Opinion
Killing Black Teens – Literally
“Challenging People to Shape
a Better Future Now”
B ERNIE F OSTER
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Executive Editor
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Reporter
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T
he death of Hadiya Pendle-
ton, a 15-year-old honor
student at King College
Prep High School on Chicago’s
South Side is finally receiving the
national attention that it deserves.
An honor student and majorette in
her school’s marching band,
Hadiya had recently participated
in President Obama’s inaugural
parade in the nation’s capital.
After leaving school on Jan. 29,
Hadiya was shot and killed in a
park after she and friends sought
shelter under a canopy when it
began raining. She was killed
about a mile from Obama’s Chica-
go home. Hadiya’s father,
Nathaniel Pendleton, summed up
his loss this way: “They took the
light of my life…She was destined
for great things and you stripped
that from her.”
First Lady Michelle Obama,
Secretary of Education Arne Dun-
can and presidential adviser
Valerie Jarrett attended Hadiya’s
funeral on Saturday. Her mother,
Cleopatra Cowley-Pendleton, was
a guest of the Obamas at Tues-
day’s State of the Union address.
The president is scheduled to visit
Chicago on Friday where he will
deliver a major address on gun
violence that is certain to contain a
mention of Hadiya. It’s fitting that
Obama return to his adopted home
town to make his case against
deadly violence.
According to statistics analyzed
by the Chicago Reporter, more
young people are killed in Chicago
than any other city in the nation.
More than 530 people under 21
years old have been killed since
2008 – most of them in Black and
Brown neighborhoods – while
hundreds of others have been
injured. According to the newspa-
per, nearly 80 percent of youth
T HE C URRY
R EPORT
George E.
Curry
homicides occur in 22 Black or
Latino neighborhoods on the city’s
South, Southwest and West sides,
even though those communities
represent only one-third of Chica-
go’s population.”
Young people are not only the
victims of gun violence – they are
usually the ones who pull the trig-
The Reporter also noted, “In
2012, not only did Chicago lead
the nation in homicides, it wit-
nessed nearly 100 more murders
than New York City, even though
the Big Apple has three times as
many residents. And Chicago wit-
nessed 215 more murders than Los
Angeles – home to more than a
million more people.”
Because of highly-publicized
mass murders – including shoot-
ing deaths at Sandy Hook Elemen-
tary in Newtown, Conn.; a movie
theater in Aurora, Colorado; Fort
Hood, Texas and Virginia Tech –
much of the gun debate has cen-
tered on reducing or eliminating
access to assault weapons and
high-capacity magazines.
Blacks are more than six times more
likely to be homicide victims than
Whites
ger.
“From 2008 through 2012, near-
ly half of Chicago’s 2,389 homi-
cide victims were killed before
their 25th birthday. In 2011, the
most recent year for which the
data were available, more than 56
percent of individuals who com-
mitted murder were also under 25.
One-third of Chicago residents are
under 25, according to 2011 Cen-
sus estimates,” the Chicago
Reporter states. “And despite vari-
ous police strategies and commu-
nity efforts, things are getting
worse. Last year, 243 people under
25 were killed in Chicago. That’s
an 11 percent increase over 2011
and a 26 percent jump from 2010.”
Chicago homicides are not limit-
ed to the youth.
While those are laudable goals,
some police chiefs have pointed
out that handguns kill far more
people than assault weapons.
In its latest report titled, “Black
Homicide Victimization in the
United States: An Analysis of
2010 Homicide Data,” the Vio-
lence Policy Center reported: “For
homicides in which the weapon
used could be identified, 83 per-
cent of black victims (5,073 out of
6,149) were shot and killed with
guns. Of these, 72 percent (3,658
victims) were killed with hand-
guns. There were 617 victims
killed with knives or other cutting
instruments, 219 victims killed by
bodily force, and 162 victims
killed by a blunt object.”
Overall, Blacks are more than
six times more likely to be homi-
cide victims than Whites.
Citing FBI crime reports, the
Violence Policy Center observed,
“…In 2010 there were 6,469 black
homicide victims in the United
States. The homicide rate among
black victims in the United States
was 16.32 per 100,000. For that
year, the overall national homicide
rate was 4.42 per 100,000. For
whites, the national homicide rate
was 2.66 per 100,000.”
In addition to the need to address
handgun violence, President
Obama, Congress and law
enforcement officials should
acknowledge that violence is a
serious problem and more often
than not, the victim knew or had a
relationship with the person who
killed them.
