Program Note: Tune in tonight to watch Sudhir Venkatesh talk to Anderson about the violence in Chicago on AC360° at 10 p.m. ET
Sudhir Venkatesh
Columbia University
Chicago has experienced a rise in youth violence, particularly in its inner-city neighborhoods. There have already been 36 school students who have been killed so far this year, which is troubling, and many young people have been hurt in the shootings.
One factor causing the violence is the large-scale demolition of the city’s public housing developments. When the “projects” were torn down, over 20,000 families were sent to other neighborhoods. This means that over 100,000 poor people had to find a new place to live. Nearly 90 percent ended up moving to other poor neighborhoods in Chicago that were as crime-ridden as the projects. This also meant that the kids had to cross gang boundaries. It is not an accident that youth violence is occurring in and around Chicago schools because gangs spend a lot of time recruiting in school areas. The youth who ended up in new schools were assumed to represent an enemy gang, even if they had no gang membership.
The situation has become explosive.
Chicago also has some of the most corrupt and ineffective police. In low income minority neighborhoods, residents and police still don’t get along. The result is that people feel unsafe and don’t rely on the law to come to their aid. Instead, they will sometimes take matters into their own hands, which can lead to further escalations in violence.
The city needs to spend time and money providing opportunities for youth in some of these neighborhoods. Most of the resources are in the elite areas of the city, near the Lakefront, but they are most needed in the middle and working-class neighborhoods. Hopefully this recent violence will serve as a wakeup call for Mayor Daley’s administration.
Otherwise, things might get worse.
Editor's Note: Sudhir Venkatesh is a professor of sociology at Columbia University. He has spent over two decades studying gangs in Chicago and New York. His most recent book, based on that research, is Gang Leader for a Day (Penguin Press).
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The "Bullying: It Stops Here" town hall
Anderson answers your questions
The art of booking guests
Whats fuelling it? Give us all a break answer Guns!!
You have raving lunatics getting hold of guns, a totally ineffective system of laws to control guns and ownership.
The constitution does not prevent reasonable and effective Laws being passed on gun ownership ( Only the NRA)
Stop being dragged into the minutae of analysing each catastrophe and deal with
1) Defining what an individual may own (i. e type) and those that are Military style weapons ( make manufactutrers apply to an Independent government agency) for categorisation prior to sale
2) License all gun sellers with adequate laws and systematic and checks and balances. And minimise numbers on say a population basis by state.
3) Define laws on Individuals who wish to own guns, and make it a crime for a licensed gun to be transported accross state lines without a pre approved permit.
4) Concealed weapons are a criminal offence with or without a permit.
Pass these simple ideas as federal laws, and stop the American tendency of Litigious or socio economic analysis Its Guns that Kill people end of story!!
Regards,
Hodgson.
we can't teach morals or hold anybody to a higher standard .... so our society will slowly sink into ever more depravity.
We also beleave strongly in the 10th Amendment.
WAY TO GO Montana, We're behind you all the way here in Alabama!
If the U.S. is fighting the war on terror, wouldn't you think gangs will
be a terror in the U.S. all the killings, drugs, stolen goods, crimes.
Don't forget we are fighting the war on terror.
We should send the US army in and go door to door and clean out the streets of chicago. Now I'm just saying, only gang bangers in bigger
cities. we the americans people should have the right to walk freely
on the street.
I worked for 31 years in an inner city middle school. During that time I observed adolescent behavior on a daily basis. One of the problems that no one has discussed is that parents have relinquished raising their children to the streets, the schools, and the government. Most parents don't want to be the one to discipline their children, they want to be their friend. When the schools attempt to enforce rules or discipline children, the parents accuse the school of over reacting. The schools are expected to teach, parent, and police the children. In addition, schools are expected to take care of all of the emotional and medical needs of the children. The schools do a good job considering the support that they get from parents, media and the government. In most cases the schools are everyone's whipping boy when it comes to society's ills. Until the people in this country wake up this is going to be the future of this country.
It is way too easy to buy guns in this country. The complete ban is probably not realistic at this poit, but so many lives would be saved if the process of purchasing guns was harder than it is now. You need more paperwork to get a driving lisence than to get a gun.
