Tuesday, November 13, 2007
How to kill a neighbor part two
The area of Elizabeth NJ where a 13 year old boy was shot off his bike & killed is one of the toughest sections of this big city. The murderer may be a gang wannabe making his bones. Or it could be a tragedy of mistaken identity: Teenage boys riding small bikes are part of street drug crews even in suburbia. It's occurred to me more than once that they present easy targets for competitors as they ride down empty streets at night.
I wish the anti-violence crowds that rally around grief-stricken families after shootings in gang-infested neighborhoods, with the candles, indignant preachers, & printed signs, would gather once-in-awhile for no reason other than to take back the streets for a few hours & to remind the gangs, & City Hall, that these are neighborhoods with peaceful people & children living in them.
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." Thomas Jefferson
I wish the anti-violence crowds that rally around grief-stricken families after shootings in gang-infested neighborhoods, with the candles, indignant preachers, & printed signs, would gather once-in-awhile for no reason other than to take back the streets for a few hours & to remind the gangs, & City Hall, that these are neighborhoods with peaceful people & children living in them.
Labels: Elizabeth NJ
