The Insane “Just Say No” To Chicago Violence Policy

Sending In The Federal Troops: Solution or Accelerant For More Violence?

Unsplash Photo Credit: Sean Lee

At one point, the U.S. contemplated sending in federal troops to stop violence in our most dangerous cities. South side of Chicago one of them. But what policymakers don’t understand is that our problems with crime will never be solved with more military style weapons and more police. It’s time to think long term. Mass investment in education, in training and other programs that uplift instead of jail people is our only path forward. ​

A Black teenager accidentally wanders into an area where white beachgoers had been relaxing on Lake Michigan in Chicago. A white man, offended at the incursion, began pelting the kid and other Black kids with rocks, eventually causing 17-year-old Eugene Williams to fall off his raft. He drowns and dies.

The white police officer called to the scene refuses to arrest the murderer. Anger escalates among the Black onlookers when there is no arrest, as more police pour onto the beach area.

Then things went from awful to worse.
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A Black man pulls out a gun and shoots one of…

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