(ThyBlackMan.com) The City of Chicago is experiencing a period of violence that is capturing national and international attention. Every week stories appear in the media that highlight the extreme gun violence in certain parts of the city. Just this weekend, Easter weekend, there were 23 shootings in the city and large groups of teenagers rampaged through the wealthy shopping district along Michigan Avenue. Mayor Rahm Emanuel and other city leaders are growing increasingly concerned about the reputation the city is obtaining as a place of violence.
These leaders fear that tourists and international business will steer clear of the city out of concern that the city is ungovernable. Chicago is viewed as an economic, cultural and political capital of the American Mid-West and millions of people flock to the city each year for both business and pleasure. Many are now starting to ask if the city’s reputation as an exciting destination can survive this latest burst of violence.
The recent violence has been centered for the most part in urban minority communities. Sections on the south and west sides of Chicago have been
known for drug and gang violence for decades and the city’s infamous government housing projects like the now demolished “Cabrini Green” were the subject of much attention in both the news and in popular culture. The problems in Chicago’s minority community are systemic and center on the lack of jobs, the poor education system and the general lack of opportunity.
During the recent Great Recession, unemployment in the minority community skyrocketed and even with some improvement in the economy, unemployment among African American youth, especially African American males is over 30% and in some places approaching 50%. This mix of no hope and no prospect for economic change leads individuals to turn to criminal activity and in many cases violent solutions to their many problems.
Violence in and of itself may not be a threat to Chicago’s reputation however. Chicago has always been a rough-and-tumble place and violence is part of the lore and the lure of the City. It’s not a stretch to say that when the ordinary American is asked to think of words that come to mind when they think of Chicago, those words usually include things like Oprah, Lake Michigan, Michael Jordan, the Cubs and almost certainly Al Capone. In fact, the violence that overtook Chicago during the prohibition period of the 1920’s and early 1930’s was much more serious than today’s violence and much more widespread, occurring in places where ordinary Chicagoans gathered to live and work. The infamous “Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre” is remembered as the bloodiest day id the city’s history. That event is also remembered as a fascinating part of Chicago’s history and this period of mob violence is used daily to market the City. In many ways, violence is part of the fabric of the city and considered by many to be part of the city’s DNA.
Still, many worry that the current violence will get caught up in the broader discussion of violence in America, gun control and the policies implemented by democratically elected leaders. It’s not a small matter that President Obama is from Chicago so his opponents answer almost every one of his policy statements on guns and violence with the refrain that if these policies were so effective why are they not working in Chicago which has some of the toughest and most restrictive gun control laws in America. With roughly half of the country opposed to the President and his policies and with him the face of Chicago, the City already runs the risk of alienating hundreds of millions of people who view the City as an example of all that is wrong with the Obama Presidency.
Still even more troubling is the incident that occurred on Easter Weekend when groups of young people rampaged through the Gold Coast and Miracle Mile shopping district along Michigan Avenue. Although there was no major violence, is the shootings and violence that is prevalent in the minority community spills into the wealthier and whiter sections of the city, many of those who still see Chicago as a destination of choice will start to reconsider and avoid the City. As summer approaches and warm weather brings more people out to the downtown areas, only time will tell if this becomes a problem.
In the end, however, as a native Chicagoan, this writer believes Chicago will most likely survive the current hit to its reputation. The Obama Presidency will continue, the economy will steadily improve and violence will most likely subside, leaving Chicago to regain its reputation as the vibrant, exciting and friendly Mid-West destination of choice.
Staff Writer; Stanley G. Buford
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