During the twin assaults presented by the Pandemic and the Trump Administration’s brazen thuggery against American institutions, a brave country tries to carry on. Baseball with cutout spectators, basketball with empty huge arenas, and golf on wide open courses, America struggles to find normalcy. But some how in some places, normalcy is not there.
In parts of Philadelphia and Cincinnati, for example, normalcy is disturbed regularly. This past weekend Cincinnati experienced 18 shootings and 4 killings while Philadelphia clocked in with 20 shootings and three fatalities. Similar stories can be relayed from other large cities such as New York, Chicago, and Baltimore.
So what do these shameful statistics tell us?
Should we disband the police all together? Should we drop requirements for wearing face masks? Should we call (even from the “beautiful suburbs”) for stronger law and order?
Law enforcement authorities has been unsure why there have been these surges. The shootings seems unconnected to police excesses such as in George Floyd’s death. And the Center for Disease Control has not found any links to Covid-19. So what could have caused this violent behavior and what should we do?
Newspaper reports indicate that most of the shooting victims have been innocent by-standers. And, the shootings took place in economically challenged parts of these cities (a politically correct way of indicating the victims were minorities). And in almost all case, the shootings were not provoked by police activity.
Hmmm.
Some reports have cited “gang” involvement while others hint at a few “bad apples”. In any case, authorities are left with no win options. Guns and ammunitions availability are clearly a contributing factor. But how do authorities get guns off the streets? Stop and frisk? Unfortunately that procedure has been declared “un-American” due to profiling excesses. Yet the areas where these shootings are taking place are areas predominantly populated by minorities. Hmmm.
Curfews are another tool. While normally reserved for prolonged and violent demonstrations, curfews might help as long as we overlook which neighborhoods will be impacted (since more affluent areas and the suburbs will not). Hmmm.
And as all too often, society simply waits until people stop shooting each other. In other words, let the minorities shoot it out and then when they have finished, life can go on. Hmmm.
So who should take the lead?
How about Black leaders in general and especially BLM activists. These leaders, undoubtably will inherit a tough problem but they, and they alone, are uniquely qualified to tackle. These shootings, largely Black on Black, can not be solved by White leaders alone.
And continually referring to the enslaved period as the root of every problem won’t cut it either. And reparations, as well, do not appear as the magic solution.
What seems clear to me, however, is that the availability of guns and ammunitions is the secret ingredient which too many citizens adopt to voice whatever their grievance might be. Like a tourniquet on a bleeding leg, something bold must take place to stop the shooting now.
“No guns or bullets” does not end the grievances that has caused these shootings, but it will make it more difficult for one person to take his/her anger out on another. Community leaders must step forward with more fundamental and lasting solutions. The time for blaming enslavement and then doing nothing should be over.
All lives matter and especially black lives. This is the time for Black community leaders to rise up, step forward, and take ownership of these senseless shootings. Black leaders need to come forward with rational plans and commit that they will see these plans through. The greater community must find ways to support these plans.
No one wants to “get a bang out of life” as is now happening.