I live in the free state of Vermont.. Like Howard Dean said what works in Vermont as far as gun control would not work in the inner city. Here in Vermont as in many rural states there are few gun restrictions and little violence. I say keep the gun control strict for inner cities. If you don't like inner city violence and not being able to defend yourself move to a rural state like Vermont, Idaho or Montana. I am all for strict gun control in Chicago, NYC and other areas with people who cannot be responsible. Don't expect to push the same strict gun laws on a state with rural people who work together in community, and want a deterrent to keep gang bangers from moving there. We need strong penalties for people who do "straw purchases" and circumvent the federal licensed dealer back round check, and those who fail to keep their guns secure from irresponsible children. Most states are now "shall issue" for concealed carry permits. You could NEVER allow that in NYC, NJ or Chicago. Let the states decide!
Don't blame the guns, blame the parents of these kids. How many guns are on death row? It is so funny how many Americans from large cities blame everything but the root of the problem. Has anyone noticed the common theme of the kids that were killed, not one white kid in the bunch. When will blacks, latinos, and other minorities rise up and take responsibility for their children instead of letting them run with gangs, sell drug, and drop out of school. The thing is they could care less about their children or they wouldn't be in these type situations. Parents are to blame for these killings, not guns.
Hello Anderson I have lost a great friend just over 7 months ago he was shot in the chest and died from that one bullet he was only 17 he didn't get a chance to go to his prom.Toronto Police were quick to track down the shooter but was quickly to be released by police on bail. Bothbl Canada and the US should place harsher bans on fire arm and should make manditory sentences for people carrying these hand guns. RIP BORIS and by the way CANADA LOVES ANDERSON COOPER
I understand the concern with guns in the hands of gang criminals killing young kids, but will taking away the guns take away their desire to do harm and kill, I think not! The question is how to deal with this state of mind and total lack of respect for society.
What is needed is not more gun control, that is not the answer. The answer is to punish the violators not the law abiding citizen whom carries.
Punish the violators will harsh sentences:Death for violent crimes. Anything less is a instant failure. To those whom cannot see the truth, they are blind and deaf to the victims plight.
The violence is what lead me to leave Chicago. My now 9 year old son didn't stand a chance growing up on Chicago's southside.
I hear all about the problem is the guns, the cops, or the kids, or maybe their families. You take the guns away and they will just find some other way to hurt or be the tuff one. you take away the cops or tie their hands and you have folks out of control again the strongest will be the tuff dog. The kids, Its not just them. I think they just don't have anything any more in the streets to keep them from falling into the same rut. They all want to be the strongest and to have things. And being the strongest it is their way to have things and their friends to look up to them. What happened to family pride its all gone, up there from alot of different resons. But alot of it is because of the families them selves. Nothing to do, no money, and just lost as to whats important and how to get it. The good people need to stand up and take thier town back and the good kids will raise up along with them. They just need help. And LOVE.
I was born and raised in Chicago. This situation has so many layers its really difficult to explain. In my opinion, the school lottery plays a big part in this ball of confusion. Students in most cases do not attend the school in their neighborhood, or where there parents pay taxes they have to travel out of their neighborhood. I would have never thought it to be legal to have your child travel on public transportation to another school when they have a school in walking distance. Not to mention they bus children in to your school on student buses. The bigger problem is that your are living in one gang territory and traveling to another. You have the larger gangs and then the subsets(certain blocks) smaller gangs but, they all attend this melting pot for students unqualified to attend the school in their zip code. .The magnet schools are the reason for the lottery.
Anderson just a suggestion I think if they would build One Big Magnet School and let the rest of the students go to their own neighborhood schools this would prevent a lot of unnecessary interactions. I just lost my nephew William Crawford, two weeks ago in a drive-by.
I always hear the same thing, the blame game. I've been living in chicago all my life (29 years). It makes no difference who fault it is, the problem needs to be solved. We have a few issues that needs to be addressed. First, stop the violence in my communities. As an African American, black man, minority, however I am to be labeled, our problem didn't just start today. It is deep rooted in the minds of us all. The environment that we live in is what we have grown accustomed to. The problems of the past has resulted into the troubles of today. But my community has to get out of that same mentality that we know all too well. What we need to do is recruit young people to start a whole new generation of talented African American communities. Not to give up on the older ones, but let's start fresh. The older ones have a choice, right or wrong, but let's make it mandatory for the younger ones to attend extracurricular activities to get them from the poison of the streets, only then will we start to see actual progress. Second, the police are not to blame here, but it doesn't help when they contribute to the selfish nonsense. Yes, they have a dangerous job, but they know this. I've seen a lot of police not protecting or serving like they promised. But I've also seen police that live up to the title that they hold. Remember, they are only human. Third, let's work together.
