Slaughter on streets a legacy of slavery, Jim Crow, institutional racism

Last weekend 48 Chicagoans were shot. Six died.

In the first 5 hours of this Chicago weekend, 17 were shot. Three died

Carnage like that ravages Chicago and many big cities with large minority populations all 52 weekends yearly, with lesser, but still unacceptable gunshot casualties, each weekday.

This catastrophic urban violence is not due to the race or ethnicity of the shooters and their victims. It is the legacy of 500 years of American slavery, Jim Crow and institutional racism.

Limited jobs, education, social services, basic amenities, no exit from the shooting gallery; all combined with unlimited guns, create the toxic cauldron making life deadly hazardous for those trapped.

This national disgrace was caused and is maintained by American government and culture. It is America’s shame. It is the shame of every citizen, every legislator, every president who ignores the travesty of life in 21st century America’s urban wastelands.

Its solution is not impossible. It requires the recognition of its American legacy and the will and resources to confront it.

Sadly, its solution remains, as the 1962 song of now octogenarian Bob Dylan laments ...’blowin’ in the wind.’