Once again gun violence hits close to home as another one of our local children is killed. As this kind of thing happens daily we shouldn’t be surprised. But when it happens in your backyard, so to speak, you can’t ignore it.
I hear people pointing fingers about why violence is so prevalent. Lots of blame. How can we fix that? How can we teach our children to value life, to treat people with dignity, to care? My personal answer to that is by how we behave as a community.
Youngstown is steeped in poverty. People are living in horrible conditions. There isn’t enough safe and affordable housing. People are hungry. Well paying jobs are all in the suburbs. Schools are struggling. Racism and discrimination are a health concern. Life for most of our city is very hard.
Yes, there are so many good people trying to make a difference. I hope to be considered one of them.
But the truth we do not want to face is that people in this city have been asking for better for generations. Nothing changes. The message is that people in need don’t matter. And after a lifetime of hearing that, of experiencing it, of not being listened to, what can we expect but violence? Nothing else has worked.
People will let go of violence as an option when they have other options to choose from. Until then, we can expect anger, justified anger. Maybe if those if us who are comfortable got a little angry and made sure some real and life-giving changes actually happened, the violence in this community would lessen. I am praying and working for that, and I hope you are too.