This is a story going in a lot of black communities across the U.S. and insteed of worring about genocide in Darfur, we need to stop the genocide of black males in America
Are these young people of Chicago brought into the hospitals from gun shot wounds covered by insurance – do they work – are they street people – who pays the bills? We wonder why inflation has gone rampid – the drug problem is the worst threat to the US people. Beverly Fry – Baton Rouge, La.
Chicago comunity organizer now working in the Whitehouse.
Should one look past the flames to the fuel, without a doubt, a huge part of the violent gun crime will be judged to be drug related, in one way or another. Isn't it always? It is way past common sense that we have not yet taken a serious look at responsibly reforming some of our drug laws. As a more general comment, banning any commodity that the consumer wants (prohibition) has proven to not work so well. Tried with alcohol and made more sense to repeal it. Drugs are proving to be an even greater challenge. To enact more restrictive laws on gun control is only going to make their black market value rise. Policies have soon got to start working for people. It's all getting out of hand.
GUNS DO NOT KILL PEOPLE, PEOPLE KILL PEOPLE, and until we start punishing those who kill innocent people it will continue.
Prison is nothing but a free ride for those who spend any time there, free bed, meals, medical, dental, education............While honest, law abiding, tax-paying citizens have to work for those things.
Criminals should not have rights, they should have to forfeit those rights as retribution for the crime committed.
We don't need more laws, or law enforcement officers, or more government.
We need a criminal justice system that holds lawless people accountable for their actions and punishes them accordingly.
We need mothers and fathers who are responsible for the lives they bring into this world, who teach their children by example how to live and the difference between right and wrong......
Many thanks to CNN for the national coverage on the astounding and senseless tragedies that so many families in Chicago have had to endure. Your coverage shows what cannot be denied:
•Chicago is the nation’s murder capital—their homicide rate is comparable (and even slightly higher in some years) to those of New York and Los Angeles, both of which have nearly quadruple times the population of Chicago;
•Chicago has uncontrolled gang activity—there are more than 75,000 gang members;
•There are SCORES of homicides involving innocent victims; these homicides are not primarily interrelated/interpersonal gang member homicides as claimed; and
•The homicide rate among youth in Chicago IS NOT comparable to rates in other urban cities, as claimed by Chicago’s Mayor Daley.
National coverage is key—the country needs to be aware of what is happening to and among African American youth in Chicago. There are too many innocent victims. And mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, extended family members, teachers, coaches, pastors, and friends across the country are hurt and devastated by these senseless and avoidable crimes.
I hope that CNN will continue to report on this very crucial issue, and hopefully greater resources will be provided to the groups and organizations that are dedicated to ending these tragedies.
If you pass more restrictive gun laws, who will obey them? Law-abiding citizens; the others will ignore the new laws, too. Chicago and some nearby areas already have the most restrictive gun laws in the country; what good has it done?
This is not going to sit well with a lot of people, but the welfare to work program is to blame.
Absentee fathers are also to blame, but many are absent because they are either dead or rotting away in prison.
The welfare to work program resulted in mothers being away from the home to provide for the family. Many work low paying jobs, at restaurants or stores at odd hours of the day and are not at home to supervise or raise their children. Welfare to work was implemented by the Clinton Administration in 1996. This generation of children committing these acts of violence correlates to the age of kids who were raised during the work to welfare era.
I grew up in Chicago and the reason why so many kids who are not in gangs are the victims of gun violence is because they are being targeted by gangs. In Chicago, the rule of thumb is, join a gang or they will kill you. Children who refuse or ignore gangs are either beaten or threatened daily until they are killed.
Some kids will "affiliate" with gangs for protection or just to get them off of their back. It's a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation.
