It seems as soon as the April showers go away the sun guns come out. Chicago has always been a crime ridden mob controlled, overall corrupt city, so why has there been a rise in youth violence? There has already been 36 school students killed so far this year, and many more wounded in drive by’s or “random” acts of violence.

One giant factor causing the violence is the gentrification (the process of renewal and rebuilding accompanying the influx of middle-class or affluent people into deteriorating areas that often displaces poorer residents) of Chicago.  City officials took a a sudden interest in a large-scale demolition of the city’s housing projects when the mention of the 2016 Olympics came into play. “When the projects were torn down, over 20,000 families were sent to other neighborhoods.

This means that over 100,000 poor people had to find a new place to live. Nearly 90 percent ended up moving to other poor neighborhoods in Chicago that were as crime-ridden as the projects. This also meant that the kids had to cross gang boundaries.” At the same time the result of Chicago’s “war on crime” that took many influential gang leaders off the street resulted in a reckless abandonment of gang law.

“The situation has become explosive. Chicago also has some of the most corrupt and ineffective police. In low income minority neighborhoods, residents and police still don’t get along. The result is that people feel unsafe and don’t rely on the law to come to their aid. Instead, they will sometimes take matters into their own hands, which can lead to further escalations in violence.

The city needs to spend time and money providing opportunities for youth in some of these neighborhoods. Most of the resources are in the elite areas of the city, near the Lakefront, but they are most needed in the middle and working-class neighborhoods. Hopefully this recent violence will serve as a wakeup call for Mayor Daley’s administration.

I know people wouldn’t usually rap this/But I got the facts to back this/Just last year Chicago had over 600 caskets/Man killings some wack shit/Oh I forgot except when ni**as is rappin/Do you know what it feel like when people is passin/He got changed for his chain a block off of Ashland” – Kanye West

J. Manning
Superintendent