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Subscribe to RSSLester Holt writes: I've always hated the term "senseless violence," because rarely have I covered a story in which violence made any sense to me. As I interviewed some of those who have lost children in Chicago's raging epidemic of gang-related killings for my upcoming Dateline hour, I found myself in that familiar place of struggling to offer them the appropriate words of comfort. There is just no making sense of an innocent child not making it home from school alive simply because another youth decides to try and shoot a rival that afternoon and misses his target. Or, as in the case of Derrion Albert, a group of classmates decide they need someone to take their rage out on.
It was video of Derrion being pummeled to death near his school last year that made the country stand up and pay attention to what has been happening in this country's third largest city. Last year, Chicago lost 63 school age kids to violence, with scores more wounded. That's a third more than were murdered in New York, a city three times larger. This year at least 218 young people have been shot.
I lived in Chicago for 14 years, and raised my children there through middle school. Though I was born and mostly raised in California, I have long considered Chicago my "adopted" hometown, and proudly tell people it's the most livable big city in America. Yet in certain parts of the city, gangs have robbed too many good people of the freedoms to enjoy all Chicago has to offer, and they are literally killing its children.
This was not an easy Dateline project. The personal accounts of families and victims who have suffered loss are painful to hear. At the root of the violence are guns and gangs, but we found disagreement and even controversy over other factors that may be contributing to it. We also found hope, however, in the character of those standing up against the violence. And in that hope perhaps lie the appropriate words of comfort. That these deaths which defy sensible explanation have forced people to take notice and dedicate themselves to saving other children.
I hope you can watch this special Dateline broadcast, America Now: Faces Against Violence.
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I had a 20 year old son, who died in an Arkansas prison. if i and other families can tell our story, than maybe it can help other family. this is a pain that no other love one wont to go through. i am started a love one support group for those who have died in prison-jail. i need to tell my story of my lost, and have to live with this pain.
Why are you focusing the blame on the school distric for its policy of combining kids from differant hoods? It is first and foremost the parents responcibility to keep there kids out of gangs; secondly the cops, to for lack of a better word, police, the gang activity!
Because you and your husband were good parents, that is not enough. The whole community has to get in on it also. Dont wait for shootings to start. Then is too late Children would not take up guns unless there was disfunction at home. It starts when they are born. Plenty of love and attention at home. Sitting down at supper as a family. The dad is'very important also at that table. Children need guidelines to live by and must be shown by the parents. They would have no need to carry a gun. They need to plan for an education and have dreams where they want to be when they graduate. They have to have a dream to know where they want to be. So all parents take on this responsibility at least till they graduate from college. It is not the guns, it is the lack of love and dreams. It is very sad watching what is going on in Chicago. Children were not born bad. And parents should no divorce till the children are raised. Cannot have an absentee dad, he has to be there for all.
Why doesn't someone talk about the fascination with guns in the black community? Rap songs, gangstas, rappers carrying guns, etc - It has nothing to do with economics - since the rich hip hop artists carry guns. Why the love of guns??? How will the killing of kids end if guns are so prevalent & worshipped?
Where are the parents in these human tragedies? The stories only show grandparents looking after the victims. If the parents aren't there for them then they should be jailed for neglect!
My nephew was one of the 200+ Chicago Public School students shot this year. He was shot on April 15th, a day in which 60+ people were shot.
All he was doing was playing basketball, on a warm, spring evening with one of his best friends since elementary school, in one of the best neighborhoods on the Southside of Chicago-- Chatham. Neither he nor his friend are in a gang, and they are good students.
In a lot of these senseless violence cases in Chicago, their parents ARE there for them. However, someone whose parents were probably NOT there for them decided to just "shoot for fun", and my nephew and his friend became statistics as far as the shooting count goes.
Thank God they are both still alive, by the very grace of God-- but no one-- NO ONE can imagine the pain, sorrow and horror they and their families experienced. These are two good boys from good families, just being kids-- and then everyone's world came apart...