Economics, lack of parental supervision, the glorification of violence and materialism, lack of social values and reverence for life. The mothers are not bad people - they're working hard and most are clueless about what their children do when they are away from home. The idea that parents are partying and ignoring crime is delusional and worse, stereotypical.
MOST OF THE KIDS DROP OUT OF SCHOOL because they are running from gangs. School is not a SAFE HAVEN.
My heart goes out to these people. I do not live in chicago anymore and have been gone for the last decade. The city I live in averages 5 murders a year and that's 5 too many. The problems in Chicago are being ignored by the mayor. There is a lot of job discrimination, a lot of apathy, a lot of poverty.
It seems like Chicago, home to Barack Obama, lacks leadership at the highest of levels.
It's one thing to have some of these children failed by their families but another matter entirely for them to be failed by elected officials.
If Barack Obama couldn't change the corrupt Chicago Democratic political machine, or help curb urban blight or help provide children with prospects of a brighter future, how will he change America?
What is wrong here? How did the gang members get to be gang members? I'm betting they were raised in a broken home, no father figure present to show them what a real man is and how a real man acts, if they even know who their father is. They were not raised to be responsible for their actions and our bleeding heart liberal rights activists prohibit the law from delivering proper punishment to them for crimes committed. Until we start punishing the criminals as they should be punished and honest law abiding people defending themselves with whatever force necessary this problem will not go away. For crying out loud, enact and enforce the death penalty......I realize that due to human error the wrong person may be executed from time to time, but I'm betting the toll would be far less than what we are experiencing on the mean streets today. GUNS DO KILL PEOPLE, PEOPLE KILL PEOPLE
Absentee fathers, unstable homelife, little priority placed on education at home, drug abuse in the home? Might these have any influence? Nawww.....it must be the police's fault.
Mexico has banned guns and look where it is. Many of the cities with restrictive gun laws also have high murder rates. The premise is that if we make guns illegal then criminals won't own them. The flaw is that criminals won't follow the law.
While the murder of any child is unacceptable there is an answer. The answer must be a cultural shift within minority neighborhoods. Father's must step up. Parents should step up and raise their children and not expect the schools to do it.
5/08/09
Why priests are not allowed to marry?
The church is more inerested in money, not the health of the priest.
Many have retired to Ireland.
I strongly disagree with the aformentioned comment "Chicago also has some of the most corrupt and ineffective police." I would relate that more to City Government.
Yes, too many Chicago Public School Students are being murdered, but how many of the murderers are also Chicago Public School Students? Where are these kids' parents?
Why was the recent murder of a 15-year-old reported as him having no criminal history and not being affiliated with a gang? He hadn't been to school since September 2008, and was running around a gang war zone eleven miles from home.
People need to stop protecting the people quilty of it. Its time for people to start being forced to take responsibility for their actions instead of allow apathy to rule.
More than ten years ago, Boston addressed an outbreak in children's shooting deaths by community collaboration. The mayor's office, the police, and area church leaders worked together to address gang violence. This coalition has held and the result is a drastic decrease in inner-city violence. Could the same thing work in Chicago?
M. Brown, its going to have to take everyone to solve this problem but it will first have to start with the accessibility of guns. I was watching Glenn Beck on television lastnight and he had guest on his show stating that in Montana they just passed a bill that will allow montana to make as many bullets and guns as they want with no regulation from the gov. and it passed!!!. So yeah the problem is about to get bigger, Texas and Utah are trying to pass the same legislature. So yes it will take tax payers to help stop this problem. Oh and by the way
Mr Beck seemed pleased that this was happening and even said if other states passes this law it would be like "kicking dirt in our gov. face"
Seems as though right wingers are going to try to go back to the old days of feuding and killing anything they feel goes against what they believe.
Lamont Austin
Tucson Az
aka the real wild wild west
Its easy to say its their problem and other tax payers shouldn't have to pay for the problems, but it isn't realistic. If the solution was that simple there would have been some brave folks who would have done it by now. Living in this kind of poverty with no opportunities and no foreseeable way out of the daily grind of poverty and violence to where one can make a better life for themselves is hard on the soul and breeds anger. Those of us who are more fortunate and better off need to give a helping hand to get this situation turned around. In the end you might be surprised that in helping them get ahead, you win as well. Just a thought....
m. browne offers nothing new, creative or useful in this quest to resolve the youth violence that has plagued large cities for years. We need new ideas. For the sake of discussion, if the answer is to get citizens in these communities to speak up and provide evidence against the youthful offenders, then what is it going to take to do that? Just yelling at them or TYPING IN CAPITAL LETTERS is not going to make it happen. We need to understand why they are not doing that already, then we can identify the root cause an address them.
