This City

I'm sad about what's going on in Russia; I'm sad about what's going on in Iraq; I'm sad about what's going on in Africa; also very close to home I'm sad about what's happening in Boston:

• 9/5 3 Men Killed in Dorchester: ages 24, 24, and 19.
• 8/28 An 18 yr old killed in Boston
• 8/13 3 people killed, 1 in Jamaica Plain and 2 in Dorchester
• 8/8 A 19 yr old and a 35 yr old were killed in Roxbury
• 8/5 Two men 18 yrs old and 25 yrs old were killed in Dorchester
• 8/1 An 11 yr old shot in the chest during football try-outs in the South End

I just can't list anymore--there have been so many. Seth Gittel wrote in 2002 about the violence in Boston:

As the city looks for ways to counter the new crime wave, it needs to do something new: figure out exactly what is going on. Because without an understanding of what is causing the violence this time around, they’ll never be able to stop it.

It's two years later and it's happening again. Maybe the Boston Police Department's new tactics can help or at least I hope they don't make things worse trust-wise amongst those living in the inner-city.

I remember back in the late 80s and early 90s when all you'd hear about were the gangs: Castlegate, Intervale, and Humboldt. I was hanging out in Cambridge and meeting kids associated with these gangs. My dad, as a cop, had to have special training to identify gang members by their colors or clothes. It just seemed to be everywhere. That was the last time the murder rate rose so quickly in Boston.

Douglas Belkin just wrote a piece in the Boston Globe about a few of the men who were shot and survived during those times.
The scariest thing he reports:

As many wounded as there are in the city, Massachusetts is the safest state in the country when it comes to gunshot deaths, with fewer than three people per 100,000 killed by guns. The nation averages more than 10 per 100,000. In Washington, D.C., the rate is nearly three times that.

I know this would make a lot of people scream about gun control, but I truly do not believe that is the answer. I think it has more to do with jobs, education, and of course, money. I just wish it would stop, or at least slow down, this violence in Boston. Maybe these autumn cool breezes will blow in and cool off the city, even if it's temporary it will at least give a break to those moms, dads, sisters, brothers, and friends who have gotten much too used to burying young men.