African-American neighborhoods in Chicago are on edge as another holiday weekend approaches. Last weekend seven people were killed on Christmas Day alone 鈥� some of them at family gatherings 鈥� in violence that鈥檚 thought to be gang-related.
Chicago pastor () joins Here & Now鈥榮 Meghna Chakrabarti to discuss ways to break a cycle of violence.
Interview Highlights
On why gang-related violence persists in Chicago
鈥淲e continue to have a serious economic problem, more so than anything. In Chicago, especially on the South Side and West Sides of Chicago, we experience the highest unemployment rate of any place in America, as far as it relates to young, African-American males. And I think the fact that the economy is the way that it is in our neighborhoods, it drives a lot of the tension, it drives a lot of the hopelessness, and unfortunately that breeds the violence that we鈥檙e experiencing.鈥�
On challenges that people in some Chicago neighborhoods face
鈥淭he very fact that people are having difficulty paying their bills, the very fact that they can鈥檛 go any do some of the normal things that normal people do 鈥� like go to a show, or buy things. And I think, a lot of times on the South Side and West Sides of Chicago, specifically with these young men, they feel like they鈥檙e not a part of society, and as a consequence, you start to do things that, you know, endanger people鈥檚 lives, like violence and shooting and killing. Young people can鈥檛 even walk to school, or they can鈥檛 even walk to stores 鈥� it鈥檚 a very dangerous place.鈥�
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On unemployment as a factor behind gang-related violence
鈥淲e say this all the time, that 鈥榟ammers beat guns all the time,鈥� 鈥榡obs trump guns all the time.鈥� No one wants to be shot at, no one wants to be a killer, no one wants to be a thug. These young men, they want to be productive, they want to be a part of society, they want to take care of their families, they want to be able to do all the things that you should be able to do in America, but that is not happening. And as a result, they keep limiting themselves to this type of behavior, because they don鈥檛 see any other options available.鈥�
On how to disrupt the cycle of violence
鈥淲e have to continue to make sure that we have all hands on deck. I think one of the things that we experience so often is that we鈥檙e not all working together, we鈥檙e working in silos, we鈥檙e working in our own, individual things. We鈥檝e gotta figure out a way for us to come together and cooperatively put programs in place to move people from where they are to a lifestyle of working. I love the fact that Donald Trump is saying that he鈥檚 going to invest in the infrastructure of America. I think that is going to create a lot of jobs.鈥�
On tax credits and other methods for finding solutions
鈥淚 serve on a Tollway Board here in the state of Illinois, and I鈥檓 able to see, when people make investment in areas, how you鈥檙e able to create jobs and get people to working, so I really do believe that. Tax credits for individual companies coming into these impoverished areas are always a great idea. I think we have to create these economic empowerment zones to give companies an opportunity to invest in areas where there鈥檚 crime. Because there has to be a win-win situation鈥�
鈥淚 tell people this: that we live in a great country. America is a great place, and we have great minds and great thinkers. And I just don鈥檛 believe that we can live in these areas and not have people who cannot create solutions.鈥�
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