I understand that people are frustrated by this issue and the fact that we have not been able to make it go away by more policing and more money being thrown at the same old solutions. Perhaps if we put some of that same money toward other ideas, such as those proposed by Mr. Venkatesh, we will see better, long term results. What have we got to lose?
This dilemma of youth crimes and murder is simply put the black and hispanic communities not stepping forward and turning in the culprits and gang members to the police and the authorities. Simply stated black, hispanics, and other minorities are covering and refusing to testify against these juvenile criminals to put them away. It is THEIR own problem, not law abiding citizens. Until these poor communities step forward and take responsibility (not one of Obamas favorite words) for their communities and themselves and turn these criminals in.......it is only going to get WORSE........that is a promise....money, more police, more money is not going to solve this....it falls squarely on the shoulders of the witnesses and community leaders to fix this problem....not other tax payers.
"chicago police has some of the most corrupt and ineffective police." wow. that is real fair and balanced reporting. what a joke, to simply blame the police for these inner city problems. why police would even risk their lives for people who hate them is incredible.
So many blame guns but the truth is Chicago's (Cook County) criminal courts system is broken. If you want to get away with murder, commit it in Chicago. The politicians play hocus pocus with the few bad acts of a minute percentage of police officers there, to distract from their own incompetence. Politics is allowing crime to expand unabated and no one really cares. They care more about political agendas. And what's worse citizens, actual American citizens, are afraid to speak out for fear of retribution from their elected officials. It's like living in a foreign land..
WOW!!!! A liberal professor blames the police for the violence. I'd like to see how he came about his conclusions. How many ride-a-longs has he gone one with the police? I will look up his bio...and see his credentials...other than just being a professor.
Anderson,
Thank you for doing this series on Chicago's dying children. And I really hope that you will continue to follow up on this unbelievable tragedy in the city in which I live. We will frequently see on our local evening news the story of another Chicago youth being gunned down in a senseless act. And those of us that care will talk about what in the world needs to be done to bring this heartless and savage crimes to an end. People talk about the breakdown of the family unit, the huge gang problem; the enormous amount of guns on the streets; the drug problem; the need for more safe activities and places to go when students are out of school. And our local print media (Chicago Sun-Times) has done major stories on the killing of Chicago's school students. And now a Southside Pastor is hanging the church's American flag upside down as a sign of urgent distress.
But I must tell you that many (if not most) Chicagoans go about their daily work and life and don't think about the killing of Chicago's children for more than a fleeting second. It's not happening in their neighborhood; it's not happening to their children. I can tell you, however, that if young children were being slain in trendy Lincoln Park or on the Goldcoase or in Lakeview or Lincoln Square, many more residents would be up in arms demanding that action be taken to stop the violence.
Chicago is a great city. It has been wonderful assets like our Magnificent Mile shopping area. But not far away, a couple miles or less west of Tiffany's and Neiman Marcus, the killing continues and more children die.
God help Chicago.
You can Murder someone in this country and get no time after it is plead down to lesser charges. This happens EVERYDAY in America!!!! My Little brother was shot four times from behind pre meditated murder and he was robbed. They wanted to let the guy plea to manslaughter!!! My family couldn't believe what we were hearing. We went to media and newspaper and demanded justice for my beautiful brother. He got 15 years instead of 2 to 5 which is normal here in Charlotte Nc. My parents continue to give a voice for victims here in North Carolina. When will violent criminals be held accountable? Build more prisons and put the criminals away!!!!!
This is obvious to me that the killers in these incidents are not from Chicago. It looks like an initiation practice for a growing gang within the state or surrounding state. Maybe Feds should investigate from that angle.
Over 30000 People were killed by guns last year in the USA. -BAN GUNS.
I know no one wants to hear this, but the "no snitch policy" aint working for these kids. Please dont blame it all on the cops.
re: "they will sometimes take matters into their own hands"... I'm guessing about 36 times too many just this year.
