CNN Pressroom - Special on Thursday, May 31, Examines Absence of National Outrage in Wake of 27 Murders this School Year
An unfathomable 27 public school students in Chicago were killed during this past school year – 20 shot, seven stabbed or suffocated. Despite these alarming statistics, this streak of youth violence has received little attention outside of the city. Arne Duncan, the CEO of Chicago Public Schools, claims that if the deaths had occurred in a white suburb, the outcry would be deafening, but, because it was inner-city violence, it has been ignored.
Anderson Cooper and correspondents David Mattingly, Keith Oppenheim and Gary Tuchman will examine what has led to this pattern of violence and try to shed light on who should be held accountable. The one-hour special, “24 Hours in Chicago,” recreates for its viewers a 24-hour stretch of time before one victim, Blair Holt, lost his life. The program airs during the first hour of Anderson Cooper 360° at 10pm on Thursday, May 31.
“One of our goals is to tell untold stories from around the world, and it is unconscionable that this particular story in Chicago happens to be among them,” said David Doss, senior executive producer of Anderson Cooper 360°. “We attempt to find out why there isn’t national outrage and also delve into how these tragedies occur in the first place.”
To that end, “24 Hours in Chicago,” examines the 24 hours prior to Blair Holt’s death. Holt, a 16-year-old son of a newly promoted Chicago Police captain, died of a gunshot wound on a public bus when he protected a friend from gang members shooting at a rival gang member. Mattingly weaves interviews from Blair’s parents, the surviving teenager, the shooter, detectives and school officials together into a story that ends with Blair’s violent death.
Cooper profiles a number of local youth programs designed to break the cycle of violence. In addition, Tuchman takes a critical look at where to place blame for such incidents, examining gun issues, poverty, gangs and a culture of violence. Oppenheim interviews a mother in one Chicago neighborhood forced to send her children to school on a street where bullets often fly.
Anderson Cooper 360° is an in-depth, comprehensive news program that takes a full 360-degree look at the world’s events. The program showcases CNN’s worldwide newsgathering capabilities as well as Anderson Cooper’s unique sensibilities and perspective through a diverse range of live reports and interviews. Anderson Cooper 360° airs on CNN/U.S. each weekday from 10 p.m. to midnight. (ET)
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In response to the Chicago Public Schools' CEO saying "If this happened in a white suburb, the outcry would be deafening," let me make a few points:
ReplyDelete1) It didn't make national news. The gatekeepers of information (propaganda) proliferation need to be held partially responsible;
2) It's not really shocking to hear inner city kids solving their problems through violence, in fact, it's expected. From Sidney Poitiers' backhand to 50 Cent's proclamations to "bust a cap all up in yo ass," the propensity for African-Americans to resort to violence, whether real or imagined, is a stereotype they have both suffered AND benefitted from. The popular culture propagated regarding A.A.'s is that "these are bad motherfuckers that you better not cross or you will have your face beat in." And to some extent, on personal level, it's a stereotype that they not only enjoy, but revel in, and are all too happy to endorse to sell records, clothing lines, cologne, vodka, or movies.
3) Efforts from Law Enforcement to enforce the law and step up efforts to prevent crime are seen as encroachments on "civil rights" and often do nothing more than to focus the violence from intra-community animosity to inter-ethnic tensions.