Media

strosity of a catastrophe and tries to convert it into more granular particles for explanatory purposes.

“A lot of the violence in Chicago is about misunderstandings,” Hardiman said. “It’s the ‘strain theory.’ People are living in stressful situations. Some people have mental-health issues; some have no money; some can’t communicate; some don’t know how to solve problems.

“So, the gasoline is already in these neighborhoods; it just takes someone to get angry about something or react to something, light the match and start the fire.”

He noted that shootings on the south and west sides of Chicago have maintained a steady pace because of these scenarios:

• Revenge/retaliation conflicts.

• Armed robberies.

• I-just-don’t-like-you encounters.

• Gang-banger rivalries.

• Guilt-by-association confrontations.

• Killings to gain street credibility from neighborhood peers.

• Jealousy-driven clashes.

• Body-count-for-notch-onthe-belt situations.

• Low arrest records, which mean a single assailant can account for multiple and repeated shootings and homicides.

“It’s easier to get away with shootings and murders here than selling drugs,” Hardiman said. “The arrest record is very low.” Why?

“A lot of people don’t want to talk,” he said. “Witnesses feel intimidated.”

Note that within the past year an 18-year-old pregnant woman was fatally shot after she had testified against a man convicted of murdering her cousin. A hitman was paid $5,000 to execute her. That’s why some black community groups have requested that Chicago police offer better resources for protection and safeguards of witnesses.

Two other recent tragedies: Two black teenagers purchasing candy in a store were shot and killed when they asked a 6-foot-4 black male, “How tall are you?” while standing in line in a store and a 3-year-old girl was shot only 30 minutes after a 15-yearold boy was shot only a half-mile away in what police believe was a retaliatory shooting.

The bet here is that most readers weren’t aware of either matter. Why not? Because black-onblack crime basically is deemed an afterthought by most major media; so are black-on-white incidents.

Therefore, the victims don’t become household names. Therefore, in this climate, if a black person isn’t killed by a police officer or a white person, that life apparently isn’t worth a damn.

So, it seems the term Black Lives Matter is a misnomer; perhaps “Selective Black Lives Matter” is more apropos.