Tale of Two Cities
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It has been a bloody fall here in Chicago land. I buried another student a few weeks ago. Two women were found a few blocks from my Armory in Washington Park, strangled and burning in dumpsters. A University of Chicago Student was gunned down a few blocks away also. Missing young woman from UIC area found dead. People of Color across the city are getting killed and few get any media coverage. But if you happen to be blond, young and attractive and are missing it seems you deserve the full media blowout 24/7. Aircraft, State police, FBI, search teams from across the country. I know we have only so many assets to use, but give me a break. I know you have a better chance of dying in a violent way if you are a member of a minority group. But, I think violence toward women in general has gone completely out of control. Why do we wring our hands so over casualties we receive within a combat zone when we lose literally thousands in violent ways in and around our own major cities? I look forward to going back to Afghanistan next year so I can carry my weapon again, hanguns are banned in Chicago. We are so much safer.....not.
posted by CSMBones at 11:00 PM
3 Comments:
This is exactly the sort of thing I bring to the front whenever I hear anyone bemoaning the violence in Iraq. How is it that we expect more from them than we do our own "enlightened" population. What exactly do you think people would feel about the US if we were only allowed to present to the world our worst from the major cities, such as New York, LA, Chicago, New Orleans, etc.
I asked my mom the other day, while shopping at a busy mall, with my 2 daughters (9 & 12)...is it that the world is darker, less safe for women and children, than it was 20-100 or so years ago, or is it just that with the new communication technology we're hearing about it more? The conversation started after my mom wasn't happy with me for letting my daughters walk out of eye-sight (though not earshot) in the store. She has never been easy with my letting them go to the bathroom together but without an adult in a restaurant. And it got me to thinking about the fact that each successive generation of kids has been able to do less and less, because of the environment. My mom used to have the run of the town, I used to have the run of the neighborhood, and my girls are only allowed on our street (and we live in a cul-de-sac). Its not because each generation was less trustworthy, it was because the world we find ourselves in seems less trustworthy. I would never imagine sending my daughter to the store, less than a mile from our house, for milk or bread. But I used to ride my bike over 3 miles away for such errands.
I know your point was about society's different reactions to the violence and mayhem unleashed on minority women versus white women. But you struck a cord with your comment about violence on women in general being worse.
Thanks for the soap box.
CSM, right on about our media obsession with the current physique du jour. The fact that we are still talking about Natalie Holloway's disappearance is repugnant.
BTW - It will be interesting to see how the SCOTUS looks at the 2nd ammendment.
It is frustrating that only two people had anything to say on this. The growing attitudes held by our mostly younger people toward life and violence is alarming. Suicide is no big deal, every teenager knows sombody who has killed themself or has been raped or has been the victime of some other violent act. Life is becoming very disposable. This has been sliding downward for decades now. What is important is youth and celebrity. It is hard to get through to my students about the concept of the "long term". We are so used to instant gratification. It always amazed me that many of the Afghans we worked with could not read or write, but they new avery important date on the Lunar Calendar.
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