“For homicides in which the vic-
tim to offender relationship could
be identified, 70 percent of black
victims (2,146 out of 3,058) were
murdered by someone they knew.
Nine hundred twelve victims were
killed by strangers,” the Violence
Policy Center report stated.
If this country is serious about
curbing murders, it must focus on
tragic deaths, such as the murder
of Hadiya Pendleton and 20 young
kids in Newtown, Conn. But it
must also deal with handguns and
the murder of people who have or
have had a relationship with their
killer. Otherwise, all the tough talk
on reducing violence is empty
rhetoric.
George E. Curry, former editor-
in-chief of Emerge magazine, is
editor-in-chief of the National
Newspaper Publishers Associa-
tion News Service (NNPA.) He is a
keynote speaker, moderator, and
media coach.
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Obamacare: Whole Foods, Whole Fools
T
here is a Whole Foods store
about three blocks from my
home, and around the cor-
ner from my gym. I am enamored
by the displays of produce, the red
peppers contrasting the yellow
ones, the kale, chard, and collard
glistening from their morning
sprinkle. I love the way the fish
gleams back at you, char and
salmon, swordfish and tilapia.
When I walk over to the prepared
food, I grin at the ways the veggies
are layered with cheese, crumbs,
and so much more. They have
sandwiches that I identify with,
ingredients that I salivate about.
And now I must declare that I
would rather drink muddy water or
sleep in a hollow log that to
indulge in whole foods.
I am utterly appalled that Whole
Foods CEO John Mackey
described Obamacare as “fas-
cism.” Fascism is an incendiary
word that speaks totalitarianism,
or dictatorship, and it descries it in
a pejorative way. Whatever dissent
there may be about Obamacare,
the fact is, enough members of
Congress voted for it to make it a
law. John Mackey, what were you
thinking when you called Oba-
macare (a term I proudly embrace)
totalitarian and fascist? Is Presi-
dent Obama so mesmerizing that
he forced opposing members of
Page 4 The Seattle Skanner February 13, 2013
B ENNETT
C OLLEGE
Julianne
Malveaux
Congress to vote for his plan?
I had mixed feelings when the
store also known as Whole Pay-
check swooped into my neighbor-
hood. People earn less hourly than
emphatically negative. I can
understand folks preferring to
keep their jobs than to put it out
there for justice. But from the
swing of the head, the cut of the
eye, it was clear that all has not
been good at Whole Paycheck.
Unease translated into disease
for me. How dare John Mackey
decide to flip his lip without a
script to describe national health
care as “fascism?” He seems to be
trying to start a fight, to diminish a
president, to ignore that vote of
Congress, to put President Obama
If my words are irrelevant, keep
shopping at Whole Paycheck and
supporting oppression
the price of a pound of cheese.
Most folks, though, were happy to
have jobs. Happy, that is, until
they complained about the terms
and conditions of their work. I
really didn’t pay much attention,
but there was a niggling sense that
something was wrong
Some of the workers grumbled
outside the store. If you asked if
they could help you, they were
in a context that he does not
deserve to be in. Fascism? One
dictionary describes fascism as “a
right wing nationalist ideology or
movement with an hierarchical
structure that is opposed to democ-
racy and liberalism.”
How did President Obama get in
this mix? CEO John Mackey,
unsupportive of Obamacare (as
many business leaders are) chose
to take opposition to another level,
and decided that “fascism” was a
great way to frame his ire. Then he
said it didn’t matter, that his word
choice was careless, that his igno-
rance would not affect his corpo-
rate profit, that he simply
misspoke. Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr. said to support evil is to
embrace evil, is to be evil. This is
an evil I can gleefully walk away
from. Mackey says that it doesn’t
matter that conscious people won’t
support his store. He may have a
point. But I’m gong to take my lit-
tle $200 a week elsewhere and I
know others who will do the same
thing. John Mackey, your words
have been duly noted.
If my words are irrelevant, keep
shopping at Whole Paycheck and
supporting oppression. If you
agree with me, send John Mackey
a note via Libba.Letton@whole-
food.com
or
Kate.Lowery@wholefoods.com.
To use a term like “fascism” in the
context of public policy is ugly
and unacceptable. To cooperate is
to be complicit.
Julianne Malveaux is a Wash-
ington, D.C.-based economist and
writer. She is President Emerita of
Bennett College for Women in
Greensboro, N.C.