Mr.Holt, As i have sat here watching this episode of Dateline, I have to wonder about a couple of things. First let me say I live in Bishopville, Md., and We watch the NBC affiliate WBAL in Baltimore. We are always hearing about killings in Baltimore, and watching your piece tonight makes Me wonder . Where is the parenting for these kids ages 11,12,13,14,15, who obviously have become members of gangs. The parents in Your piece want to blame the schools, the government, the police,; where does the blame really placed? The PARENTS! It is up to them to teach there kids and guide them...Do not insult my intelligence...THERE IS NO PARENTAL GUIDANCE..THE MEDIA WANTS TO REPORT TJHINGS AS THEY SEE IT. SEND ME AN E-MAIL..WE'LL TALK
Lester is clueless. He interviewed the "innocent victim" who was paralyzed after being shot and the kid was wearing a Pittsburgh Pirates hat. He was showing his allegiance to either the Vice Lords or the Bloods. What happened to journalists who actually researched their stories?
Lester, one child said it all and you let it go by - we have no fathers and looking for that discipline and role model - let's interview gang members and see how many have a father in their lives. It's not the guns but the fact they equate being men with violence - learning and education mean nothing to them except "being white" as they say. A boy needs a dad to teach him what it really means to be a man. Lester should have done more on that.
Maybe they should give parent a choice create a on line school for the kid in high risk area.Itmay cost a lot but at least it give them safety i would pay the cost for my child to be safe.I live in Missouri they just combine the school waiting on the out come we are saying the same thing about school rival. They need to do something that was just to sad.
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The Chicago violence discussion there was blame focused on the gangs and guns. The question was ask about why the children joined the gangs and 3 times there was response of lack of 'some one to look up to'"no guidance" and being 'angry. Then there was the pointed fact that 2 of the children highlighted were being raised by their grandparents. There was never any discussion regarding the fact that the greater number of black homes have a single mother with no father. There was no discussion about saving these young boys by bring the father into the home and establishing a 'family unit'. A father in the home would be a mentor to these young men with a discipline to keep them off the streets bring stability and therefor reduce the anger. Government can't do that, schools can't do that, the black community must change it's culture of absent parenting. Why wasn't that a discussion rather than blame the violence on gangs and guns? Why not ask the hard questions of the black community rather than why Chicago government and schools haven't done enough or why they forced kids to cross gang lines? The kids themselves was giving the answers but Lester ignored the answers.
Hard to explain? Let me try. Within two minutes of your signoff and Ann Curry's somber goodnight, your network aired the next show on its agenda--one that began immediately with mass gunfire shooting up many innocent people with automatic weapons. One killing right after the other--that is how your network "entertains" America. How can you not draw a connection between what is fed to the TV-viewing public night after night after night with what is happening on the streets? I typically get the TV turned off quickly enough not to see such carnage, but tonight, I was a little slow. And what I saw was the height of hypocrisy.
my heart goes out to the families who have lost loved ones. I can't imagine anything as painful as losing a child. I live in Chicago and I remember reading the story of Mr and Mrs Holts child being shot on the bus. Hearing the story from his parents, and seeing their raw pain was just heartbreaking. Thank you to dateline for putting a face and feelings to these shootings. We read about them so often in Chicago that I feel like it is becoming everyday news. Seeing this dateline changed that. All any of us want as parents is for our children to thrive, be good people, and become a happy, healthy, educated adult. To see children dying before they get their chance at life is terrible. My thoughts and prayers are with the families I saw on dateline tonight. To the ones who have lost children - may you someday find peace.
Jim Crow did not happen in a vacuum. The laws were designed, to segregate black criminality from white society. Today, white people enact their own form of Jim Crow by choosing to segregate themselves as far away from black society (and its inherent criminality) as they can. One is not likely to see a white jogger prancing along the streets of South Chi, after dark. That’s personal Jim Crow … and wise.
So, in the micro, Jim Crow laws were terrible, but in the macro, they were logical, prudent and proper. Statutory self-protection.