This is the problem: this particular area/ group of people do not know how to manage problems and use conflict management skills.
Wonderful article,and very accurate. It brought to mind my fond memories of the Boston area growing-up. This parallels the Hyde Park school desagregation in 1974,between the southies [South Boston(Mattapan)] and Dorchester where the infamous Whitey Bulger (Irish Mobster) played drug-lords from both sides of the racial divide with local police,and FBI as his snitches! Needless to say it was a racial disaster that brought havoc to the city for years. Ironically a very fine,and conscientious social worker became an excellent author,and wrote a gripping tale of life in South Boston,via Dorchester. The books title was, "All Souls" by Micheal Patrick MacDonald,and published on October 3,2000 with Mr. MacDonald's main thesis blaming treachery,and deception on local government,and land owners. Desagregation played a small part,other than a diversion. It was designed to fail,as it did,but opened-up huge land-grabs (pennies-on-the-dollar) for those in the know at the expense of poor black minorities,and proud Irish immigrants which co-existed prior to the busing. Chicago is a mirror (very similar in poor-deliberate planning regarding all variables) image of Hyde Park during 1974! PS. Oh and by the way,"Yes" to Columbia's sociology dept.,...!
Eric Holder said "we are a nation of cowards". Well, I'm not going to be cowardly on this topic- you guys shouldn't be either. Please report about how many of the kids killed had a father living at home??? It's not all the fault of the police. You talk about "keeping them honest" well then report about how over 70% of African American families are headed by single women,how that's not healthy for their kids,especially boys. How many gang members are from single mother housholds??? I think you would be doing the country a service if you opened this up for discussion.
PS- I'm a child who was raised by a single mother (although my father was very involved with me).
Daily is too busy working on beautifing the city for the olmplyic.the poor inner city kids are shooting each other up the police are overweight out of shape and do notcare what happens in the poor area. We run home before dark and afraid to let our kids be out late. We the parents drive our kids every where. We need a new leader someone who cares or this summer will be deadly
The usual kind of circular, decontextualized reasoning sociologists churn out in spades.
If the kids were victimized by being relocated into gang territories, then why were there gangs in those areas to begin with?
Some time back, the Atlantic magazine ran a lengthy article on the city of Memphis and its experience with Section 8 housing. Formerly "warehoused" residents of projects were relocated in stable neighborhoods, and within a few years crime patterns had re-established themselves. The only thing Before and After had in common were the housing aid recipients themselves. Quite a conundrum for our esteemed social "scientists."
Dear CNN’s correspondent Anderson Cooper,
I am responding to the education stability within inner cities. There are many teachers, instructors and faculty members who are responsible for our youth. They are the role models that are accountable for encouraging skills and improving weaknesses of our younger adults. Since many teachers do not comprehend or lived through the disparities or issues of the inner city; it is hard to educate our youth. When a person struggles with emotional abuse of living through street activities, they become stronger mentally and learn more. These students learn skills and strength through surviving there environment. They are weak to social norms of society because of the unrealistic expectation of strength on an emotional level. The youth may not know the conservative name to certain learned skill from the streets, but the analytic thought process that they acquired can exceed the professional knowledge. The battle of having a broader knowledge or thought process can be an emotional distress for our youth. The emotional abuse issues are being distributed by the professionals. There is a need to address a better format of literature and professionals that teaches our youth. When the instructors do not extend to a more analytic thought process they often are very critical of that student. This discourages the student and then the alternative happens. The student will drop out.
On the other hand, our youth is faced with emotional abuse of the parents. Some parents that are not willing to comprehend the importance of education will discourage their children. The parent will become intimidated by their own children success.
These problems that I have discussed are the foundation of the inner cities’ issues. There are many levels of pain to overcome. They are not angry but in pain.
the new hood should be neighborhood take back your streets. more money is not the solution
As a new resident to Chicago and with a child who will be entering school in less than a year, the violence is absolutely terrifying. What's even scarier is that mayor Daley does nothing about it. He's too worried about getting the Olympics to Chicago in 2016, and the money that it will put in his pocket! Let's worry about our kids who are dying today!!! How is he still in office and is there no one else who can do anything about this EPIDEMIC, since his priorities are obviously elsewhere?!