You might have heard about the weekend we just had here in Chicago.
Depends on where you get your news from, the amount of people injured in last weekend's shooting spree ranges between 50 and 80. When this happens, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the Chicago Police Department will give their own spins on recent events.
Mayor Emanuel released a statement Monday morning in which he gave his take on something he is all too familiar with:
"The number of shootings and murders that took place over the holiday weekend is simply unacceptable, and points out that we still have work to do. The solution does not just include policing - although we'll continue to look for ways to put more police where they're needed. We also have to give our young people alternatives to the street, and as a community we need to demand more of ourselves and our neighbors. This violence is unacceptable wherever it occurs in our city and all of us need to take a stand. The only way we will meet this challenge to our future is to join with one another and create a partnership for peace."
I completely understand if you feel the urge to vomit after reading that statement.
The mayor's statement has no legs to stand on.
My favorite was the part about the "alternatives" to the street.
Mr. Mayor, c'mon now...remember when you and the Chicago School Board engineered the largest public school closing in American History? When you closed those schools, you also took away after school programs. Art, science, music and sports fell by the wayside.
Now we have a generation of kids who have nothing to do when school lets out.
A close runner up from the mayor's statement was the part about creating a "partnership for peace."
Many of the people in our city's disenfranchised neighborhoods do not believe that the mayor has their best interests at heart.
I'm not going to say that the mayor is racist.
A lot of folks believe that he is. However, since he took office, many of his policies have had an adverse effect on the city's African-American and Latino population.
The mayor may not have planned it out that way but he hasn't given many Chicagoans a reason to think otherwise.
Since the holiday weekend violence, many have called for the National Guard to step in.
There are several reasons why that won't work.
Here's one off the cuff:
Can you imagine the s--t show when someone from the National Guard shoots someone who had nothing to do with a crime?
Also, when has a military presence in an American city such as Chicago, which has systemic issues, worked out for the better?
How did that work out in the Middle East?
We're going to have the same press conference by the mayor we had Monday morning.
Even Roland Martin thinks the National Guard needs to hit the street.
I disagree with Martin's assessment. However, he was right about what would happen if a bunch of kids were shot on the North Side. After all, the North Side gets high-end grocery stores and college prep schools without even asking for them.
I get that none of the other options have worked thus far. People want more police but they soon resent them for walking their beats.
Short of what was done in the 2002 movie, Minority Report, I'm not sure what can be done.
Maybe we should put our hands up like they do at Wrigley Field when a ball goes into the ivy?
If you have an idea that no one hasn't heard yet, like most Chicagoans, I am open to any ideas.