Suza column: We ignore the lessons of America’s gun violenceWalter Suza 

Gun Rights


Digging under the surface reveals truth, including that elevated crime in cities like Chicago has a connection to America’s oppressive past.

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  • Walter Suza of Ames writes frequently on the intersections of spirituality, anti-racism and social justice.

“Nothing will change until each one of us takes personal responsibility for what’s going on.”

That’s what Scarlett Lewis, whose son was killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school shooting with 19 other students and six adults, said in an interview with BU Today, a Boston University news website.

If death is a teacher, when it comes to death by guns, America has a learning problem. Nothing will change until each one of us learns.

Since 1968, more people have died by gun violence in the United States than in its wars. Some estimates are as high as 40,000 deaths each year. More than 80% of homicides and 60% of suicides in the United States involve firearms. 

Data analyzed from Gun Violence Archive, a not-for-profit entity, shows that, between 2014 and 2021, more than 234,000 deaths and 249,000 injuries in the United States were caused by firearms. Almost 32,000 children ages 0 to 17 were killed or injured by gun violence within the period. More than 15,000 gun incidents were unintentional. Since the start of 2022, more than 350 deaths and 1,400 injuries have been from mass shootings. 

Several shootings occurred in Chicago on July 4, yet the one that caught significant media attention happened in Highland Park, a predominantly white suburb, 27 miles north of Chicago. After the shooter was done, seven people were dead and dozens wounded. 

A doctor who tended to the Highland Park shooting victims said in an interview with NBC Chicago that the bullets created “the kind of injuries that only probably happen when bullets can blow bodies up.” 

Because Black people are 10 times more likely than white people to die from gun violence, some seemed surprised that gun violence happened in Highland Park, which is also one of Chicago’s affluent neighborhoods.  

No doubt lax gun laws must be amended, yet not all gun owners become violent. No doubt mental health must be mended, yet not all persons struggling with mental health become violent. 

More: Walter Suza guest column: Was America’s past ‘great,’ like Donald Trump said?

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No doubt Chicago has a pernicious gun violence problem, but we must not allow the Highland Park tragedy to become politicized like the Robb elementary school shooting in Uvalde. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott deflected by saying: “There are more people shot every weekend in Chicago than there are in schools in Texas.” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker responded to Abbott in a tweet: “The majority of guns used in Chicago shootings come from states with lax gun laws.” 

Gun violence in Chicago, as some argue, is not simply a “Black-on-Black” crime issue. No child, Black or White, is born to be a criminal. 

Before we scream “law and order,” let’s evaluate the issue of poverty further. We will learn that disinvestment and loss of jobs are at play. We will learn that elevated crime in cities like Chicago has a connection to America’s oppressive past. 

The story of Chicago is a tale of two cities. The wealthy neighborhoods in the north are in a “season of light,” the high-poverty neighborhoods in the west and south in a “season of darkness.” The season of darkness is about poor education, lost jobs, drugs, despair and high crime. 

Black people are concentrated in west and south Chicago. Why? Racial segregation created the inequity. When?

Racism and lack of economic opportunities forced millions of Black Americans to leave the South for better opportunities in places like Chicago in the 1900s. Industrial jobs in railroads, meatpacking and steel mill plants in the North provided good wages. Yet Black people still faced discrimination in Iowa cities such as Waterloo and Davenport, and in Minneapolis and even Chicago. 

Redlines were drawn in the 1930s around neighborhoods with Black people. Banks were less willing to invest in redlined areas, property lost its value, and businesses collapsed or moved to “green” areas. Fast forward to 2022: Poverty, crime and despair continue to haunt the redlined neighborhoods.

No child is born to die from gun violence, yet not all can escape their dire circumstances. Kids growing up in high-poverty neighborhoods, who are also likely to be Black, might lack role models, which can hinder their ability to succeed in education and work. Some might be lost to drugs, others to guns, others to incarceration. In 2021, 80% of Chicago’s homicides affected Black people.

Gun legislation must be accompanied by investments to tackle poverty by increasing access to affordable child care, home care, education, health care and housing. The Build Back Better legislation would have helped to reduce poverty in cities like Chicago, but it died because GOP senators and Sen. Joe Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema wouldn’t support it.

On July 4, the National Rifle Association tweeted: “The only reason you’re celebrating Independence Day is because citizens were armed.” 

Still refusing to learn. 

The reason more than 220 were killed over the July 4 weekend is because shooters were armed. With guns.

Walter Suza of Ames writes frequently on the intersections of spirituality, anti-racism and social justice. He can be contacted at wsuza2020@gmail.com.

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