What an awesome job! I watched with tears in my eyes. I think that as a community we are afraid to discuss openly that all learning, both good and bad starts in the home. Parents are the first and most important teachers. I was always taught by both of my parents, that this was my world, too. I could go anywhere I wanted to go, be who I wanted to be, and live anywhere I wanted to live. It surprises me that even to this day that many other black adults were not taught the same lesson and our children are not learning this lesson either. I think as a people we lost our way when it became too easy to get welfare and begin to blame our troubles on outside forces. You make your own opportunity and if you can find a way to stand on the corner and deal drugs you can find a way to go to school and make it. Another thing, someone needs to be looking out after those children's mental health needs. You can't be a witness to all of that trauma and violence and not be suffering deeply on the inside.
round up all the gang members that are so interested in fighting and send them off to Afganastan
Such a tragedy. Senseless killings. Everyone is talking about it and I think they really want to make a difference, but have they realized that the violent video games our kids are allowed to play have a great impact on their minds. Kids are allowed to play these crazy games as young as 4 and 5 years old. These kids are trying to act out what they see in those games. The only problem is there is no reset button. This is for real. Please, place more emphasis on Teen Pregnancy Prevention.
I am sure if you do a survey on the kids that commit these crimes you will find they have a teen parent. Most teen parents have no parenting skills and usually no one around to give them proper guidance. Most of them are still trying to grow up and have no point of reference, therefore they are unable to guide and discipline their children. They think these violent video games are fun and have no problem letting their children play them over and over again.
If we really want to stop the violence we know what to do. People in the black community better stand up and fight for their children not only with words but with deeds. Stop buying those violent games that are poisoning our children's minds. Be a parent and let your child know whose the boss and demand that your community gets all the resources it needs to make the changes that will make your community a safe place to live.
It is time to stop the this madness.
3and stop buying those games for our children.
well i think that the city needs to come clean and say that there is a problem and they need to put back a program that the mayor cut years ago that was called the chicago intervention network the mayor said years ago that provention of gang violence was a problem of the police the mayor was wrong about that
I am a parent of a murdered child who did nothing wrong. My nightmare happened not in a metro city like Chicago, but a small blue collar town known for it's love of football - Canton, Ohio. It's out of control in every city big and small! My only son(child) is gone but never forgotten!
It's Sunday evening, and I'm watching Dateline. At the top of the program there were several mentions of "kids killing kids" or "children killing children". Why not call it what it is... black kids killing black kids? There is a real and ongoing problem with black on black violence, but it seems to be politically incorrect to call it that. I'm sorry, but we're never going to come to grips with this tragedy until we get real about it.
It's good that MSNBC decided to run a story on inner city violence. It's even better when solutions are highlighted. More African American males die each year than the lives lost during 9/11. Please run a story on a solution to this life changing experience is happening for inner city Black males in America. The OK Program which is headquartered in Little Rock, AK (http://www.okprogram.org/index.html) and has chapters in Oakland,CA, Monroe, LA and Indianapolis, IN.
I am a single parent of two sons ages 18 and 5. I just sent my son off to college(in another state of course) because I want him to live and also because I want him to see that there's more to life than what he sees and hears on the news. I am a firm believer of not sparing the rod and spoiling the child, but am a strong believer of being a disciplinarian to my children. I am and always will be their parent and not their friend. I know that its bad everywhere, but some places are much worse than others and this(Chicago) just happens to be one of those places. We got whippings when we did wrong and we turned out to be okay. The minute a crime is committed, the goverment asks "where are the parents"?, which is a very legitimate question, and I say that they are either on drugs, committing the crimes with the children or at home with their hands tied behind their backs because you (the government)said that they can't discipline their children. The government tells the children that their parents aren't allowed to whip them and that if they do, Call the POLICE!!! When parents were "able to discipline their children", things were much better. Yeah, some parents went too far and the disciplining sometimes became abuse, but the strand of violence that's plaguing our streets now wasn't as prevalent then, and if you look back, the percentage of child abuse hasn't really decreased, it just went from the parents abusing the children, to the children abusing each other and those numbers has skyrocketed with no end in sight! Yeah, I blame the parents, but I also blame the government because they are money-hungry, control freaks! It's not about saving a life, it's about saving money. All of the programs that were originally designed to prevent such things as crime either has been or is about to be cut! They took away most of the after school programs and they were trying to take away every sport except varsity. Every time something needs to be cut from a "budget", education is always first on the chopping block! Whereas, when I was growing up ecucation was important but it seems as though it doesn't even matter anymore! Whatever happened to truant officers? What happened to the teachers being able to discipline the children when needed? Most importantly, whatever happened to GOD and prayer in schools? The government eighty-sixed those things and tried to do things their way and now look at the mess! When you take God out of anything, you're setting that thing up for failure! HE(God) is the only one that can turn things around. I am a strong beleiver in HIM. We need to take our faith out of man, and put our faith in the Father, because to depend on man is to be let down, but to depend on God is to have blessed assurance. We need to pray and we need to teach our children how to pray and the importance of prayer. It (prayer) really does changes things! God was willing to spare the city of Sodom and Gomorra if He could find ten righteous, but it got destroyed. I believe God will spare our city streets because of the righteous but will He find at least ten? P.U.S.H (Pray until something happens)! And when it happens, don't stop but continue to pray.
