May 01, 2007

Shooting Follow Up & Media Spin

As many of you know, I posted last week about the gang shooting that occurred near our home. However, we learned today that the victim is a guy we know, as he is a very close friend of one of our staff. While he is a former gang member, he has been out for some time, trying to clean up his life. While he is far from perfect, for some of the local media to immediately call him a gang member is unethical and potentially detremental to his reform.

Further, some of the media quotes the police as saying that the young man has been uncooperative in identifying his attackers. The way he tells it is that he does not know his attackers, their attack taking him completely by surprise. For police and media to further undermine his character in this way is unacceptable. I can't help but think that the fact that the victim is an inner city black kid with a record predisposes them to expect the worst.

Even he could identify his shooters, whether from knowing them or learning their identity from other witnesses, he lives in the neighbourhood. Given his treatment thus far, why would he expect to be given the protection he would most certainly need should he ID them? The media may blame the police for the misinformation, but no effort was made by the press to interview the victim.

So many Christians believe that these issues- issues of violence, crime, racism, etc.- are primarily the arena of the government. We comfort ourselves with the myth that it is within their means and ultimately their responsibility. While there is enough truth in these assumptions to comfort us, ultimately it allows us to deny the frightening reality that if the church does not rise up and do something, things will get worse.

I do not mean to beat a dead horse with this issue, but we have to get some perspective. Imagine your neighbourhood right now. Imagine that, 100 meters from your front door, feet away from the park where your kids play, two men randomly shoot someone, leaving his blood on the very sidewalk you walk your dog on. And there is stays for days, only to be washed away by the rain. Close your eyes now and consider how that would make you feel. Imagine how much news this would stir, perhaps even nationally.

Why should it be different here?

(NOTE: A special thanks for Erika for her understanding and encourgement. Her blog is a must read)

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Posted by Jamie Arpin-Ricci at 20:52:33 | Permanent Link | Comments (6) |
Comments
1 - It is a real shock when it happens in your own neighbourhood. In the last month there have been 3 sexual assaults on our block - the last one happening right outside the front door of our apartment. The police think it is the work of single perpetrator. An increased police presence seems to have given a temporary halt to the assaults, but how safe is safe, and for how long?

I have no idea what the "Christian" response to these things are. All I can say is that I started praying differently when it hit home, and perhaps that's telling me something, too. (Comment this)

Written by: [rhymes with kerouac] at 2007/05/01 - 00:05:12
2 - Thank you for the follow-up, he will be glad to know that someone is correcting the titles about 'inner-city gang member' and 'gangster' and glad that someone can see the veiw a bit more from his angle.
--ree (Comment this)

Written by: Ree at 2007/05/01 - 09:23:48
3 - What to do? A hard yet necessary question. Prior to where I live now which still has an element of crime and other shady individuals we lived in a very seedy area. Our resident across the hall was a meth dealer, five deaths in the building within a year and two were next to where we slept. Simple protocol to living in such a building was to not ask questions. If you don't know what is going on then you will not attract heat from the cops or from the criminal element. We helped out the detectives when we could and it was well known that if you told us anything we would be the first to sell you down the river. We were threatened but the response was simple to whichever individual was threatening us "if it were you who ended up being the victim would you not want all the help you can get?" It was very hard to live in this area and keep true to the word of god, to see the goodness in people. It tragically marred my walk with the Lord until we were able to get out.

Now that we are gone I live everyday with regret. What if I did ask questions, what if I could have done something to stop some of this activity. I feel like a coward most of the time now. I put myself and my family before everything and seemed to have lost the Lord in it all. I was mean when I had to be, protect myself and I most definately stepped in when I saw children being wronged by calling Child Protective Services and the Police. But most times children are just chattle and in the way of some of these people's way of life.

I am not sure what the answer is. But i just thought I would give a different perspective on things. My regret is that I would have taken the time to see these people as thinking and feeling people that Jesus loves. The one's that I did get to know had their hurts, their reasons and felt trapped by society. I understood this as we were too. Even though we stayed out of trouble and worked full time we bore a brunt of this stigma due to where we lived. It was not until I lived here that I felt like scum and this was most done by the police.

We are healing from this experience. We only lived in it for 15 months. I can't imagine the damage in those that have lived it much, much longer. (Comment this)

Written by: Liz at 2007/05/01 - 10:05:00
4 - RWK,

After living here for several years, it is a discipline not to let myself become used to these events. How do we nurture hearts that cry out about the suffering around us without becoming either callous or burnt out? As you say, prayer is a significant and essential first step.

Peace,
Jamie (Comment this)

Written by: Jamie Arpin-Ricci at 2007/05/01 - 10:52:47
5 - Ree,

And thank you for letting me know the details.

Peace,
Jamie (Comment this)

Written by: Jamie Arpin-Ricci at 2007/05/01 - 10:53:23
6 - Liz,

You clearly experienced much of the tension we feel here everyday. When left to small pockets of individuals to be be "responsible citizens" by engaging the system to correct the problems, we are left feeling regret and fear about our choices. That is why so many more need to rise up and claim these communities as their own, willing to move together as communities to see change. Idealistic, perhaps, but it is the hope I cling to. Don't feel guilt about past choices, Liz. Simply embrace the lessons learned and walk forward on a different path. Thanks!

Peace,
Jamie (Comment this)

Written by: Jamie Arpin-Ricci at 2007/05/01 - 10:56:37
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