetically speaking let’s say a few black females were going to have a GTG in Chitown. They would be renting a place, where can they stay and (1) Not get shot (2) Not be racially profiled. As I fear these females would all end up in jail and would need representation.
Hypothetically speaking let’s say a few black females were going to have a GTG in Chitown. They would be renting a place, where can they stay and (1) Not get shot (2) Not be racially profiled. As I fear these females would all end up in jail and would need representation.
Question - would SBP be hired to represent said females?
Hypothetically speaking let’s say a few black females were going to have a GTG in Chitown. They would be renting a place, where can they stay and (1) Not get shot (2) Not be racially profiled. As I fear these females would all end up in jail and would need representation.
Mag Mile for sure. You'll be racially profiled every where, unfortunately, but it won't be as blatant out there.
I just had a GTG with a bunch of ladies from another board I'm on, and we stayed at the Congress Plaza. Very reasonable when split with a group, and the area is nice. Easy to walk to shops, right by the lake, tons of transit access and taxis, right by the Bean.
Summer - As far as Wilmette and Skokie, I don't really consider those part of the city limits. I think you would be more than fine living in those areas. I also have friends that live in the Hoffman Estates/Elk Grove area and love it.