These kids aren't shooting each other because they have access to guns. They are shooting each other because they are thugs! What happened to responsibility? I am so tired of seeing parents in the faces of school administrators when their kids do something wrong. You know who is wrong! It is the kid who was swinging the piece of wood. It is the kid who pulled the trigger. It is the kid who used the knife. And this crap about "no snitches." Well guess what, kids are going to keep dying as long as the community believes in this line of B.S. If you think that taking guns off the street will stop the killing just look at the U.K. Their youth violence is out of control and guns have been outlawed there for a long time. They just knife each other or buy a gun on the black market. I guarantee that not one of these kids in Chicago is going into a firearms store and filling out a permit! Wake up America and pull your "poor me" heads out of your butts before our youth are nothing but a bunch of thug junkies! We own 34 different firearms and our son belongs to a national rifle team who's goal is Academics, Integrity and Marksmanship. He maintains a 3.8 and works his butt off every day. He comes from a broken home but we both take responsibility for our son and so should the rest of the parents in America! Know where your kids are and who they are with every day! Opportunity can turn out to be the biggest regret!
Here it is, at 3:30am. Hours after Dateline aired here in Chicagoland. I can't sleep because I just can't get the images...the sounds of gunfire, the helplessness of children as they are fired upon just to get home from school. Even worse is watching as their family die themselves in pain sorrow at the devestation to brought to so many who love(d) them. As each story is told, my own brother was shot but it was never in the news.....but I will never forget when I heard the news of his being shot 6 times. I am blessed he lived, but it was years of recovery. My life, forever changed. The victims left behind are much more than then these thugs know. It is forever. I am now a Mother. I don't care if my kids call me overprotective, or if their friends think my boys are "ma-ma's" boys. I'd rather see them live under my wing than fly away with the angels before their time.
It is Monday morning and I am still thinking about this episode of Dateline. There was a comment on the show last night about how these kids are not learning gang signs and curse words at school...implying that the home is where they learn these things. This may or may not be the case. However, the media and influence of cable TV is enormous! I live in a predominantly conservative white suburb of Atlanta and my 13 year old son is at an age where he wants to fit in. And "the cool" attire is baggy pants, boxers showing, cap turned sideways...and the language he is exposed to shocks me...he does not see this behavior when he walks out his door. I limit his TV time, keep him involved in church, keep an honest and open dialogue with him about my expectations for him...but it is tough to fight the enormous influence of this generation's media culture! In a world where easy money, quick fame and celebrity morality is the majority of media offerings, I will continue to lead my children by example and pray for them as well as the children of their generation.
This is a much bigger problem than fatherless homes, political mismanagement and gun control. This is a generation bombarded with media filled with the have and have nots...and the haves appear to come into it through easy or ill gotten ways...not good old hard work!
A Frightened and Frustrated Parent
I appreciate the exposure. They also did an episode in Detroit. I would like to see an episode in a suburban city instead of the continuous highlighting of troubled urban areas. That would be nice for a change. I think that these episodes perpetuate some people's beliefs that we, African Americans, have no control and are born killers, drug addicts, dealers, and prostitutes. Better yet, focus on the neighborhoods in Detroit or Chicago that are affluent and flourishing. Highlight my life as a teacher and the other African American Role Models that live in these areas. It's just a continuous cycle of violence being portrayed at the expense of the African American population.