Routine ‘urban’ violence also worthy of national attention

A 34-year-old usher at the Friendship Baptist Church in Chicago along with another man were murdered on Sunday morning while going up the steps of the church just as services were starting. These were just two of the nine killings, three of which were self-defense during a home invasion, that occurred in the Windy City this past weekend. Thirty-three others were injured in the violence that has racked the nation’s third largest city.

And this past weekend is the norm. Just use Bing and search for yourself the term “Weekend violence Chicago” and the results are stunning.

On the same weekend, in Charlottesville, Virginia, there was a similar tragedy, a 33-year-old woman was killed when a car authorities allege was driven by a hate-filled individual crashed into her and others.

Unfortunately, there are those who seek to politicize the Charlottesville homicide, and ignore the destruction of life that terrorizes many urban neighborhoods.

President Trump has spoken out and his Department of Justice led by Attorney General Jeff Sessions is focused upon trying to solve the multiple-year surge in homicides in Chicago as well as the attack in Charlottesville, and Monday, the President hit the nail on the head on the Charlottesville tragedy saying, “We must rediscover the bonds of love and loyalty, that brings us together as Americans. Racism is evil and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans. We are a nation founded on the truth that all of us are created equal. We are equal in the eyes of our creator. We are equal under the law, and we are equal under our Constitution. Those who spread violence in the name of bigotry strike at the very core of America.”

As our nation pauses to reflect on the events in Charlottesville, may it also turn its eyes to Chicago and elsewhere around the country where murdering one’s neighbor has become so commonplace that it isn’t worthy of national news.

All of us are created equal, and the homicide in Charlottesville and the murder of a church usher in Chicago should each tear at our collective humanity.