CNN: Minority Youngsters Dying Weekly On Chicago's Streets

CNN: Minority youngsters dying weekly on Chicago's streets

CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) -- The Rev. Michael Pfleger has ordered the American flag at St. Sabina Church hung upside-down -- a historic sign of distress -- to symbolize the growing death toll among the city's youngsters.

So far this school year, 36 children and teens have been murdered -- more than one a week -- and Pfleger is among a chorus of weary Chicagoans who say the slayings aren't getting the attention they deserve.

Had 36 kids died of swine flu this year, "there would be this great influx of resources that say, 'Let's stop this, lets deal with this,' " Pfleger said.

Instead, because violence is driving the epidemic, "We're hiding it. We're ignoring it. We're denying the problems," he said.

Pfleger is not the first Chicagoan to express the sentiment. In 2007, after the city recorded 31 murdered children during the school year, Arne Duncan, then-CEO of public schools, expressed similar disappointment. Watch why the violence seems worse now »

Duncan, who now serves as President Obama's secretary of education, said "all hell would break loose" if these killings took place in one of the metro area's upscale enclaves.

"If that happened to one of Chicago's wealthiest suburbs -- and God forbid it ever did -- if it was a child being shot dead every two weeks in Hinsdale or Winnetka or Barrington, do you think the status quo would remain? There's no way it would," he said.

Yet the problem has only worsened since Duncan publicly shared his observation. With about a month left in the school year, Chicago's public schools have topped the number of students slain in the 2007-2008 and 2006-2007 school years -- 27 and 31, respectively.

One of the most disturbing slayings came last week when the family of Alex Arellano found the 15-year-old's body. He had been beaten, burned and shot in the head.

"It's sad because they didn't have to torture him that way. He never did nothing wrong, never. He was a good kid. It just gets to me. It's crazy," Alex's friend Ashley Recendez said.

I will allow you to go to the article and read the rest.

Here is my analysis of the words spoken in the article. By providing my own view of these important issues no one will mistake my critical comments as taunting of tragic circumstances.

• Pfleger is among a chorus of weary Chicagoans who say the slayings aren't getting the attention they deserve. My comment: When Rev Pfleger vies for attention - WHO is he seeking attention from? Who more than the communities that raised these boys who are doing the killing needs to have their ATTENTION AND COUNSCIOUSNESS realigned?
  
• Had 36 kids died of swine flu this year, "there would be this great influx of resources that say, 'Let's stop this, lets deal with this,' " Pfleger said. My response: I hate this kind of tactic. The operatives seek to excape outside of a community that hasn't shown due value for one of their own and instead run to general America, condeming it for benign neglect. The question must be "HOW CAN A COMMUNITY CLAIM THAT IT IS WORTHY OF HAVING THE PEOPLE WHO MANAGE IT EXPAND TO RUN THE CITY, THE STATE, THE NATION when they can't even handle their own business locally?
  
• Instead, because violence is driving the epidemic, "We're hiding it. We're ignoring it. We're denying the problems," he said. My response: the sad part about these words is that they are just words. Despite inclunding the word "we" the reverend has NO INTENTION of having "we" bear the consequences for "our" failures. He is going to get the community together by prostesting for outside resources rather than INTERNAL changes.
  
• Duncan, who now serves as President Obama's secretary of education, said "all hell would break loose" if these killings took place in one of the metro area's upscale enclaves.
  My Comment: Once again. This is a derivative of what I mentioned before. They play off of what OTHER COMMUNITIES DON'T TOLERATE IN THEIR OWN COMMUNITIES to draw attention upon the communities THAT DO ALLOW SUCH FOOLISHNESS. The focus needs to be put upon those communities that FAIL to manage their own affairs rather than attempting to shift to a focus on other communities.
• "If that happened to one of Chicago's wealthiest suburbs -- and God forbid it ever did -- if it was a child being shot dead every two weeks in Hinsdale or Winnetka or Barrington, do you think the status quo would remain? There's no way it would," he said. My Response: This is too important to look past. The key question in this statement is to understand WHO WOULD THEY GO AFTER IN THESE OTHER COMMUNITIES? The fact is that they would profile the people who are causing the problem and seek to keep them in check. It comes as no surprise that these very same communities that offer such rhetroic are the main ones who would fight the police if their sons are arrested.
  
• the family of Alex Arellano found the 15-year-old's body. He had been beaten, burned and shot in the head. My Response: I am emphathetic to the final fate of this young man. Unfortunately his killers were not of any "exploitable benefit" to those who are inclined to protest. So sorry. There will be no protests.
  
• "There's simply too many gangs, too many guns and too many drugs on the streets," he said. "We've got a problem with some of our young people are resorting to use of weapons and violence to solve any type of conflicts they may have." My Response: Again these young people have been indoctrinated into such behavior by the "hands that rocked the cradle". In as much as these communities are prone to follow the lead of their LEADERSHIP who seek UNITY by focusing on external enemeis that they can all agree upon for the sake of exploiting them for political benefit - the accountability needs to be closer to home.
  
• Mayor Richard Daley said the numbers appear worse in his city because the public school system considers teenagers students even after they drop out. "The rest of America doesn't count them. You're a dropout forever. We don't think they're dropouts. They're students," he said. My Response: Mayor Daley (D-IL) has learned an important trick. He knows that 'they are in the mud with us' is an effective strategy, particularly among Black people. Despite the fact that Daley has been in the mayors office and has had control of the city schools for 13 years - he focuses more on OTHER CITIES and their accounting than he bothers to focus on HIS OWN MESS. Mayor Daley will not LOSE A SINGLE VOTE for these words. Instead people will focus upon the fact that no other BETTER CHOICES have stepped forward and will fault these OTHERS for failing to register a good message to convince them to go another way. FAILURE surely hasn't convinced them.
  

• Despite Daley's remarks, CNN has learned that none of the city's 36 victims this year was a dropout. My Response: Thank you CNN for finally doing your job. Scrutinzing rather than Cheerleading for CHANGE. Mayor Daley attempted to marginalize those who have been killed previously. CNN caught him.
  

• Asked who was failing the kids -- police? schools? city officials? -- she replied flatly, "We all are." My Response: Again the "self inclusion" means NOTHING unless it also sets forth a change in behavior and that which is accepted by the community. If there is ever a time where INTROSPECTION is needed - I can't find one.
  
• Other community activists said they're at a loss to find any simple explanation. In May 2007, public outrage overflowed after the death of 16-year-old Blair Holt, an honor student and aspiring songwriter. His death sparked public protests, and grieving family and activists listed a host of scapegoats: lax gun laws, insufficient policing, bad parenting. But two years later, families and activists say they're tired and discouraged by the torpid pace of change. My Response: "OUTRAGE and PROTESTS should not be mistaken for MANAGEMENT. Another episode of "Black People Crying"but this translates into little change when the masses are conditioned to focus elsewhere. "Gun Laws" are not causing OTHER PEOPLE to kill themselves.
  
• Weis said Chicago police work tirelessly to keep the violence out of the schools, and he expressed relief that the city is "providing a safe place for our young folks to learn." My Response: We know what the POLICE are doing to MANAGE the situation. What are the other people who are more intimately invovled doing?