Opinion
Killing Our Black Teens – Literally
“Challenging People to Shape
a Better Future Now”
B ERNIE F OSTER
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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
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.
ation and West Coast Black Pub lishers
Association.
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Page 4 The Portland Skanner February 13, 2013
T HE C URRY
R EPORT
George E.
Curry
Young people are not only the
victims of gun violence – they are
usually the ones who pull the trig-
ger.
“From 2008 through 2012, near-
ly half of Chicago’s 2,389 homi-
cide victims were killed before
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
More young people are killed in
Chicago than any other city in the
nation
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
access to assault weapons and
high-capacity magazines.
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
Last year, 243 people under 25 were
killed in 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.
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.